The real junk to avoid is hydrogenated oils, including margarine. Heart disease in the US started to increase commensurate with increased consumption of margarine and hydrogenated oils (like Crisco). Many charts and research online.

THis is certainly true. I think I first became aware of palm oil when I read a report about the hydrogenated palm oil used in Twinkies, of all things.

I know you can remove the saturated fats from palm oil, but frankly, as I cannot read Thai, I cannot tell if any given palm oil has been so treated, so in my home, the rule is no palm oil.

I know you can remove the saturated fats from palm oil, but frankly, as I cannot read Thai, I cannot tell if any given palm oil has been so treated, so in my home, the rule is no palm oil.

I believe you can tell for the most part by looking at it... if it is translucent, golden, then it has been desaturated. That is actually palm olein.

Pure palm oil looks like this (opaque):