When it comes to the ketogenic diet, the general word is that all oils are keto-friendly but they are not necessarily healthy. So, should your ideal fat while you are on keto, be a vegetable oil, nut oil, animal fat, or seed oil? This question can’t be answered in a yes or no! Most people aren’t even sure if their ketogenic diet is indeed keto! So, saying that palm oil is keto-friendly can’t be the only fact, is a bit more complex than that. Most natural oils are generally counted as safe and acceptable on a keto diet. However, what is categorized as healthy is the bigger question! Do you think palm oil is the healthiest choice you could make! Think again. Better yet, read this article. (Link to saturated unsaturated published article)
Table of Contents
What is the Ketogenic Diet
More popularly known as the keto diet, this diet is a phenomenon in itself that puts your body and mind into an unlearning process and takes your system into a reset state. This diet is a high-fat, minimal-carb, and moderate protein diet. At first glance, one might feel that it is similar to Atkins and other famous low-carb diets. However, keto is deeper. Read on to know what is it all about.
The ketogenic diet requires you to substantially decrease your carbohydrate intake and substitute it with fats. Once you can achieve this your body goes into Ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body becomes amazingly proficient at consuming fat for energy instead of carbs. Keto is known to bring notable declines in levels of insulin and blood sugar.
When the diet is all about fats, choosing the right ones is an important decision and calls for research and knowledge. As far as oils are concerned; simpler oils that are easy to extract are considered healthy. Fats like pure olive oil, ghee, almond oil, peanut oil, avocado oil, fish oil, sesame oil, fish oil, and peanut oil fall in this category. The extraction of these oils takes simple processes like cold pressing, grinding, churning, and low-heat fat separation.
On the other hand, the ketogenic diet asks for minimal usage of seed oils. Corn oil, soy oil, safflower and sunflower oil, as well as cottonseed oil fall under this category. Chemical extraction and high-heat separation process are used to get these oils. These oils, though, could be called keto-friendly are obviously not all that healthy. Coming to palm oil, it has zero carbs, and as a result, it is good keto oil, especially for frying food. However, there is lots more to it.
What is Palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that is derived from the fruit of oil palm trees. The oil palm tree is scientifically known as Elaeis guineensis. These trees are indigenous to Africa, but for the last 100 years, they are a part of South-East Asian flora. Malaysia and Indonesia are the leading palm oil suppliers and make-up over 85% of the international supply. You can easily say that palm oil is the most used vegetable oil in the world.
Palm oil is extremely versatile and has immense uses in both food and industry applications. It is directly used for cooking food, but, it is also widely used for margarine, ice cream, and many other processed food products commonly used in our kitchens. In addition to that, it is also used in the composition of Personal care and cosmetics, biofuel and energy, animal feed, pharmaceutical, and industrial goods in different forms.
Here we will be looking at palm oil in relation to diet. Let us examine more information on different types of palm oils, their manufacturing, and nutritional details:
Crude Palm Oil
Also known as the Red Palm or the Virgin Palm Oil, this oil is naturally rich in carotenes, which are forebears to Vitamin A, and the antioxidant tocotrienols which are present in Vitamin E. In its organic state, palm oil is red, this is because of the high intensity of carotenes like in carrots.
The red palm oil extraction process is not as complicated as most oilseeds. Red palm oil has a particular extraction process that involves steps like
- Harvesting
- Sterilization
- Threshing
- Digesting
- Pressing
- Clarification
The picture below shows how natural and non-complicated this process is
Red palm is known to be a great immunity booster as it is a magnificent source of vitamin E. Vitamin E is vital for cooking fats and contributes significantly towards immune health. Red palm oil provides a copious amount of vitamin A that ensures good health of your heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs. In addition to this, red palm oil is an invaluable source of coenzyme Q10. Coenzyme Q10 is a compound that may decrease inflammation in the body. It also contains a good amount of squalene, which offers great skin and hair benefits. As this product is cold-pressed and unrefined, it is free from any kind of bleach and chemicals. However, in its purest form, palm oil is not very appetizing because of its peculiar odor.
