Rotterdam, 11 December 2009 - Unilever today announced that it has decided to
suspend all future purchases of palm oil from the Indonesian company PT SMART,
part of the Sinar Mas group, until such time as they can provide verifiable proof
that none of their plantations are contributing to the destruction of high conservation
value forests and expanding onto peat lands.

For the past 18 months Unilever, a large user of palm oil, has been scrutinising the
activities of its suppliers to ensure that they meet the highest possible sustainability
standards.

Early in 2009 Unilever conducted an independent audit of its major suppliers. This
revealed several areas of concern. These are being addressed on an individual basis.

However, new evidence has come to light in a report due to be published by
Greenpeace this week. The report makes serious allegations against Sinar Mas’s
environmental practices. As a result Unilever has decided to take immediate action.

Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer, said: “The Greenpeace claims are of a nature
that we can’t ignore. Unilever is committed to sustainable sourcing. Therefore, we
have notified PT SMART that we have no choice but to suspend our future purchasing
of palm oil.”

“If PT SMART are able to come forward with concrete proof that they are not involved
in unacceptable environmental practices then we would certainly re-consider our
position.”

Unilever is an active member of the RSPO. It is an organisation that Unilever helped
found and one to which it remains wholeheartedly committed.
 

Western detractors of the healthfulness of palm oil routinely and conveniently overlook many facts about palm oil. Hopefully this will change with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Malaysian palm oil vitamin producers’ recent application for GRAS-status from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to gain access into the functional food and beverage market there.

GRAS is acronym for "generally regarded as safe" while functional food refers to meals specifically made for health purposes.

According to Datamonitor's report, Americans spent US$40 billion (RM140 billion) on functional foods, drinks and supplements last year, 38 per cent higher than 2003.

"MPOB is funding half the cost of GRAS-status group applications," said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

"Malaysia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil vitamin E. It is imperative that our producers are able to penetrate deeper into the US market to fully realise their investments here," he told Business Times.

There are five palm tocotrienols producers in Malaysia. They are Sime Darby Bioganic Sdn Bhd, Carotech Bhd, Carotino Sdn Bhd, Supervitamins Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Keck Seng (M) Bhd) and Palm Nutraceuticals Sdn Bhd (a unit of Kim Loong Resources Bhd).

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, via its unit Davos Life Sciences Pte Ltd, is producing and exporting palm tocotrienols from Singapore.

IOI Corp Bhd's unit Lipid Nutrition in the Netherlands recently brandnamed its palm tocotrienols extracts "VitaTrin".

Each company has its own extraction method. While Carotech and Supervitamins extract tocotrienols from virgin crude palm oil, others distil this antioxidant from palm fatty acid distillate. Carotech currently supplies to 70 per cent of the world's tocotrienol market.

Last year, companies in Malaysia exported RM50 million worth of palm oil vitamins. This nutrient extracts are mainly used in the health supplement and cosmetic markets.

Palm oil vitamin usage is still very small in the whole scheme of the US health supplement market and this presents opportunities. The vitamin E market alone is estimated to be US$400 million (RM1.4 billion).

In a separate telephone interview from New Jersey, Carotech Inc vice-president W.H. Leong explained that in the US, dietary supplement is regulated under the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act 1994.

"We're required to notify FDA whenever we introduce a new dietary supplement to the market," he said.

Another law - Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - requires manufacturers and distributors who wish to market dietary supplements that contain "new" ingredients to notify the FDA. The term "new" dietary ingredient is meant for those not sold in the US in a food supplement before October 15 1994.

Selling and marketing palm oil vitamins in itself is tough as not many consumers are aware of the unique health benefits of palm tocotrienols over the more commonly known tocopherol vitamin E.

Coupled with compounding issues such as palm oil being high in saturates and allegations of oil palm planting not being sustainable, it has been a challenging 15 years for Carotech. But the group persevered and continues to promote palm tocotrienols via scientific research, studies and clinical trials at hospitals in the US and Malaysia.

Carotech is the only tocotrienol producer that has a sales and marketing office in the US.

"We constantly have to dispel misinformation about palm oil in the US," Leong said.

Generally, consumers around the world are not aware that tocotrienols is a more potent form of vitamin E with unique health benefits not shown by the regular tocopherol vitamin E.

The industry needs to allocate more money to effectively inform consumers on the neuro- and-cardiovascular health benefits of tocotrienols.

