Happy New Year 2016! Thousands of people around the world are now all set to welcome this brand new year with enthusiasm, hopes and resolutions. Getting healthy is a typical new year’s resolution and how can one actually achieve this?
To stay healthy means to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy and staying active in physical activities. So, what comes to your mind when you think about healthy eating? Low fat foods or fat-free foods? In fact, high-fat food alone will not make one fat unless one indulges in large amount of high-fat foods or the person’s calorie intake exceeds calorie output, that person will become fat or overweight and have higher chances of developing chronic diseases.
Hence choosing a healthy fat such as cooking oil is crucial to maintain a healthy body. Fat is critical for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K. These absorbed fat-soluble vitamins will be stored in liver or fat tissues and release when the body needs them.
An example of healthy cooking oil is Malaysian red palm oil. Malaysian red palm oil is naturally trans-fat free, cholesterol free and possess equal amount of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids that help to support heart health and attenuate inflammation. Additionally, red palm oil is suitable for cooking as it is heat-resistant, does not break down into toxic chemicals during high-temperature food preparation such as deep-frying. Red palm oil is semi-solid at ambient temperature with a melting point at 35°C (95°F) hence it is a good replacement for partially-hydrogenated fat (trans-fat). (E.g. Margarine made from palm oil does not need to undergo the hydrogenation process.).
In addition, another unique feature that sets red palm oil apart from other edible oils is that red palm oil is the most abundant source of tocotrienol (superior form of vitamin E) in nature. As a matter of fact, tocotrienol is the crown jewel of red palm oil. Tocotrienol is the most potent form of vitamin with stronger antioxidant as it is 40 to 60 times more potent than alpha-tocopherol (regular vitamin E). Tocotrienol also possesses unique health beneficial properties that are not possessed by tocopherol such as maintaining healthy cholesterol level, addressing fatty liver (silent killer of the 21st century),neuroprotection against white matter lesion (independent risk factor for stroke) as well as anti-aging in skin nutrition.
Red palm oil is orange-red color naturally due to the presence of carotenoids, the “2nd crown jewel”. When comparing to other vegetable oils, red palm oil is the richest source of carotenoids having 15 times and 30 times more carotenoids than carrots and tomatoes respectively. Carotenoids are potent antioxidant as it helps to stimulate heart health, strengthen immune system and promote good vision to minimize the risks of developing degenerative disease such as age-related macular disease.
External factors such as environmental pollution, vehicles exhaust, cigarette smoking and stress from daily life contribute to the generation of free radicals in the body. When the production of free radicals exceeds the antioxidants (defense system) in our body, oxidative stress occurs, causing cell or DNA damages ultimately leading to disease development. Regular consumption of palm oil that is rich in antioxidants such as tocotrienols and carotenoids, the two crown jewels, are believed to neutralize free radicals, reduced rates of oxidative stress and hence conferring protection to body cells.
Therefore, when you purchase palm cooking oil, make sure you are choosing palm oil produced in Malaysia. Malaysian red palm oil is a non-GMO product and is sustainably produced. And importantly, the production of palm oil demands less use of energy, pesticide and fertilizer compared to other oil crops. It not only helps to feed the world with valuable nutrients or antioxidants, but also imposing less harm to our mother Earth.
As for those who want the benefit and goodness of red palm oil in a convenient dietary supplement form or delivery dosage, there are many finished products that are available in the market (ie : dietary supplements). They are available in softgels or hard capsule or tablet either as a stand-alone full spectrum palm tocotrienol or a combination with natural palm tocotrienol and mixed carotene complex (red palm oil concentrate) or in combination with other synergistic phytonutrients such as CoQ10, omega fish oil / flaxseed oil / krill oil, etc. What is most important is that when you purchase the dietary supplement, look for the products that carry the logo and tradename of EVNol SupraBioTM – the same patented and bioenhanced tocotrienol complex used in the human clinical studies of red palm tocotrienol.
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Disclaimer: The statements in the above article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease