JAKARTA – Palm oil triggers cancer disease? The following facts and description will provide the right answer to that question.
Besides cardiovascular disease, the cancer disease is also wrongly attributed to palm oil. Many people said that palm oil has a relatively high content of saturated fatty acids, which is regarded as the cause of cancer disease. It was concluded by a number of studies, which were published in international journals, including the study of Pascual et al., (2021). Apparently, the study (Raharjo, 2022) was based on the excessive consumption of palm oil, which was 42 percent of the total calory or higher than normal consumption at the maximum of 30 percent of total fats with the content of saturated fatty acids below 10 percent.
Conversely, the previous researchers—Fattore, Fanelli (2013) and Gesteiro et al. (2019), showed a different conclusion from their studies. The two studies showed that there is no specific evidence to confirm that consumption of palm oil can increase the risk of cancer disease.
But on the contrary, a variety of studies have shown that consumption of palm oil can reduce the risk of developing cancer cells, and control the growth (weight and volume) of tumor and can prevent various kinds of degenerative diseases (Sylvester et al., 1986; Chong, 1987; Sundram end ct al., 1989; Komiyama et al., 1989; Muhilal et al, 1991; Iwasaki dan Murokoshi, 1992; Goh et al., 1994; Guthrie et al., 1993, 1995).
Palm oil, which is rich in antioxidant, such as carotene (Vitamin A) and tocopherols and tocotrienols (Vitamin E), is able to fight against free radicals as the cause of cancer cells mutation. It means that palm oil can prevent cancer disease (Sundram et al., 1990; Oluba et al., 2009).
The palm oil has higher content of antioxidant, as its content of tocotrienols is twice higher compared to soybean (Cho et al., 2009), making the palm oil much stronger in preventing cancer disease (McIntyre et al., 2000).
The above description shows that there is no empirical study which provides evidence to prove that palm oil consumption can trigger cancer disease.
As a matter of fact, the high content of antioxidant in palm oil functions as “medicine” to prevent the growth of cancer cells. The palm oil has anti-cancer properties, as it contains carotenoid, tocopherols, and tocotrienols, which are rich in antioxidant, and other bioactive compounds, such as phytosterols, squalene, polyphenols, and co-enzyme Q10 (ubiquinone) (Loganathan et al., 2010). (*)
Source: Mitos Fakta Kelapa Sawit – 4th Edition (Mitos 5-10)