Palm oil contains more nutrients than any other dietary oil. Apart from beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene, it contains at least the full spectrum of Vitamin E, Vitamin K, co-enzyme Q10, squalene, phytosterols, flavonoids, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, phenolic acids and glycolipids.

"Indeed, palm oil is packed with a host of potent antioxidants and is in many ways, a life-saver," Leong said.

As the largest and the world's leading supplier of palm oil nutrient extracts, Carotech brands its supply of natural palm oil vitamin E, Tocomin(R) and mixed carotene (pro-vitamin A) extracts, Caromin(R). For now, Carotech is the world's only GMP-certified tocotrienol producer.

Source:

Ooi, T.C. (2009, June 7). Healthier food and drinks with palm oil vitamins. Business Times.
 

Recent attacks against palm oil by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FOE) were motivated by politics and trade, rather than genuine concern for environmental conservation, says the head of the country’s palm oil promotional body.

Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) chief executive officer Tan Sri Yusof Basiron said Western NGOs like Greenpeace and FOE have vehemently blamed farmers in developing countries for deforestation, but remained silent on forest fires and rampant pollution in developed nations.

Lately, they went as far as to recommend rival vegetable oils that are of lower yield to consumers.
Cadbury New Zealand was reported last month to have decided to remove palm oil from its chocolate, following consumer outcry over the environmental impact of palm oil plantations.

Yusof said in pressurising Cadbury New Zealand to use cocoa butter instead of palm fat in chocolates, Greenpeace and FOE have revealed their hypocrisy.

“Are these ’so-called greenies’ aware that 10 times more land needs to be allocated for planting of cocoa trees just to produce the same amount of palm fat?” Yusof said in a recent interview with Business Times.

In another related event, Greenpeace had also attacked dairy giant Fonterra for using palm kernel animal feed, which the former claimed results in deforestation. The NGO had singled out Fonterra for criticism because the dairy giant owns half of RD1, a New Zealand-based importer of palm kernel expeller for animal feed.

New Zealand’s Federated Farmers had responded to the claims saying that palm kernel oil is a by-product with almost no commercial value and that its use does not cause the destruction of tropical forests.

Its biosecurity spokesperson John Hartnell was quoted as saying that not a single millimetre of forest was being cleared just to feed dairy cows.

“Palm kernel extract is a waste by-product left over from the processing of palm oil for consumer products,” he said.

Yusof said Greenpeace and FOE’s demand for New Zealand farmers to stop using palm kernel meal for dairy cows will cause milk yield to decline.

That’s because cows that consume palm kernel meal produce more milk than those on corn or soya meal diet.

“Without the high protein palm kernel meal, dairy farmers will need to enlarge grazing areas. This means more land will need to be deforested in New Zealand,” he said.

“In the last 200 years, New Zealand temperate forest is already mostly wiped out by settlements. Trees were logged to make way for grazing land, to produce milk, meat and wool which now make up the main
exports of New Zealand.

“Why are these agricultural products, produced out of deforested land in New Zealand, acceptable to Greenpeace but palm oil, an agricultural product from Malaysia, demonised?” Yusof asked.

Both countries cleared land for agricultural purposes long ago, and the extent of deforestation was much more extensively carried out in New Zealand compared to Malaysia. Yet, no questions were raised on this matter.

“Why are these NGOs selectively criticising developing countries when the land clearance is starkly obvious in developed countries like New Zealand?” Yusof said.

Forest, be they temperate or tropical, are valuable in cleaning up carbon dioxide to prevent global warming.

“Why are tropical forest the only target for preservation? Why are these NGOs ignoring the over-deforestation that had taken place in developed countries that continues till today?” he added.

Yusof said if the intention of the NGOs is to reduce carbon emission, let the focus be on the real culprit.

“Fossil fuel usage contributes up to 80 per cent of global carbon dioxide emission and this is happening in developed countries. But guess who gets the blame – China and India.”

He said palm oil, a significant export earner for Malaysia and Indonesia, is planted on legitimate agricultural lands, just like competing soyabean or rapeseed oils.

“To climb out of the poverty trap, many farmers plant oil palms, earning US$20 per day (RM69.60). Greenpeace and FOE’s anti-palm oil campaign only serves to threaten the livelihoods of farmers in developing nations,” he added.
 

Source: PalmOil HQ

"If more firms bought it... more producers would make the necessary investment" - Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury's.

