How Palm Oil Benefits Our Health & Nutrition:
•Increases HDL Cholesterol: HDL cholesterol or the good cholesterol is increased by the consumption of palm oil. It has also been proved through extensive research that palm oil is effective in reducing LDL cholesterol or the bad cholesterol levels.•Rich in Vitamin E: Palm oil is rich in Vitamin E and thus helps in maintaining the cardiac health in individuals by preventing thickening of arteries. It also protects the skin from toxins and harmful UV rays.•Balanced Fatty Acid: Palm oil has a balanced fatty acid content which makes it the most popular choice in the food industry.•High in Vitamin A: The Vitamin A content of Palm oil is quite high and so it is good for our health, specially to prevent Vitamin A deficiency.•No Changes after Heating: It is often seen that most vegetable oils loose their nutritional value and effectiveness on heating, but Palm oil's Phytonutrients content remains unaltered even on high heating.
How Palm Oil Helps in Food Security:
Palm oil's contribution in feeding a vast population directly and indirectly is unparalleled. In developing countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, where Palm oil is mainly sourced from, the major population earn their bread and butter through the plantations. Because of the plantations, the rural areas have got access to better standard of living. The production of Palm oil in the South East Asian countries has been a huge source of employment, in these regions.
Palm Oil and Land Use Efficiency:
With the human race's growth in mortality, the population increase will hit a major high in the next 30 years. Increase in population is quite a challenge for food production. Production of any crop based oils involve immense costs in terms of huge farming lands, expensive fertilizers and harmful pesticides. However, it has been established that Palm oil requires the least of all these and thus is the most economic option in oils. The numbers show thàt by 2050, the world will need 150 million tonnes of oil and for that the production of Palm oil will require only 38 million hectares of land in comparison to 375 million hectares of land for Soy Bean oil.
Palm Oil and Its Many Uses:
The vast production and demand of palm oil is a proof by itself that how much useful the oil is.
•Cooking Medium: Palm oil is used as a cooking Medium specially for frying of snacks etc. both in household and commercial purposes.•Bakery: The bakery industry majorly uses palm oil to make those delicious cakes, pastries and savouries of our likings.•Personal Care: A majority of our personal care items like soaps, creams, lotions, toothpaste and even coloured cosmetics contain palm oil.•Processed Food: Processed food like noodles, frozen desserts, biscuits etc. are made with palm oil.•Animal Feed: Palm kernels are used as animal feed in major parts of the world.•Other uses: Palm oil is also used in pharmaceutical industry and even as biofuel and energy source.
Palm Oil's Success and Threats:
Every industry goes through challenges and threats. Palm oil is definitely the most fast developing oil industries in the world. The Western world that produces other kind of oils, often consider it as a threat to their business, thus portraying it as a cause of deforestation. We often come across Western media sighting side effects of palm oil. These may be the result of the enormous success of palm oil as a vast industry.
However, these Western vision of Palm oil creates little impact on its success as Sustainable palm oil is actually a cruelty-free, environment-friendly option and even World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has supported the production of palm oil, contrary to popular beliefs.
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