Why "No Palm Oil" Matters More Than You Think — for Your Body and the Planet

Palm oil lurks in almost half of all products in the grocery store — your morning biscuit to your late night chocolate bar. However, its usage comes with a significant cost: it can be costly for you and it can be expensively damaging for some of the most valuable forests on earth. Palm oil substitution in foods is one of the things you can do now that would make the biggest difference. When you have an understanding of what is really happening, you realize why you didn't make the switch sooner.

What Exactly Is Palm Oil and Why Is It in Absolutely Everything?

Palm oil is sourced from the fruit of the African oil palm tree and has been a favourite for the food industry for years. It is affordable, it is heat-stable, and it imparts that creamy texture to packaged food keeping them on the shelf for months. Those qualities make it incredibly attractive for manufacturers — but they're also exactly why you should be paying attention to the label.

Here's what makes palm oil so prolific:

• It shows up under more than 50 different names on ingredient labels — including vegetable oil, sodium lauryl sulphate, stearic acid, and glyceryl stearate, making it genuinely difficult to spot
• It's estimated to be in roughly 50% of all consumer goods sold in supermarkets globally, according to the World Wildlife Fund
• Global palm oil production has more than doubled since 2000, with Indonesia and Malaysia together accounting for nearly 85% of the world's supply
• It's used across food, cosmetics, cleaning products, and even biofuels — so avoiding it entirely takes real effort

The problem isn't just that it's everywhere. The problem is what it costs — for your cholesterol levels and for the planet's lungs.

What Does Palm Oil Actually Do to Your Body?

Let's be honest — not every fat is created equal. Palm oil is rich in saturated fat, specifically palmitic acid, which makes up roughly 44% of its composition. And saturated fat, when consumed in excess, is consistently linked to increased LDL cholesterol (the "bad" kind), which raises your risk of cardiovascular disease.

What the science actually tells us:

• Unlike olive oil or nut-based oils, palm oil provides very little in the way of heart-friendly monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats
• Refined palm oil also loses much of its natural vitamin E content during processing, leaving you with the fat but without the nutritional upside
• Many people consuming palm oil daily through snacks, breads, and ready meals are completely unaware of how much accumulated intake they're building up

Take this to heart when compared to nut butters from almonds, pistachios or saffron, which provides healthy fats, fiber and plant protein but with none of the palm oil. Whether you're interested in enriching your daily snacking pleasure with the classic collection palm oil free spreads or the colorful options of the naturally-made fruity collection, there's definitely a good starting point there.

What are the environmental effects of the production of palm oil?

That's where the writing gets difficult to stomach. Palm oil is one of the most intensive causes of deforestation in recent history as it is in high demand worldwide. Much of the rainforest, mainly in Borneo and Sumatra, has been cut down to accommodate palm plantations, and the impact has been devastating.

The facts about the environment are devastating:

• From 2002-2022, Indonesia deforested approximately 9.8 million hectares of primary forest, primarily for palm oil plantations (Global Forest Watch).
• Palm plantations on drained peat lands in southeast Asia are emitting large amounts of carbon, Southeast Asia's peatlands store an estimated 42 billion tonnes of carbon, a large portion of which is at risk.
• Over the last 60 years, the orangutan population numbers have reduced by more than 50% in Borneo, primarily because of habitat destruction caused by the expansion of agriculture.
• Plantations trap only a portion of biodiversity that occurs in forests, with only a few more species per hectare of rainforest than in a plantation of the same area.

If you purchase products containing palm oil, there really is a supply chain behind them. There is a certified sustainable palm oil (RSPO), but critics have highlighted the fact that certification does not always lead to real action on the ground.

What Should You Actually Eat Instead?

The happy news is that there are actually delicious and nutritious options. It doesn't compromise on taste or texture. It is about selecting products with integrity, from ingredients that are better for them and for the communities and ecosystems they are derived from.

Here's a practical guide to making the switch:

• Choose nut butters over palm-oil spreads — almond butter, pistachio butter, and other nut-based options give you healthy fats, vitamin E, and fiber with no compromise on taste
• Read labels carefully and look for any of palm oil's disguised names — if a product lists "vegetable oil" without specifying the source, that's a flag
• Prioritise single-ingredient or minimal-ingredient products — the shorter the list, the less room there is for sneaky additives
• Go for cold-pressed or stone-ground options where possible – these hold more nutrients and do not undergo the high heat processing, which removes benefits.
• Sponsor brands that are open about where ingredients are sourced from — companies willing to let you know where their ingredients are sourced are ones making things right.

The winner of palm oil vs. natural nut butter?

When it comes to selecting a palm oil spread versus natural nut butter, very few choices are closely comparable. The spreads made from palm oil have fewer nutritional benefits than other fats and oils apart from calories, and are more expensive and less durable in the store. Natural nut butter, particularly from heirloom or single origin nut varieties, adds natural protein, heart healthy fats, magnesium and antioxidants.