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Old 02-16-2006, 07:31 AM
EricT EricT is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,314
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The reason they use the palm oil is because it's a binder and acts like hydrogenated oil in that respect. Keeps the oils from separating from the solids so you don't have to stir, as you said.

There is another advantage in that it is a preservative oil, so the peanut butter can last longer without being stored in the regrigerator. BTW, if you guys are not storing your natty PB in the fridge, you are making a big mistake. It's gonna go rancid pdq.

In general, I consider palm oil a fairly healthy one. Yes, it has saturated fat*, but it alos contains 40% oleic acid and 10% linoleic acid. Good stuff. There's also lots of vitamin E and cartenoids. Of course, the palm oil used in the Skippy is probably highly refined (using heat and chemicals or both) and is only there for the binding/ preservative qualities, many of the healthy constituents being destroyed or lost in the refining process.

I agree, of course, that there is no need to have oil added to natty PB, as long as you're willing to keep it cold. For someone who just can't deal with the texture or the stirring, then a PB with Palm oil is a MUCH better alternative than store brands with trans fats. The trick would be buying one which contains unrefined Palm oil, possibly from a health food store (undoubtedly more expensive), in order to recieve the health benefits.

*On a side note, there is increasing evidence that all saturated fats do not act the same on the body, and some may be healthy or even desirable. Palm oil is one of these, and it has been used for a long time in other parts of the world. Now, there's no real proof of anything, but I think in the future we will probably begin looking at the effects of individual oils themselves rather than relying exclusively on the fatty acid breakdown as and indicator.
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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.
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