The connection between tropical rainforests and digestive biscuits may not be obvious. That's because most people are unaware that when they sit down for a cup of tea and a biscuit, they are probably consuming palm oil.

Palm oil is found in thousands of food products and is one of several oils that can be labelled "vegetable oil" on a list of ingredients. Most of the world's supply comes from South-east Asia where countries including Indonesia and Malaysia, keen to provide economic opportunity for their growing populations, are clearing thousands of acres of forest to make way for plantations.

But this need not be the case. When grown and processed sustainably, palm is an excellent and environmentally beneficial crop because it is so high-yielding, requiring less land than other vegetable oils. The problem lies in tracing the origins of the oil we put in our food.

As much as a third comes from smallholders working on micro-plantations who take their crop to a local mill for processing. This crude palm oil is then sent to refineries, often in Europe, where it is mixed with other shipments. This makes it difficult for manufacturers to pinpoint where their supply has originated, in order to determine whether it has caused any virgin rainforest to be destroyed.

For some years, an organisation called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which Sainsbury's helped found, has been working on a solution. Last year, the first certified sustainable palm oil arrived on the market. Sainsbury's immediately started using it in our fish fingers, before rolling it out to the rest of our frozen fish range. We now use sustainable palm oil in our own-brand soap and next month it will be introduced to our digestive and rich tea biscuits.

Other UK retailers and manufacturers have not been as quick. Sustainable palm oil is expensive as it requires separate storage, infrastructure and growing practices. If more firms started buying it, it would stimulate the market and prompt more producers to make the necessary investment. This would lead to better prices, an increase in production and a decrease in deforestation.

The palm oil industry supports some of the world's poorest communities, so companies have a responsibility to work with suppliers and growers to make it sustainable as quickly as possible. Improving growing practices could double production, while at the same time protecting rainforests; plenty of land with little biodiversity value could be used for oil palm.

Sainsbury's has been leading the way in this regard, from being the first retailer to buy RSPO oil, to becoming the first to label it as "palm oil", helping consumers to become more aware of its importance to the food industry.

As shoppers become more aware of the issue, they will demand sustainable palm oil. As a result, we will switch to a 100 per cent certified sustainable supply in all our own-brand products by 2014.


Source: The Independent

In a major coup for the campaign to promote adoption of sustainably certified palm oil, Europe's biggest biscuit manufacturer United Biscuits has this week signed a deal to purchase certified palm oil from New Britain Palm Oil for a minimum of two years.

Studies by the WWF have shown that increased demand for palm oil for use in consumer products and biofuels is leading to severe deforestation in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where palm oil plantations have been found to contribute to illegal logging.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 to establish stringent criteria for certifying palm oil that is produced in line with environmental standards and does not contribute to illegal forest clearance.

But many retailers have shunned the more expensive palm oil certified by the RSPO, with green group WWF reporting last week that only 10 out of the 59 major retailers and manufacturers surveyed in its latest industry report have lived up to commitments to buy sustainable palm oil.

The lack of demand has resulted in only 19 per cent of the one million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil being purchased, and has reportedly prompted some producers to mix sustainably produced oils with non-sustainable oils to make it more affordable.

United Biscuits, which produces many high-profile brands including Jaffa Cakes, McVitie's biscuits and KP nuts, is among the first food manufacturers to secure a supply of sustainably certified palm oil that has been checked throughout the supply chain to ensure that the oil is from well-managed plantations.

Dr Simon Roulston, oils sourcing manager for United Biscuits, said the company's goal was to ensure that by the end of 2011 all its palm oil is certified as sustainable and delivered through supply chains that are fully segregated from non-certified palm oil. "United Biscuits has a clear goal to only use segregated, sustainable palm oil so that we can be sure that the palm oil in our products is the oil from the sustainable plantations," he said.

He added that since 2005, United Biscuits has also reduced the amount of palm oil used in its products by more than 40 per cent.

Alan Chaytor, executive director of New Britain Palm Oil, said supply deals with large firms such as United Biscuits would help drive down the cost of sustainable palm oil. "United Biscuits has shown real leadership by taking a major step to source segregated, traceable, certified sustainable palm oil here and now, and not making a distant commitment," he said.

New Britain Palm Oil sources most of its palm oil from Papua New Guinea and is fully certified by the RSPO principles.

Adam Harrison, senior policy officer covering palm oil at the WWF, welcomed the agreement and urged more firms to follow United Biscuits' lead.

