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Is Palm Oil Bad For You? Nutrition Facts, Sustainability & How It Compares To Other Oils

Author: Lindsay Boyers

April 02, 2026

Certified holistic nutrition consultant

By Lindsay Boyers

Certified holistic nutrition consultant

Lindsay Boyers is a nutrition consultant specializing in elimination diets, gut health, and food sensitivities. Lindsay earned a degree in food & nutrition from Framingham State University, and she holds a Certificate in Holistic Nutrition Consulting from the American College of Healthcare Sciences.

What is palm oil?

Types of palm oil

Is palm oil bad for you?

Palm oil vs other oils

Image by iStock

April 02, 2026

There are a lot of controversial oils out there (we're looking at you, canola oil), but palm oil takes a lot of heat. Many people think palm oil is bad for you, but the downside of this oil is really in the sourcing and not so much in the nutritional profile.

We consulted nutrition research and talked to a handful of experts to get the lowdown and to answer the question, "is palm oil bad for you?" once and for all.

What is palm oil?

Before digging into the merits (and potential drawbacks) of palm oil, let's back up for a second and discuss what it actually is. Palm oil is a vegetable oil that's made from the fruit of the oil palm tree. There's crude palm oil, which is made by squeezing the fruit, and palm kernel oil, which is made by crushing the stone (or kernel) in the middle of the fruit.

Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world1, and over 85% of the global supply comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, although there are 42 countries that also make it, according to the World Wildlife Federation.

It's considered a low-cost oil because it often produces a greater yield than other vegetable oils with an overall lower cost of production. While this sounds good in theory, it can create some environmental issues when production gets out of hand (more on that later). For now, let's start with the different types of palm oil you'll find on shelves.

Summary

Palm oil—the most widely used vegetable oil in the world—is made from the fruit or fruit kernel of the oil palm tree. The majority of our palm oil supply comes from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Different forms of palm oil

There are two main types of palm oil: refined and unrefined.

"The refined form, which is most widely used, goes through quite a bit of processing to get to its end product," says registered dietitian Kristin Gillespie, M.S., R.D., LDN. She adds that refined oil is often used in cooking due to its high smoke point, but it's also found in almost 50% of processed foods, like pizza, peanut butter, chocolate, coffee creamers, and margarine, and many personal care products, where it acts as a stabilizer.

The majority of the palm oil we eat in Western diets tends to be found in these processed foods; we don't use it for cooking.

"Unrefined palm oil is less processed than its refined counterpart. As a result, it has a stronger color and taste compared to refined palm oil, which is more neutral," says Gillespie. Unrefined palm oil (also called red palm oil) is not as common in Western diets and tends to be more of a specialty product.

"Nutritionally and health-wise, they are similar; however, the carotenoids present in unrefined palm oil are lost during processing. Because of this, refined palm oil does not offer this nutritional benefit."

Summary

Refined palm oil is highly processed and used as a stabilizer in many processed foods and personal care products. Unrefined palm oil is not as heavily processed and tends to be slightly healthier from a nutrition standpoint.

Health benefits of palm oil

Palm oil has been associated with a few health benefits, including brain and heart health and improved vitamin A status, according to Gillespie. "Palm oil is rich in tocotrienols, which is a form of vitamin E. These have antioxidant properties and have been linked to improved brain health2 in human and animal studies3," she says.

Other studies4 link palm oil to better heart health, especially when substituted for trans fats. Palm oil is mostly saturated fat, but it also contains oleic and linoleic acids, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (respectively).

According to a 2015 report in the World Journal of Cardiology5, palm oil has actually been shown to protect the heart and blood vessels and has no incremental risk for heart disease when consumed as part of an otherwise healthy, balanced diet.

Unrefined palm oil is also rich in carotenoids, which are converted to vitamin A. "As a result, palm oil consumption can help improve vitamin A status6 for those who are prone to malabsorption or deficiency of this key nutrient," says Gillespie. "Of note: This benefit does not translate to refined palm oil (which is what we typically see used in the Western diet)."

It's also worth pointing out that when used for cooking, palm oil has a relatively high smoke point