Impact Of Palm Oil Consumption On Cardiovascular Health

GC003E-17SBS : Impact Of Palm Oil Consumption On Cardiovascular Health

Abstract

Human consumption of palm oil have risen substantially among Latin American population, parallel to its increased production for the last decade. Colombia, Equador followed by Mexico are now the leading producers of palm oil in 2016, while rapidly ranking as the top 30 highest palm oil consuming countries for domestic purposes. While palm oil production has been used as a tool for economic development in Southeast Asia, controversy has flared over the deleterious effects of its production, not only to the environment, but the associated increased in its consumption to cardiovascular (CVS) health outcomes. This subprogram aims to investigate the contribution of increased palm oil consumption to the growing burdens of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in these developing nations. More significantly, much of the palm oil consumed as cooking oil is oxidised rather than in the fresh state, and how thermally palm oil affect CVS function oxidised will also be investigated.

Impact:

A greater understanding on the systemic and molecular changes caused by the fatty acid components of palm oil will allow a greater insight into disease mechanism and therapeutic strategies. Indeed, palm oil may represent an important saturated fat source for policies aimed at reducing CVD burdens.

Objectives:

1. To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of palm oil on blood lipids parameters and its association with cardiovascular diseases.

2. To compare the fatty acid and nutritional profile of palm oil produced by both regions and its effect on adiposity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular metabolism and function.

3. To investigate the effect of thermally oxidized oil sourced from both regions on adiposity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular metabolism and function.

Methodology:

The effects of palm oil on blood lipids parameters and its association with CVD will be passed by a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess. Given that dietary lipid composition affect the development of CVS dysfunction, in-vivo and ex-vivo lab work will be conducted to investigate how palm oil produced in South East Asia and Latin American counties differentially affect lipid profile, adiposity, insulin resistance, cardiac metabolism and subsequently function.

Expected output:

1 PhD student, 2 ISI papers

Activity Research:

International Workshop on Southeast Asia and Latin America 2018

The International Workshop on Southeast Asia and Latin America 2018 provided a close assessment of Southeast Asian and South American countries that indicates varying degrees in the interactions between the state and businesses to promote domestic enterprises and environmental governance in the biofuels and palm oil sectors. This workshop focused on two main areas of research which were separated into two concurrent sessions. The first session was on “Business Groups, Corporate Development Strategies and the Agribusiness Sector: Comparing Liquid Biofuel Approaches in Southeast Asia and Latin America” while the second session was on “Environmental Governance in the Palm Oil Sector: Comparing Approaches in Southeast Asia and Latin America”.

The workshop was held on 5 – 6 June 2018 and brought together an interdisciplinary team of presenters and participants. The presentations covered issues on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand from Southeast Asia, and Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras from Latin America. The presenters came from 10 different countries while the participants came from various universities and agencies including UM, UPM, University of Nottingham, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia, Embassy of France in Malaysia, Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Italian Trade Commission, WWF Malaysia, and Malaysian Nature Society.