"Unsustainable palm oil is a direct threat to species such as the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant and forest loss is also a major contributor to climate change,” he said. "Sourcing palm oil from RSPO-certified sources is the most credible way for companies to ensure that they are not adding to these global problems."

Source: Business Green

Nestlé has insisted it is “committed” to using only “sustainable” palm oil from 2015, the latest in a series of announcements on the raw material from food manufacturers and retailers.

The Swiss food giant, the world’s largest food maker, said it would use “Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO)” from 2015 after a “detailed review” of its palm oil supply chain.

Environmental campaigners have criticised the world’s food companies for playing in a part in destroying rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia through their sourcing of palm oil.

Nestlé buys processed palm oil and uses palm kernel oil in some of its confectionery and dairy products.

The company insisted, however, that it has no “direct links” to palm oil plantations and works with suppliers on tracing where the palm oil it uses comes from.

“Nestlé has pledged to give preference to suppliers who strive to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their operations and use of resources,” the company said.

The group added that it had applied for “full corporate membership” of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international NGO founded in 2004 to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.

Yesterday, UK retailer Marks and Spencer announced that it would purchase GreenPalm certificates to cover its entire palm oil usage.

Earlier this month, Ferrero, the confectionery giant, struck a deal to source “significant quantities” of sustainably produced palm oil.

In August, however, Cadbury and Fonterra came under fire for their use of palm oil and related ingredients.

Cadbury said it would look again at changes it made to its Dairy Milk chocolate recipe in New Zealand, after an outcry from consumers, led by social networking site Facebook.

The confectionery giant had substituted the cocoa butter in the recipe with vegetable fats including palm oil.

Greenpeace, meanwhile, slammed Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, for using palm kernel expeller, or PKE, to feed cows.

Source: Just food

Marks & Spencer will commit to paying more for sustainable palm oil across its entire range of products today in an attempt to limit environmental damage in south-east Asia.
 

In a rolling programme over the next six years, M&S will buy GreenPalm certificates for sustainably produced palm oil equivalent to the amount it uses in almost 1,000 food, beauty and home products. Like other food manufacturers, M&S pours palm oil, the world's cheapest vegetable fat, into a wide variety of food and household products such as biscuits and convenience foods.
 

By early next year, the retailer said nine products, including 200g packs of oatcakes, a 500g cookie selection and seven types of cooked potatoes, would be covered by the GreenPalm scheme. By 2015, it promised to buy certificates for all relevant products.

M&S, which would not disclose the cost of the commitment, is also funding a 120-acre wildlife corridor between plantations in Borneo.
 

Full article: The Independent

You may have made the common mistake of thinking that fat results in fatigue. You know that excess body fat increases tiredness. However, dietary fat is not causing your extra weight or your lack of energy.

Asking “why am I always tired” has a surprising answer. A lack of healthy fat has been proven to cause burn out and chronic fatigue. Your body interprets a lack of dietary fat as malnutrition. This triggers your body to convert other foods to fat and store that fat. You literally gain body fat because you did not consume enough fat.

On the other hand, eating plenty of healthy fats can end your cravings for sugary foods, stop weight gain, and give you an energy boost. These healthy fats are made of essential fatty acids which fuel your metabolism longer, like a slow-burning log which provides on-going sustenance. The more your energy has been drained, the more essential fatty acids you will need. You can get these essential fats through supplements, but it is best to get them in your diet naturally.

A tip to consuming healthy fats and curing extreme tiredness is to eat them at the proper temperature. Certain fats, as with other foods, lose their energy increasing attributes once they are exposed to heat. The heat destroys the fatty acids, converting them into a form that is unusable or even toxic. This kind of fat will remain unhealthy, even after it cools down again.

The most toxic and fatigue increasing fats come from processed foods. You should avoid these at all costs. Some oils should be avoided if heated, such as canola, peanut, corn, cottonseed, safflower, and sunflower oils.

Many of the most beneficial fats have to stay cool or at room temperature. Sesame, grape seed, flax seed, almond, primrose, and avocado oils are healthy unsaturated fats but must remain cool. Oils rich in Omega 3, such as salmon, pumpkin, and walnut, should also remain at room temperature to keep the qualities which prevent extreme tiredness.

Other fats can be heated and retain their healthy properties. Olive oil can be consumed at room temperature or cooked with and is a great source of essential fatty acids. Fowl derived fats, like turkey and duck fat, are great for cooking. Natural butter, palm kernel oil, shea nut oil, sour cream, and cheese are also very healthy fats that can be heated.

