Palm Oil Cannot Substitute Trans Fats

Palm Oil Cannot Substitute Trans Fats
Palm Oil is being used by most people today when it comes to finding substitutes for the usual trans fats. However, it seems that this is not a feasible option as studies show that palm oil is not a good substitute after all.

Trans fatty acids (trans fats) are created during a hardening process called hydrogenation, which serves to make oils suitable for use in products that require solid fats, such as baked goods and breakfast bars. The clinical trial was designed to compare—on heart disease risk—the effect of four different oils as they are commonly consumed.

The findings suggest that consuming either of the diets enriched with equivalent high amounts of palm oil or partially hydrogenated soybean oil would result in similar unfavorable levels of LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (a protein, attached to fat particles, that carries bad cholesterol throughout the bloodstream). That’s when compared to consuming either of the diets enriched with canola and soybean oils high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, respectively.

The results suggest that palm oil would not be a good substitute for trans fats by the food industry, the authors wrote.