Is It Keto
Red palm oil has zero carbs, and hence, it is a keto-friendly fat. Responsibly sourced virgin red palm oil is packed with healthy fats. It provides you with vitamins A & E. This oil is suitable for high-temperature cooking, sauteing, and frying your keto dishes.
Refined Palm Oil
After obtaining red palm oil, big oil companies refine palm oil through extensive chemical and high-heat processes. As stated above, though red palm oil offers immense health benefits, it is not well-accepted by the culinary industry because of its innate taste. Here is how this sophistical treatment is done:
In order to make it sellable and tasteless, palm oil goes through the mentioned refining process. Through this process, the oil is unvarnished of its natural color and flavor, and so, it becomes a neutral oil. The oil is fractionated into liquid and solid points by meticulous cooling, crystallization, and filtering. After this process is done, the palm oil becomes a bland oil that can be seen in the neutral oil section of the supermarkets. These oils include groundnut, corn, and sunflower oils.
Refined or white palm oil is chemically treated, and unfortunately in this process, it loses its natural red hue. Loss of this red color also indicates that the oil loses its nutritional carotene and other antioxidants.
Is It Keto
As the carb content in refined palm oil is zero, technically, it is keto-friendly. However, a ketogenic diet stresses the importance of healthy fats. Refined and bleached palm oil does not offer many health benefits.
Palm Kernel Oil
As the name implies, this oil is obtained from the seed or kernel of the ripe palm fruit. It comprises even more saturated fats in comparison to red palm oil. Regardless, palm kernel oil and is a popular choice for commercial and bulk food preparation. As a saturated fat content in this oil is almost 85%, it is very stable and accentuates the shelf life of the food. Since this is a seed oil, it cannot be extracted naturally. The oil goes through an extensive industrial process before it’s packed into bottles for consumption.
The white part is the palm seed.
Palm kernel oil has a composition similar to coconut oil. It has a high amount of saturated fats. This oil is more saturated than palm oil. Due to high levels of lauric acid, it is held responsible for high cholesterol.
Is It Keto
Just like other oils, palm kernel oil too can be consumed while following the keto diet. However, keto experts advise followers to stay away from seed oils as they are far from natural.
Which of the Above Three Palm Oils is the Most Suitable for a Ketogenic Diet
Technically, all three types of palm oils – the crude, refined, and palm kernel – are keto-friendly as they are derived from the same palm fruit. However, the one that offers the most health benefits would be the red palm fruit oil. It holds abundant monounsaturated fat that is healthy. It prevents plaque buildup in your heart and blood vessels. Red or crude palm oil passes more antioxidants that aid in fighting diseases. Since the refining process removes them from the other varieties, it is also counted as the heathiest out of three because it is derived by a natural method without any chemical intervention.
What Kind of Keto Cooking is Palm Oil Suitable for
Palm oil is a great zero-carb option for cooking savory dishes. It is ideal for making keto-friendly fish or fried chicken. Palm oil’s smoke point is 450° F, which is considered a high smoking point. This makes it suitable for high-temperature cooking, especially deep frying. For most deep-fried dishes, the oil needs to be at 350 to 375° F. Hence, palm oil could give your food a crusty covering while letting the food cook all the way especially when it comes to meats. Preparing keto-friendly fried dishes in red palm oil will not give your food a burnt taste and a smoggy kitchen. Though red palm has a strong taste, it is still milder than other keto-friendly options like coconut or avocado oil. However, palm oil is not a great addition to desserts as its over-powering taste could take over your dish.
Responsibly sourced palm oil has many advantages; It has been connected to numerous wellness advantages, like shielding brain function, lessening heart illness risks, and boosting vitamin A levels, among much more.
Advantages of Palm Oil
Brain Vitality: Palm oil is an outstanding reservoir of a class of vitamin E with a powerful antioxidant called tocotrienols. Tocotrienols have qualities that may promote brain health. Tocotrienols in palm oil may assist in preserving the fragile polyunsaturated fats in the brain, delay the progress of dementia, diminish the chance of stroke and inhibit the growth of brain tumours.