Avoiding fats is increasing your extreme tiredness. You already know that you have to eat right to get more energy. This includes adding healthy, essential fats in your diet that will keep you energized and feeling better.
 

Source: Tips & Guides

In recent months, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have mounted a major campaign against palm oil in markets of industrialised economies, threatening to campaign against brand name consumer businesses unless they vow to cease using the product.

The European Union has imposed trade restrictions on imports of biofuels (particularly palm oil).

The orang utan is being promoted as an animal which palm oil is threatening. The aim is to restrict production of palm oil. The heavily distorted campaign has its dark side.

Palm oil is a very effective industry for creating jobs and raising living standards. Restricting production will restrict a key strategy available to countries in the tropical areas to reduce poverty.

The environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) pushing this campaign historically have disregarded the impact of their campaigns on the poor. Here is another case:

A new World Growth report, Palm oil – the sustainable oil has just been released to restore balance in public discussion of palm oil. As African Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recently stated, the best way to end deforestation is to end poverty.

Research has shown that between 60% and 70% of land clearing is undertaken by the poor and poverty stricken seeking shelter, fire wood or land for subsistence farming. Nations such as Malaysia have dedicated more than 55% of land as permanent forest reserve. Indonesia has set aside 25% of land in reserve.

Environmental NGOs have also claimed that increased demand and supply for palm oil will necessarily lead to increased land clearing. This is simply not true.

Advances are occurring all the time to improve the yield and productivity of palm oil plantations. Further, many new plantations in Malaysia are being planted on degraded land, which actually improves the quality of the land and actually absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. Other plantations are occurring on land formerly planted with less efficient crops.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Centre for International Forestry Research in Indonesia have both stated that the primary cause of the loss of habitat of the orang utan is human settlement and large scale forestry plantations.

However, the palm oil industry, in collaboration with some environmental NGOs, is funding orang utan conservation programmes and wildlife habitat corridors.

Palm oil is one of few plantations which produces enough produce from a small amount of land that it can return an income to a small land holder. In Indonesia, almost half of all palm plantations are owned by small land-holders.

Palm oil has been recognised by the World Bank as one of the best means to reduce poverty and raise the standard of living of a nation. There are some issues being faced by a small number of indigenous people. While these cases do raise a considerable amount of publicity, these tensions are always faced as a nation develops and grows

Palm oil generates nearly 10 times the energy it consumes. Soybeans generate only three times the amount and rapeseed 2.5 times.

The oil palm needs only 0.26ha of land to produce one tonne of oil. Soybean, sunflower and rapeseed respectively require 2.22ha, 2ha and 1.52ha. This makes palm oil the most efficient and sustainable vegetable oil grown.

The palm oil industry, in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has also initiated the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to create certification systems for sustainably-produced oil.

In addition, there are many local laws in producing nations which govern the environmental and other legal requirements for palm oil plantations. Lifecycle analysis of carbon footprints of various oilseeds shows greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil are significantly lower than rapeseed and soybean.

The research surrounding the absorption capacity of palm oil and carbon dioxide released as a result of a new plantation either on forest or peat land is currently in its very early days. There is not sufficient research to draw any conclusions on the impact of palm oil crops on greenhouse gas emissions.

Palm oil is being attacked because it is successful. It is the fastest growing, cheapest, highest quality and most sustainable vegetable oil in production.

Analyses by the US department of agriculture shows annual production from Indonesia and Malaysia, (today they account for nearly 90% of world production) has risen over the last decade from 15,000 tonnes to 34,000 tonnes.

Palm oil is shaking up global vegetable oil markets. Several years ago the US oilseed industry promoted scurrilous, false claims that palm oil caused heart disease.

Palm oil is arguably the healthiest of all vegetable oils. For example, it has no trans fats.

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth oppose all plantation and commercial crops because they are monoculture.

They have chosen palm oil as symbolic campaign symbol. – World Growth

Source: The National

For generations, red palm oil has been revered as both a nutritious food and a valuable medicine. Even now, scientists are beginning to recognise the value of the prized plant in the treatment and prevention of several diseases. BEN UKWUOMA writes on the latest scientific work presented at the International Biomedical Science Congress held in Birminghan United Kingdom by a Nigerian scientist, based in Cape Town South Africa on the nutritional and healing properties inherent in the plant.

