Palm oil as part of a high-fat diet: advances and challenges, or possible risks of pathology?

This article reviews the current scientific literature on palm oil (PO) as a major component of high-fat diets and its impact on human health, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). It examines the composition of PO, focusing on the ratio of palmitic acid (16:0) to oleic acid (18:1), and discusses how this balance influences lipid metabolism, insulin function, and inflammatory processes linked to CVD, obesity, and related disorders. The review highlights contradictory findings between animal (rodent) models and human population studies regarding PO's effects, noting that adverse outcomes observed in rodents—such as oxidative stress and lysosomal dysfunction—have not been consistently replicated in humans. It also addresses the role of lysosomal cholesterol accumulation in disease progression and the potential transgenerational transmission of high-fat-diet-induced metabolic and behavioral phenotypes. The article concludes that further research is needed to clarify PO's complex metabolic effects in humans due to differences in lipid profiles and disease mechanisms between species.