Palm oil has become the poster child of environmental destruction. Although it could be in everything from our foods to skincare, and tropical rainforests are being raised to make space for the world's skyrocketing demands for it. In the process, we are endangering many animal species and destabilizing our climate. But despite its bad reputation, palm oil may infact the best source of vegetable oil.

If we look back in the history, the food industry was in turmoil due to horrors of “Trans fat”. Consuming trans fat meant more bad cholesterol which could lead to increased risk of heart problems. Most vegetable oils made up of unsaturated fats, but these are relatively unstable making them rubbish ingredients for foods.

Let's enter the magic fat : Palm oil. One of the real advantages of palm oil is that it's highly saturated, means very stable and thus doesn't go rancid very easily. Palm oil provides a healthy alternative to trans fats : It's relatively thick and solid, and so can be used in a wide range of foods with the long shelf lives without harms caused by trans fats. Beside this, you'll also find palm oil in the cosmetic aisle, due to its texture and moisturizing properties. And yes, it can give soap a good foam or candles their flame.

Overall palm oil is used for food, cosmetics, soaps, detergents and other industrial products, and biofuels. This versatility has increased demand for palm oil in recent decades. But why actually palm oil is considered bad?

These oil palms are grown in tropical rainforests. Our growing appetite for palm oil has lead to deforestation. Destroying rainforests has displaced indigenous peoples and destroys habitats too. Deforestation is also a leading cause of climate change. Few ingredients are as widespread or as notorious as palm oil. But although this crop is a major driver of deforestation, this oil might just be a sustainable option.

Ultimately, the problems with palm oil aren't about the oil itself, which has amazing properties. They're also not about the oil palm tree, which produces a good amount of oil compared to other oil crops. They're about how we produce palm oil, the production process.

There are plenty of ways to improve whether it's careful monitoring over deforestation, producing more oil on the plantations we already have, or producing extra oil using completely new techniques like using yeast. The point is here is being that palm oil can, but not palm oil is sustainable yet!