I've looked in my Eat Right book, as well as searching on this site but I can't find an answer to my question: Is palm oil ok for type O's? Is it possible it is in my Eat Right Book just under a different name? Thank you for your time. Hopefully you can answer my question.

(you'll feel my pain in a moment.)

The short answer, as usual in these cases, is: it is an unlisted food, therefore to be treated as a neutral unless your common sense, wisdom guided by experience, or negative results indicate otherwise.

This isn't a usual case. :-(

The long answer is: the subject is vexed, the references conflict, and I must say that this little question has burgeoned into a monster for someone like me with dwindling brain cells and no home laboratory in which to sort it all. Hey! I can't even get access to a medical library to read the full text of the references! What a world. (*thanks for listening! LOL!*) Now that I've got that off my chest, let's see what we CAN do:

A while back, our beloved BB participant "Bob L" contributed a fact sheet link on palm oil. Take a look. To my eye, the first four points don't weigh much. If they're true, fine -- they're also true of olive oil and other common oils. The first thing I found worth considering is the fourth footnote to "Fact #5": . At least it deals with palm oil instead of vitamin E, as the other 3 notes do. This may be the key to the whole business. Wish I could read it.

Down we go to Facts #10, 11 and 12, which appear promising: Am I to infer this is a significant equivalence? Wouldn't linolenic and linoleic acids be better candidates for comparison?

OK, I can't read the full reference, but what *kind* of balance? Is it found in palm oil?

Well, that's real likely, because lauric and myristic acids RAISE LDL ... and palm kernel and coconut oils are no-nos for just about everybody, anyway! NEXT!!

I'm glad for the hamsters, but a fat blend approximating American intake must have come straight from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yikes. WHAT other oils were used in comparison??

Hmmm... unlikely to benefit type Os...

experimental-induced cancer... in humans?

I chose this link to discuss because it makes the most thoroughgoing claims and includes more references than any others I've found. Yet I came away from it with more questions than I had going in, as you may have noticed.

Onward.

Here's blessedly brief view, from WebDietician.com: No references, but we're beginning to see a pattern.

Back in December of last year, Peter answered a question on oils. In relevant part (all snips and emphasis are mine):

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The says 40%. I don't know about you, but I'm too tired to quibble.

Don, Bob L, Elisa, Bill, Jimmy and Rhonda: I have to say, from this vantage point it doesn't look like palm oil is our friend. Ghee, walnut oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. *zzzzzzzzz*