RED PALM OIL...Panel of experts say red palm oil should be used within the limits of allowed total daily calorie intake from fats, as there is as yet no scientific evidence that shows that consumption of red palm oil, as part of a healthy balanced diet is harmful.

PROBING EFFECTS OF COOKING OIL ON HEART DISEASE

*Summit declares red palm oil healthful, seeks heart-friendly choices in food consumption
*Endorses ginger, garlic, garden eggs, others

An expert panel on lipids and cardiovascular health in the Nigerian Population has alerted to the increase in prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), especially Cardiovascular Disease (CD) in Nigeria, and the documented evidence of deleterious effects of lipids (fats and oil). The experts from a range of relevant disciplines in a report published in July 2017 edition of the European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety called for an urgent need to advocate for the general public and health professionals to make heart-friendly choices in food consumption even as they declared palm oil healthful. They said red palm oil should be used within the limits of allowed total daily calorie intake from fats, as there is as yet no scientific evidence that shows that consumption of red palm oil, as part of a healthy balanced diet is harmful. CHUKWUMA MUANYA, Assistant Editor, writes.

The verdict is out: More Nigerians are dying today of heart-related diseases due to the deleterious effects of cooking oils. Recent studies have shown that more people die annually from Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) than from any other cause and more than 80 per cent of the global burden of CVD occur in low- and middle-income countries.

CVD is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.

A new study by team of medical experts shows that coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths in Nigeria reached 53,836 or 2.82 per cent of total deaths, and are responsible for the greatest proportion of the total mortality due from non-communicable diseases (NCD). While in economically stable countries, death from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases come from long and productive life, in developing countries almost half of such deaths occur among people in the prime of their age.

According to the study titled “Consensus Summit: Lipids and Cardiovascular Health in the Nigerian Population,” the upsurge of these diseases in the developing countries is as a result of increasing behavioral risk factors such as unhealthy nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use and alcohol which are modified by social determinants like poverty, urbanization and globalization.

The study conducted by team of researchers from various health and medical institutions in Nigeria and The Netherlands noted that other factors that can modulate predisposition include ageing and genetics. They, however, said most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors.

According to the study, dietary fats and oils provide calories, essential fatty acids and are sources of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. However the lipid content of dietary fats and oils have a bearing on serum lipid profile, as dyslipidemia is associated with CVD risk.

They, however, noted that the effects of both the amount and quality of dietary fat have yielded conflicting results. Saturated fatty acids are associated with large less dense Low Density Lipo-protein (LDL) also known as ‘bad’ cholesterol while carbohydrates are associated with the denser small LDL particles that predispose to CVD. Positive relationship between CVD mortality and raised total cholesterol and raised total triglycerides at younger ages is reversed in seniors.

Palm oil and heart health in Nigeria

Raw red palm oil is a rich source of phytonutrients, carotenoids, tocopherols, tocotrienols, sterol, phospholipids and polyphenols. Refined palm oil is in mainly heat stable, largely tasteless and trans- fat free.

The argument against the use of palm oil is because it contains palmitic acid (44 per cent), a saturated fatty acid, which by extrapolation increases risk of cardiovascular disease. However, palm oil also contains oleic acid (40 per cent), which are monounsaturated and the major constituent of olive oil. Palm oil is also a very rich source of vitamins A and E as well as other anti- oxidants.

According to the study, food processing methods that are discouraged include smoking of food products as encountered in barbecues, open air roasting of corn and yams, repeated frying of oils in home use, including manufacturing and handling processes that change the integrity and composition of vegetable oils. Overheating, bleaching, hydrogenations are extreme treatment of food and food products, which usually degrade the nutritive value of the processed food and of oils in particular.

Therefore recycling of frying oils that hydrogenate and oxidize oils, are some deleterious effects conferred on fats and oils that should be discouraged. On the other hand, to preserve the antioxidants and vitamins in food and food products, boiling extraction methods of red palm oil preserves the B carotene and antioxidants better than refining process that produces tasteless white palm oil obtainable in the food manufacturing industries.

Although most oils in the market claim to have no or low cholesterol, it is not certain that they meet the cholesterol free standards by the CODEX criteria of less than, 0.005 g per 100 g solids, 0.005 g per 100 ml liquids with less than 1.5 g saturated fat per 100g solids or 0.75 g saturated fat per 100 ml liquids and 10% energy from saturated fats.

Compliance with local fortification regulations also needs to be verified for integrity of such oils to be acceptable.

There are various dietary lipids available in the Nigerian markets, both of plant and animal origins, including groundnut oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, cotton seed oil, maize oil, palm oil and so on. Over 40 vegetable oils were published under different trade names as being available on the Nigerian market, but only four have been endorsed by NHF. These are established as cholesterol-free oil in the Nigerian market and their production promoted by the NHF heart friendly endorsement.