Palm Oil: An Over - Acclaimed Cooking Oil in Nigeria

Palm oil, the oil derived from palm fruit, is the major oil used for cooking in Nigeria. Palm oil has half of its fatty acids made up of saturated fatty acids and 43% made up of palmitic acid. The unrefined red palm oil is the form in which most Nigerians use palm oil and it is generally regarded safer for cardiovascular health than other branded vegetable oils. Although the overall contribution of palm oil to cardiovascular health is still controversial and subject to on-going research, the high concentration of saturated fatty acids in palm oil presents palm oil as detrimental oil to cardiovascular health since dietary saturated fatty acids is an important risk of cardiovascular disease.