Heart Health: Unadulterated Palm oil has been trusted with protecting heart health. Although the general view is slightly jumbled up, but, many studies have found this oil to have advantageous effects on heart disease risk factors. This includes lowering LDL cholesterol also known as the bad cholesterol and raising HDL cholesterol which is also known as the good cholesterol.
Improvement in overall Vitamin A levels: Palm oil can help combat vitamin A deficiencies. Readings in pregnant women in emerging economies show that consumption of red palm oil accentuates vitamin A levels in their blood and the blood of breastfed infants.
Battles Oxidative stress: Oxidative stress could be explained as disparity among antioxidants and free radicals in your body. Regular consumption of red palm oil can reduce BSO-induced oxidative stress and helps the body fight infections better.
Better skin and hair health: Since palm oil is rich in Tocotrienol, it boosts a certain range of Vitamin E in your body. This is known to improve skin and hair health. Regular consumption can give you stronger hair and better skin. It also helps in the reduction of dark stops over time.
Disadvantages of Palm Oil
Palm oil may enhance certain heart condition risk determinants in some people. Frequently reheating this oil can reduce its antioxidant ability and could lead to the risk of heart diseases. Most health benefits of this oil can only be reaped if it is extracted in a natural way. Chemical treatments devoid this oil of its benefits and make it harmful for heart health too.
Controversies: The Bigger Picture
Palm oil isn’t new to backlash. There are many moral concerns about palm oil production and its severe impact on the environment. For many years, the growing market of palm oils has driven an unparalleled increase in palm oil production in South East Asian countries. Tropical countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand have wet, tropic environments that support the cultivation of oil palm trees. To meet this ever-increasing demand, tropical forests, and peatlands are being slaughtered. This has led to disastrous outcomes like global warming and an increase in greenhouse gases. Besides, the destruction of essential landscapes has caused changes in the ecosystem that endanger the natural flora and fauna. The picture below shows the aspects of nature that palm oil cultivation impacts
Macros of red palm oil is principally a way to get saturated and monounsaturated fat into your diet. It contains a marginal amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Here are macros for one tablespoon of red palm oil:
Calories/NutrientAmount (kcal/grams)
Calories 130 kcal
Carbohydrate 0 g
Fat 14.0 g
– Saturated Fat 6.0 g
– Monounsaturated Fat 6.0 g
– Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Protein 0 g
Other Useful Keto Fats
In the wake of the harm that palm oil causes, we would request you to look at other options. Besides, palm oil isn’t a healthy choice if you are looking at its usage, read this article on why is palm oil so cheap to understand this in great detail.
Keto is a fat-oriented diet, essentially animal fat-friendly. Many keto followers rather like to consume ghee, heavy cream, and lard over popular oils. Though palm oil is a keto-safe oil, many oils are preferred more than palm oil when it comes to being keto-friendly. Here are some of the most preferred keto oils
Sesame Oil
Avocado Oil
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Hazelnut Oil
Walnut Oil
Conclusion
All in all, palm oil could be a great keto-friendly oil as long as it is natural, virgin, cold-pressed, and unprocessed like red palm oil. It has healthy fats and zero carbs. Go for palm oil brands that do not use high-heat and chemicals for extraction. However, you will have to get used to the natural flavor, aroma, and taste of the oil. Stay away from refined oils like corn, soybean, canola oil, and palm kernel oil. Their extraction process removes out the nutrients from the oil and substitutes them with dangerous chemicals. Always read the label and make sure that you are buying unrefined palm oil that is labeled extra-virgin, virgin, cold-pressed, or organic. In case you do not have access to the right kind of palm oil, go for another keto fat.
More environmentally-conscious buying options are there, and people should look for better options like olive and ghee oil. This not only ensures your diet is enriched with nutrients but also ensures that your buying choices don’t impact the environment. Make a healthy and an alert choice!
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