What is Palm Oil?
Palm oil is extracted from the oil of the reddish fruits of the palm tree growing in tropical forests. It is known that palm oil, which has 55 percent saturated fat, is used in almost half of the packaged foods.
Where Is Palm Oil Used?
Cleaning products, shampoos, care products, convenience foods, ready-made pizza / hamburger / chicken, chocolates, make-up and even toothpastes contain palm oil.
What are the Problems Caused?
Palm oil is extracted from palm trees in the tropical forests of Indonesia and Malaysia. But in the meantime, many trees and the orangutans living in those trees, pygmy elephants and Sumatran rhinos are damaged. It is known that the orangutan population has decreased by 50 percent in the last 10 years. The reduction of one hectare of forest area causes 6 thousand tons of carbon dioxide to emerge. It is known that 6 million hectares of forest have been destroyed due to palm oil production in Indonesia.
What Are the Harms of Palm Oil?
1. Harmful to heart health
Although palm oil does not contain trans fat, its high saturated fat content is harmful to the heart. Also, a 1997 study conducted on 147 people in the UK proved that the palmitic acid found in palm oil raises cholesterol.
2.Hard to digest
The fact that palm oil is refined causes the nutrients in its content to change. The author of the book Cooking for Healthy Healing, Dr. Linda Page states that palm oil, which undergoes metamorphosis after refining, is very difficult to digest.
3.May be carcinogenic
EFSA (European Food Association Committee) says that some substances in palm oil can cause cancer. He states that the glycidyl fatty acid esters that enter the body can turn into a substance called glsidiol after the digestion process and cause tumor growth.
