2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
The life hacker asked the proctologist who knows exactly what happens to this product in our body.
Palm oil, which is not really very different from any other vegetable oil, is overgrown with a huge number of myths. One of the most persistent says that this product clogs the intestines and from this the problems begin. We asked the doctor if this was really the case.
In a healthy person, palm oil is almost completely digested and absorbed well. There is no scientific evidence that it can accumulate in the intestines and negatively affect its condition. And fears that palm oil is clogging up the intestines are unfounded.
Palm oil, like any other vegetable oil, consists mainly of fatty acids, which, in combination with the trihydric alcohol glycerin, form fats - triglycerides.
The peculiarity of palm oil is that it is one of the few vegetable oils rich in saturated fatty acids.
There are about 50% of them in its composition, mainly palmitic acid (44%). This gives palm oil a semi-solid consistency at room temperature.
Once in the gastrointestinal tract, palm oil is digested and absorbed no worse than any other vegetable and animal fats. Basically, these processes occur in the small intestine: bile and phospholipids, bile salts, enter there. All of these substances help emulsify fats. And only then a special enzyme - pancreatic lipase - breaks down triglycerides into free fatty acids and monoglycerides.
They are absorbed by enterocytes (cells of the mucous membrane of the small intestine). And no, they do not remain in them forever and ever, but quite successfully turn back into triglycerides (yes, everything is not easy, but otherwise the fats cannot be absorbed), packed into special particles for transportation - chylomicrons - and sent to the lymphatic capillaries, and from them - into the circulatory system. And they are safely used by the body.
And that insignificant part of fats and fatty acids that was not absorbed from the lumen of the small intestine is excreted along with the feces.
The only thing that should be taken into account is the WHO recommendations and the American dietary guidelines. International standards advise reducing the amount of saturated fatty acids. They should be no more than 10% of the calorie content of the daily diet. In this way, the risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced. Of course, it's not just about palmitic acid. But given that there are a lot of products with palm oil on store shelves, you can sort out with saturated fatty acids.
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