JAKARTA – Palm oil is not only popular as raw material to produce cooking oil or an ingredient in various food products. But it is also known as having high nutritional content that is beneficial to human health.
Rizqiawan, S.Gz, M.Si, a nutrition expert and lecturer of nutrition study program at the University of Binawan Jakarta, said that the red palm oil is highly potential to reduce the risk of cancer and tumors disease.
“The red palm oil is very rich in carotenoids, tocopherol, and balanced fatty acid composition, which all can function as antioxidants,” he said in Jakarta recently.
A test has been undertaken for adult men with dyslipidemia (increase of fat content in blood that heightens the risk of heart disease and stroke). They were given pastries containing red palm oil. The result was their total cholesterol decrease, LDL-C, MDA and LDL oxidized and the serum SOD Enzymes significantly increase.
According to him, the red palm oil-contained pastries were also given to patients of benign breast tumor for eight weeks. Conducted in 2020, the research has proven that the red palm oil can increase the SOD content (antioxidant increase), reduce the contents of TNF-α and 8-isoprostan serum, and significantly reduce the breast tumor size.
“The accusation that palm oil can cause cancer and tumor can be countered with various researches of palm oil, including the red palm oil. In addition to that, the red palm oil can also be used to tackle the problem of vitamin A deficiency which is very important for the growth of children,” he said.
PT Nutri Palma Nabati’s Director Dr. Darmono Taniwiryono said that palm oil has a high content of beta-carotene, Vitamin E, Co-Q10, likopen, DAG, MAG, and ALB, low Omega 6, no cholesterol, transfat, 3-MCPD and GE.
“When I visited Africa, I saw the local people there consume the red palm oil without process of refinement and deodorization. Then I know the reason why the African people rarely use eyeglasses,” he said.
According to him, the vitamin E contained in palm oil in the form of tocotrienol is actually higher than that contained in other vegetable oils. (*)
Source: sawitku.id
