ABSTRACT
Nutrition is a major factor in maintaining good health. A well-balanced diet is a key factor, with the total fat intake and the distribution of fatty acids being particularly important. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids must be present in correct proportions. Palm oil is rich in saturated fatty acids, accounting for half its total fatty acid content. Western diets are high in saturated fatty acids (SFAs), which come mainly from animal sources (dairy and meat). Saturated fatty acids can increase total and LDL cholesterol in the blood stream (atherogenic lipoprotein fraction (Mensink et al., 2003). Unsaturated fatty acids, particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids, may decrease both total and LDL cholesterol (Mensink et al., 2003). It has been believed for half a century that saturated fatty acids are responsible for atherosclerosis, because of their effect on blood cholesterol (Vartiainen et al., 2010). However, during the last decade, this has been the subject of considerable controversy (Astrup et al., 2011).
