What harm from palm oil in children's food threatens the health of the body

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Young mothers who care about the baby's nutrition, carefully study the composition of the children's products presented in the modern market.

Often, in children's milk mixes, instant porridges, confectionery and other products, you can find a component called palm oil.

Parents have a natural question: is this ingredient dangerous for crumbs?

  • Baby food
  • Harm and benefit
  • Positive properties
  • Harmful effects
  • Possible consequences
  • How to preserve the health of babies


To date, the topic of rendering the negative effect of palm oil on children's body is especially relevant and popular, causing controversy and discussion.

There is an assumption that this oil, in practice, is not absorbed by the body of newborns.

But conducted clinical studies showed the opposite results.

The palm oil absorption coefficient is 95-96%, while this figure for milk fat is slightly more than 90%.

In the article we will understand whether palm oil is threatened by children when it is included in the diet and whether it is worthwhile to exclude such a product from the daily menu of babies.

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Baby food

When making food for children, modern manufacturers set the main goal - to create a product similar in composition and properties to breastmilk, which is difficult to reproduce.

Any food consists of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, trace elements, macronutrients and vitamins. All these components must be well adapted to the needs of infants.

Of particular importance is the fatty element of mixtures for newborns and older children.

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Many believe that cow's milk is easily able to replace the mother's milk. But fats in cow's milk are fundamentally different from those of mother's milk.

In practice, vegetable oils are more identical to mother's milk, so in the infant formula, various manufacturers add oils:

  • soybean;
  • palm;
  • corn;
  • coconut;
  • sunflower.

The main advantages of vegetable oils include extending the shelf life of products, giving sweetish taste to children's products and low price.

Along with the stated advantages, there is a downside, expressed in the problems of digestibility of such products by children.

Harm and benefit of

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the oil palm, namely - from the pulp.

It has a pleasant aroma and specific taste, characteristic for the fruit of the oil palm and it looks like margarine with its smell and red-orange color.

Although palm oil was known more than 5000 years ago, for the inhabitants of our country this product is new, and the general opinion about its harm or benefit is not yet fully formed. The influence of the nutrition component on the health of children has been discussed for many years.

There are various assumptions, some argue that palm oil is beneficial to the body, others that it is harmful to children.

Positive properties of

The main beneficial properties of palm oil are due to the components necessary for health and well-being:

  1. The product contains a high amount of vitamin A needed to improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails.
    Element is considered an excellent antioxidant, improving vision and increasing the strength of bones.
    In palm oil, you can find 15 times more vitamin A than in all known carrots.
  2. A huge amount of vitamin E makes it possible to isolate the product as a means of preventing and effectively combating cancer diseases that cope with pathologies at the level of free radicals.
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  4. Palm oil is rich in triglycerines, which are rapidly digestible components that enter the liver, bypassing the bloodstream, and are expended for energy.
    This is an indispensable property, especially, necessary and important for poor digestibility of fats and extra kilograms.

But besides the pluses, there are significant drawbacks of palm oil for the children's body.

Harmful effects of

Scientists have found that the quality of vegetable oils has a significant effect of linoleic acid, which in palm oil contains only 5%.

In other oils, the content of this component exceeds 70%.

Oil has the property of refractory, which contributes to the severe withdrawal of this product from the body.

As a result, palm oil for a long time settles on the walls of internal organs, especially the intestine, and since it is carcinogenic, there is an assumption that can provoke occurrence of oncological diseases .

Some scientists suggest that saturated fats in the composition of palm oil cause pathology of the cardiovascular system, and in children - intestinal colic.

Palm oil has a high energy value, which increases the risk of obesity and even the development of diabetes.

It can be concluded that the benefits and harms of palm oil are in a certain balance.

Possible consequences of

In children, palm oil is highly purified for children, so do not be afraid of its toxicity and harm to the health of the baby.

However, it does not fulfill its direct function of enriching the children's body with palmitic acid.

When ingested in the intestine, the component combines with calcium and is eliminated from the body in a natural way, with mucus masses.

As a result, children fed and fed baby food with palm oil as a part of mixtures may lack calcium and fat, which can lead to the following negative consequences for the child's well-being:

  • stool disorders in newborns;
  • frequent and prolonged constipation due to the high content of saturated acids in the composition of the oil;
  • stronger manifestations of intestinal colic;
  • weak degree of mineralization of bone tissues of children, after 4 months of treatment, bone density decreases by approximately 10%, which contributes to problems with the musculoskeletal system in children in the future;
  • frequent regurgitation after feeding.

With the regular feeding of a child with products with palm oil, the likelihood of developing gastrointestinal pathologies and the occurrence of atherosclerosis in the preschool age increases.

How to preserve the health of kids

To solve the problem of the negative effects of palmic acid on the health of children, many manufacturers of products for children "moved" the molecule of palmitic acid on olein so that it could not bind calcium.

When indicated on the packaging with the product "modified palm oil", the milk mixture will not cause any harm to the body of the crumbs.

It has the beneficial effect of and can be used as a full-fledged mother's breast milk substitute for daily use.

There are casein mixtures for children without palm oil, but they contain insufficient amounts of protein that the baby needs, which is also harmful for the body.

Breastfeeding the baby with mother's milk is the best beneficial food for infants, especially for babies up to 6 months of age.

If it is impossible to breast-feed the baby, you have to replace the mother's milk with a milky mixture.

As a part of the product, palm oil can be hidden under "vegetable fats".

Palm oil-free palm oil mixtures are usually labeled PRE and are specifically designed to feed babies up to 6 months of age that can not receive breast milk.

Which products to choose - with or without palm oil, each parent independently decides.

Look at the video, in which you will clearly see what palm oil is made of.