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Nutrition value – be healthy with palm oil |
Palm oil included in the diet is a natural and healthful way to fulfill the body’s nutritional requirement for fat.
Like other edible fats and oils palm oil is easily digested, absorbed and utilized for support of healthy growth. Fats serve distinct roles in the diet and in the body. In the diet fats provide essential fatty acids and energy and are a carrier for the fat soluble vitamins. Those vitamins are A, D, K and E. In the body the functions for fat include energy reserve, thermal insulation, organ protection, tissue membrane structure and cell metabolism.
Unprocessed palm oil is used in many countries for cooking as a rich source of beta-carotene which is the most common precursor of Vitamin A. Among the functions of Vitamin A are promoting good night vision, the health of mucous membranes and skin, the growth of bone and reproduction.
Palm oil is a source of Vitamin E. The principal role of Vitamin E in the body appears to be as an anti-oxidant. It prevents oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, and Vitamin A. It may also help maintain cell membrane stability and be essential for normal neurological function. Vitamin E is present in all tissues. It is stored primarily in muscles and adipose tissue. Due to Vitamin’s E role as an anti-oxidant, research has investigated its possible link to the prevention of cancer.
Palm oil helps to maintain healthy skin and hair, ensures proper growth, and enables the body to absorb vitamins. In addition, palm oil has a relatively high concentration of monounsaturated fat, in the form of oleic acid. Studies have shown that diets high in monounsaturated fatty acids help lower low density lipoprotein cholesterol, as do polyunsaturated fatty acids. Palm oil is cholesterol free.
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