Written by Tatjana Djakovic, Staff Writer. In a study of rats fed a cholesterol diet, the percentage of heart damage and area at risk decreased from 37.2% to 26.9% when supplemented with red palm oil. In rats fed a normal diet, the percentage of heart damage and the area at risk decreased from 23.5% to 9.2%.
Dietary red palm oil has created an interest in research on its potential role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Red palm oil is a powerful natural antioxidant product whose role is to reduce oxidative stress (a harmful process that takes place in the body due to accumulation of free radicals and other toxic substances). Reducing oxidative stress has the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and improve other chronic diseases.
A concern that Red Palm oil has raised is due its high content of saturated fatty acids (50%), which is known as the “solid fat” and known to cause heart disease and chronic diseases. (1) However, red palm oil has not been linked to chronic diseases, due its ratio of saturated fatty acid to unsaturated fatty acid content and its high concentration of powerful antioxidants such as beta carotene, tocotrienols, tocopherols (members of the vitamin E family). In fact, the consumption of red palm oil has been reported to reduce the levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, hardening of arteries, and promote efficient utilization of nutrients and immune function due to the presence of the antioxidant tocotrienols. (2)
Unfortunately, there is not significant amount human based research that supports the benefits of red palm oil. A recent study that was conducted in rats aimed to analyze the effect of red palm oil supplementation on infarct size, which is the size of damage following a heart attack. The rats in the study were divided into those that were fed a normal diet and those that were fed a 2% cholesterol enriched diet for nine weeks. At week for 4, the diet in each group was supplemented with red palm oil. The rats were subjected to 30 minutes of reduced blood flow to the heart resulting in heart damage, in order for the researchers to analyze the effects of red palm oil on the cardiovascular health. The size of the heart damage and the area at risk were measured, and the results indicated that red palm oil supplementation significantly reduced heart damage. The researchers noted that it in rats fed a normal diet, the percentage of heart damage and the area at risk decreased from 23.5% to 9.2% (p<0.05) when supplemented with red palm oil. Similarly, in rats fed a cholesterol diet, the percentage of heart damage and area at risk decreased from 37.2% to 26.9% (p <0.05) when supplemented with red palm oil. Since the p value was less than 0.05, it signifies that the results did not occur by chance alone. The results of the product are encouraging, but more human studies would highly beneficial to investigate the various health effects of red palm oil. (3)
Source: Oguntibeju, O. O., A. J. Esterhuyse, and E. J. Truter. “Red palm oil: nutritional, physiological and therapeutic roles in improving human wellbeing and quality of life.” British journal of biomedical science 66.4 (2009): 216-222.
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Posted January 16, 2013.
References:
- Obtained from the “Center for Disease Control” website on Saturated Fats.
- Oguntibeju, O. O., A. J. Esterhuyse, and E. J. Truter. “Red palm oil: nutritional, physiological and therapeutic roles in improving human wellbeing and quality of life.” British journal of biomedical science66.4 (2009): 216.
- Gergo, Szucs, et al. “Dietary red palm oil supplementation decreases infarct size in cholesterol fed rats.” Lipids in Health and Disease 10.