It was prized by the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt as a sacred food. The oil was so highly valued that it was entombed with the Pharaohs so that they would have access to it in the afterlife. Indeed, throughout history, palm oil has served as the primary source of dietary fat for countless people. Its nutritional and healing properties have been recognised for generations.

Until modern medicine arrived, red palm oil was the remedy of choice for nearly every illness in many parts of Africa.

When someone was sick, downing a cup full of palm oil was common. Even today, many people in the villages rely on this age-old method of treatment. Palm oil is regarded among many as essential in the diet for pregnant and nursing women in order to assure good health for the mother and child.

Today, scientists are recognising the value of red palm oil in the treatment and prevention of many diseases. Essentially, it contains rich, balanced mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, providing a higher level of bioavaliable nutrients than any other vegetable source. Like coconut oil, palm oil is also rich in medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which mobilise body fat stores, increase the metabolic rate and are a great source of energy.

Palm oil is a rich source of antioxidants, especially Vitamin E. While the health benefits of Vitamin E are widely known, less widely known is the fact that Vitamin E is a complex of many constituents broken into two groups: tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) and tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). And while alpha tocopherol is the form most commonly marketed as Vitamin E, the full spectrum of both tocoperols and tocotrienols are required for optimal assimilation.

The super-antioxidant tocotrienols are particularly important for optimal health. These natural antioxidants act as free radical scavengers and are believed to play a protective role in cellular aging, atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers now believe that the tocopherols and tocotrienols together provide constituents that help limit damage during a heart attack.

Red palm oil not only supplies fatty acids essential for proper growth and development, but it is packed with an assortment of vitamins, antioxidants and other phytonutrients important for good health. For instance, the red colour comes from carotenes such as beta-carotene and lycopene - the same nutrients that give tomatoes and carrots and other fruits and vegetables their rich red and orange colours.

Carotenes are valuable nutrients and powerful antioxidants. They are also important because the body can convert them into Vitamin A, an essential nutrient. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness, weaken bones, lower immunity and adversely affect learning ability and mental function.

"Vitamin A is only found in animal foods. Such foods are too expensive for many people. Carotenes in fruits and vegetables can supply the needed Vitamin A if an adequate amount of fat is also consumed. Carotenes require fat for conversion into Vitamin A. Unfortunately those who can not afford animal products often do not eat much fat either.

Populations with ample carotene-rich foods available often suffer from vitamin A deficiency because they don't get enough fat in their diet," Dr. Albert Egbuehi of the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine University of Lagos said: "Red palm oil is the richest dietary source of provitamin A carotenes (beta-carotene and alpha-carotene). It has 15 times more provitamin A carotenes than carrots and 300 times more than tomatoes. This has made it a valued resource in the treatment of Vitamin A deficiency."

"Just one teaspoon a day of red palm oil supplies children with the daily recommend amount of Vitamin A. Nursing mothers are encouraged to supplement their diet with palm oil to enrich their milk with the vitamin," he stressed. Studies also show that adding red palm oil into the diet can double or triple the amount of Vitamin A in mother's milk.

The children are not only getting the Vitamin A they need but other important nutrients as well. Red palm oil (RPO) is a virtual powerhouse of nutrition. It contains by far, more nutrients than any other dietary oil. In addition to beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene it contains at least 20 other carotenes along with Vitamin E, Vitamin K, CoQ10, squalene, phytosterols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and glycolipids.

Red palm oil is loaded with so many nutrients and antioxidants, it's like a natural dietary supplement. In fact, it is currently being encapsulated and sold as a vitamin supplement.

Over the past two decades, researchers have painstakingly studied palm oil's effect on cardiovascular health. The results have been surprising to researchers. Although high in saturated fat, it protects against heart disease.

Studies show that adding palm oil into the diet can remove plaque build up in arteries and therefore, reverse the process of atherosclerosis. This has been demonstrated in both animal and human studies. In one study, for instance, 50 subjects were divided into two equal groups. All the participants had been diagnosed with atherosclerosis and had suffered at least one stroke.

At the beginning of the study the degree of blockage of their carotid arteries ranged from 15 to 79 per cent. Without any other changes to their diets or medications, half of the subjects began taking a daily palm oil supplement. The other half received placebos and served as the control. The degree of atherosclerosis was monitored using ultrasound scans over an 18-month period. In the group receiving palm oil, atherosclerosis was halted in 23 of the 25 subjects. In seven of these subjects atherosclerosis was not only stopped, but also regressed. In comparison, none of those in the control group showed any improvement, in fact, the condition in 10 of them worsened This study demonstrated that palm oil can not only stop, but even reverse atherosclerosis.

