An interesting article which reveals the usefulness of Palm oil –
an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp of the fruit of the
oil palms, primarily the African oil palm.
Mere mention of red oil, the first thing that comes to mind is an
ingredient for food. But how well do people know palm oil? For several
years now, palm oil has been described as one of the factors that fuel
risk for heart attack or stroke.
But recent studies have shown otherwise as it has been proven that
red palm oil not only serves as primary source of dietary fat but also
improves reproductive health of men and heart health.
Produced from the fruit of palm tree and originated from tropical
Africa, its nutritional and healing properties have been recognised for
generations. Until modern medicine arrived, palm oil was the remedy of
choice for several illnesses in many parts of Africa.
It was also regarded as the powerhouse of nutrition containing by far more nutrients than any other dietary oil.
Before now, it was among essential diets for pregnant and nursing
mothers in order to ascertain good health of the mother and child.
Although palm oil in the past has been in the news for the wrong reason,
today, experts say there many reasons to consume red oil.
Some of these reasons include the fact that it helps to improve
your heart health and assures better reproductive health for men and
women.
It is now common place to see baby factories springing up in every
nook and cranny of the country, no thanks to the increase in the rate of
infertility among Nigerian men and women. Also in recent times, cases
of missing children are rampant.
Findings show that these occur due to the inability of couples to
have their own biological children. But experts say getting to the root
of these problems can be possible through natural home remedies such as
consumption of palm oil.
According to a Professor of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular
Diagnosis, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, CMUL, Oluyemi
Akinloye, Nigeria and other countries of the world have continued to
witness a sharp rise in male infertility but, unfortunately, in some
cases, the cause is not known.
In Nigeria alone, the male factor contribution to infertility is
estimated to be about 54 per cent, based on semen analysis and,
globally, the male contribution to infertility among couples has been
estimated to be about 33 per cent.
Akinloye, who maintained that several men could not achieve their
desire to impregnate their female partners due to reasons beyond their
control, said concentration of lead in blood is associated with a
decrease in sperm count, sperm volume, sperm motility and morphological
alterations.
Local remedies such as red palm oil, he explained, have showed
promises in improving male infertility potential. Describing red oil as
the powerhouse of nutrition far more than nutrients in any dietary oil,
he said studies have shown that palm oil improves reproductive capacity
and vitamin A, which is known to play a part in reproduction through the
synthesis of sex steroids.
Akinloye, who is also the Head, Department of Medical Laboratory
Science, College of Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH,
in a study, reported that red oil improved the decreased sperm count and
sperm motility observed in a seminal fluid of a lead treated rat.
The study on the protective effect of red palm oil on testicular
damage induced by administration of lead acetate on male rats, he
stated, discovered that co-administration with red oil has a protective
effect against lead toxicity.
The professor pointed out that the study shows that red palm oil
has a potential to attenuate the toxic effect of lead on testicular
cells preventing possible resultant male infertility.
“Palm oil is regarded among many as essential in the diet for
the pregnant and nursing mothers in order to ascertain good health of
the mother and child,” Akinloye added.
“Studies show that adding palm oil into the diet can double or
triple the amount of vitamin A in mother’s milk. “It contains
carotenoids, phosphatides, sterols, tocopherols and trace metals shown
to be effective against oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo.
“Palm oil is one of the richest natural sources of vitamin E
which contains a super potent form of known as tocotrienol. It is the
only vegetable oil with a balanced composition of saturated and
unsaturated fatty acids in both processed and unprocessed forms.
“Palm oil helps maintain proper blood pressure. The high
antioxidant content of the oil quenches free radicals and keeps
inflammation under control.”
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