What Are the Health Benefits of Red Palm Oil?

Red palm oil supplies essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients essential for good health. Research suggests that a single teaspoon of red palm oil supplies the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of both fat and vitamin A for children.

Nutrient Profile

Red palm oil contains Linolinic acid, (Omega-6 fatty acid) and does not contain trans-fatty acids. It remains heat stable at medium and low temperature cooking. It also contains vitamin E and vitamin A in the form of carotene. In addition to vitamin A, red palm oil also contains more than 20 other carotenes (including lycopene), at least two forms of vitamin E and vitamin K, CoQ10, phytosterols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, glycolipids and squalene.

Health Benefits

Red palm oil reduces hardening of the arteries, blood serum cholesterol and blood clotting. It also increases vascular dilation. These effects may prevent heart attacks and strokes. It contains chemoprotective effects, especially in the incidence of breast cancer cells.

Red Palm Oil and Vitamin A in Developing Countries

Carotene (plant-sourced vitamin A) absorption is dependent on the amount of fat in the diet. Often, those in developing countries cannot absorb the vitamin A in their diet due to low dietary levels of fat. Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness, weak bones and immunological problems. Deficiency also decreases learning ability and mental cognitivity and causes other health complications.

Raw Red Palm Oil

Red palm oil used for deep frying or clarified palm oil using heating or filtering methods strips away the nutrients found naturally occurring in raw palm oil. Red palm oil gains its characteristic color from the high amounts of naturally occurring carotenes.

Red Palm Oil Controversy

While researchers suggest that red palm oil may assist in overcoming the worldwide food and nutrition crises, other research suggested by activist websites points to a growing controversy due to non-organic and fair-trade farming methods and deforestation for farmland. By 2009, smaller farms in impoverished nations started adopting organic and fair-trade farming methods.