Palmitic acid: getting the facts straight 

Palmitic acid is the most abundant saturated fatty acid in nature. It plays an important role in biology and in our body. It is present in all oils, fats and foods that have a lipid component. Every now and then media or online publications link the consumption of palm oil to palmitic acid research, with erroneous assumptions and misleading conclusions as a consequence. Time to get the facts straight.

Misconception
Palm oil is obtained from the fruits of the African oil palm tree and palmitic acid was given its name when discovered in palm oil. While palm oil is naturally rich in palmitic acid, palm oil and palmitic acid are not one and the same thing: anything discovered about palmitic acid does not automatically apply to palm oil.

All types of food
Palmitic acid is a fatty acid commonly present in edible oils as well as animal fats. As a consequence, palmitic acid will normally be found in many different types of food, also when the product does not contain palm oil at all. Actually, in our diet, palmitic acid mostly originates from meat and dairy products.

In our body
Palmitic acid is such an important fatty acid that our body has developed ways to produce it from other nutrients. In addition to dietary fats, our body can produce palmitic acid internally from other fatty acids, carbohydrates, and alcohol and even from proteins if needed. This internal ‘control mechanism’ (de novo lipogenesis) ensures that the concentration of palmitic acid in our body is kept relatively stable. In other words, changes in palmitic acid intake from the diet itself hardly influence the amount of palmitic acid present in the body: in normal conditions, our body will keep the concentration relatively stable. Human body fat consists of approximately 20-30% palmitic acid.

Breast milk
Palmitic acid plays an active and desirable role in human development and various metabolic functions in humans. The importance of palmitic acid in the human diet may be illustrated with human breast milk. Human milk is high in saturated fat (38 - 41 energy %) and usually high in palmitic acid (around 45% after birth to 25% at later lactation).

Nutritional advice
Palm oil has a role to play among the fats we consume because of its specific composition, and particularly to meet technological requirements of some of the foods we consume. Banning palm oil based on palmitic acid research is meaningless, because our body will hardly respond to a lower palmitic acid intake. It will simply start to produce its own palmitic acid from other nutrients. Instead of calling for bans, we should focus on a healthy lifestyle that is is based on three elements: variation in foods and meals, a balanced energy intake and enough physical activity to prevent weight gain.