Why Is Palm Oil So Bad For Health?
Palm oil is an oil with various uses that is obtained from the palm ( Elaeis guineensis ), a tree originally from West Africa and which, today, is cultivated in tropical and equatorial regions around the planet. This oil has a long history and was commonly used for cooking and making However, its use has become popular in recent decades because it is a very efficient crop when it comes to obtaining oil, since, unlike other crops, the oil is obtained from both the seed and the fruit of the Palm. This results in more oil being produced, which increases significantly when refined. Since it is employed in the food and industrial sectors (generation of industrial oils), cosmetics, biofuels, etc.), a very high output of this commodity is obtained that can be marketed at a low price and that delivers significant economic benefits to the producing enterprises.
What health impacts does palm oil have?
Its widespread use in the food industry does not mean that it is good for one's health. Rather, it just indicates that it is inexpensive. One of the few vegetable oils that function in our bodies like saturated fats is palm oil. In other words, eating it has the same negative effects as eating animal fats.
The bad cholesterol (LDL) increase, which causes all the cardiovascular problems, has the most significant impact on health. These illnesses include the potential for heart attacks, strokes, clogged arteries, hypertension, kidney issues, and hypertension.
In this sense, even if it's a cheap oil that can be used in the kitchen or to prepare dishes, its usage is not recommended for health reasons, and we should minimise it if not eliminate it.
What can we do to solve the palm oil problem?
First of all, on a personal level, we can avoid consuming palm oil. By doing this, we can protect our health and stop the market from growing for this commodity, which will make it less profitable to clear more primary forest territory to plant palm trees. This can be accomplished by reading the product labels and choosing not to directly purchase those that contain palm oil when we discover this. Once you put this into practice, you'll see how many goods use this oil.
It is also important to avoid those that only appear to be made with "vegetable oil", but without specifying the type of vegetable it is. This is an ingenious way to avoid putting palm oil on the label since it is legally allowed, and the consumer usually associates "vegetable oil" with health. Despite this, we need also be wary of this ambiguous labelling if we want to be certain that we are not ingesting palm oil.
Similar to how we must read the labels of food goods, we also need to do the same with cosmetics as they may also include this kind of oil. We must remain vigilant in this regard. beside them.
Second, when we have refrained from purchasing goods that contain palm oil, we ought to offer a positive approach. That is, buy goods manufactured using healthy oils that don't pose a major threat to the environment. This includes oils that are produced and cultivated in the same area that we live in, which will lessen the oil's carbon footprint during both production and transit. For instance, choosing items manufactured with olive oil is unquestionably the greatest choice for European nations located in the Mediterranean region, as it is a healthful product whose production aligns with the goals of agricultural sustainability.