Removing plaque is not the only way, palm oil protects against strokes and heart attacks. Palm oil can also improve cholesterol values. In a study at the University of Illinois College of Medicine researchers demonstrated a 10 per cent decrease in total cholesterol in 36 hypercholesterolemic (high cholesterol) subjects given palm oil capsules for four weeks. A follow-up study of 16 subjects resulted in a 13 per cent lowering of total cholesterol.

Palm oil helps maintain proper blood pressure. The high antioxidant content of the oil quenches free radicals and keeps inflammation under control. Tocotrienols also strengthen the heart so that it can better withstand stress.

Researchers can purposely induce heart attacks in lab animals by cutting off blood flow to the heart. This causes severe injury and death. However, if the animals are fed palm oil the survival rate is greatly increased, injury is minimised, and recovery is quicker.

After looking at studies like this it becomes obvious that palm oil protects against heart disease. This is confirmed in populations where palm oil consumption is particularly high. Heart disease in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria-where palm oil is a major if not the sole source of visible fat in the daily diet-are among the lowest in the world.

Studies show palm tocotrienols inhibit the growth of skin, stomach, pancreas, liver, lung, colon, prostate, breast and other cancers. Most of the research to date has been done with breast cancer where tocotrienols show great promise. They not only prevent cancer from taking hold, but also actively block its growth and initiate apoptosis- a process where diseased cells commit suicide. This is a normal process that is programmed into all of our cells in order to remove old and diseased cells. However, in cancer cells this process is blocked and affected cells continue to multiply and grow without restraint. Ordinary Vitamin E does not induce programmed cell death in cancer cells. Only tocotrienols have this effect.

The antioxidant power of palm oil has also shown to be of benefit in protecting against neurological degeneration. Two of the most significant factors that affect brain function are oxidative stress and poor circulation.

Oxidative stress generates free radicals that damage brain and nerve tissue. Poor circulation affects the brain by restricting oxygen and glucose, which are vital for proper brain function. Researchers have found correlations between oxidative stress and reduced blood flow to the brain to senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and even schizophrenia. All of these conditions involve brain cell death. Tocotrienols aid the brain by reducing oxidative stress and improving blood flow.


Source: The Guardian
 

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will ensure the continued existence of its iconic orang utan by strictly enforcing laws that forbid the clearing of forests along riparian reserves for planting crops like oil palm.

The commitment was made in a resolution from the two-day Orang Utan Conservation Colloquium that called for a minimum of 100m for wildlife corridors along riverbanks to be acquired by the Sabah Wildlife Department.

Riparian, or riverbank, reserves are vital to link isolated patches of forests that are home to the orang utan, Borneo pygmy elephants and the sunbear, among others.

“We are here together to do one thing: to make sure future generations can see wildlife in their natural habitat and savour what we are able to enjoy now,” said state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun when accepting the resolution.

The resolution was formulated by orang utan and wildlife experts, state government officials, local and international non-governmental organisations and local communities.


Source: The Star

 

Isn’t it odd... Greenpeace has always been all out and against palm oil. They recently protested against New Zealand’s import of Palm Kernel Extract (PKE), claiming that the import encourages rainforest destruction, but now they are suggesting we use Soy, Canola and Sesame oil! 

Here’s the link:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/true-food-shopping-list/oil-and-salad-dressings

And here’s the issue:
Soybeans yield only 446 litres of oil/hectare
Sesame yields 696 litres of oil/hectare
Canola (short for ‘Canadian Oil, Low Acid’ – is actually Rapeseed) yields 1,190 litres of oil/hectare

Other oils suggested by Greenpeace include:
Safflower – 779 litres of oil/hectare
Sunflower – 952 litres of oil/hectare

while Palm produces 5,950 litres of oil/hectare

By suggesting Soy (one of the lowest oil-producing crop after Corn) for example, Greenpeace is encouraging more forests to be cleared! Why are they then protesting against palm oil and its destruction of rainforests? Why are they encouraging  the use of Soy, Canola and other low-oil-producing crop?

They are giving a bad name to themselves for not doing their research before wasting people’s money, time and volunteers lives in these protests.

I, too cannot help but wonder who actually funds Greenpeace...