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Thread: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

  1. #1
    Zaf
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    Question coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Hi, at the moment I'm lacto vegetarian, Ive been veggie for most of my life and recently decided that even organic eggs and dairy should be cut out on welfare grounds. I'm finding getting off dairy products difficult but Ive only been trying for a few weeks so far so hopefully I'll eventually succeed

    I wonder if anyone can help with a couple of questions:

    Does anyone know if coconut oil the same as palm oil? I ask because Ive been told that palm oil can make menopause symptoms worse (and I really really dont want that as they are bad enough right now!), Ive noticed that most vegan margarines contain palm oil so would like to avoid it if possible. I did think of trying coconut oil to make something spreadable myself but wasnt sure if they were the same.....

    Any advice on dairy substitutes would be most welcome, I use rice or soya milk to drink but not sure how it works in cooking etc, does it curdle if boiled for example?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Hi Zaf,
    not sure about the menopausal thing but there are plenty of vegan alternatives to dairy for spreading such as pure. This uses non hydrogentated oils and does not use palm oil either. I would have thought that coconut oil is a different product to palm oil as palm oil is from the fruit of the oil palm tree. coconut, well is coconut.

    Just to make you aware as well that using palm oil can lead to the deforestation of rain forests. currently in Malaysia and Indonesia this is certainly happening. This means that rare and endangered animals,flora and fauna are being wiped out such as the orangutan or the probiscus monkeys and so on. I think they are now also thinking of planting these palm trees in the Brazilian rainforest too. I know land owners would benefit from the income, but it would be a disaster for the earth and all that lives, thrives and belong to these rainforests.

    There are other alternatiives to spreads without the use of palm oil. Just check out your local health food shop or supermarket.
    Good luck in finding what you need. Oh as for using soya milk in cooking. i use it all the time and have not had any problems with curdling so far. Just simmer instead of boiling.

  3. #3
    Enchantress's Avatar
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    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    I'm pretty sure Pure spread does contain palm oil. Although it may be listed simply as "vegetable oil" on the ingredients list.

  4. #4
    Enchantress's Avatar
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    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    An extract from a letter from Pure - found on this website: http://www.ommnomnom.com/tag/palm-oil/

    We do not have an alternative to palm oil currently. When making a spread, a hard oil must be combined with a soft oil to produce a solid product. The hard oil can either be a soft oil which is then hydrogenated to make it hard (also known as a hydrogenated oil) or a naturally hard oil. The only hard oils available are palm and coconut. We choose not to use hydrogenated oils in any of the Pure range, as these are undesirable in the diet. Instead, we use palm oil in the smallest possible quantities in order to produce a solid spread. Most, if not all, other spreads contain palm oil and this is labelled as ‘vegetable oils’.

  5. #5
    Zaf
    Guest

    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Hi bellybuddha

    Many thanks, I'll take a look at Pure.

    I think where I was getting confused is that both are classed as palms but having done a bit more research it does seem that coconut palms are very different from the palms that palm oil comes from.

    I had heard about the problems about forests being cleared to produce palm oil but more in context with biofuels rather than oil for human consumption but to clear forest for any reason is not a good think imo.

    Thanks for the tip about the soya milk, Ive got a lot to learn and a fair way to go since I decided to go completely vegan, giving up eggs seemed the easy part, dairy is going to be a bit more difficult I fear......

  6. #6

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    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Anyone else think of human palms (like your hand) when you hear the term "palm oil"? Or is that just me...

    Zaf, dairy was the hard part for me too. Just look around at health food stores and find vegan alternatives. Like, I drink rice milk and I eat soy ice cream. I don't know if you like a lot of cheese but I've heard there are some really good cheese alternatives (I don't personally eat "cheese"). What I did to get off dairy was I slowly replaced my favorite dairy products with vegan "dairy" products, one-by-one, until I didn't eat regular dairy anymore.

    Keep looking around on VF too. There's tons of info here. Happy posting

  7. #7
    Zaf
    Guest

    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Quote Enchantress View Post
    I'm pretty sure Pure spread does contain palm oil. Although it may be listed simply as "vegetable oil" on the ingredients list.
    Hi

    I emailed Pure and got a reply just before I saw your answer, the vegetable oil is definitely palm oil, Ive got a bit more research to do before I decide what to do about vegan margarine I think.......

  8. #8
    Zaf
    Guest

    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Quote baby_vicuña View Post
    Anyone else think of human palms (like your hand) when you hear the term "palm oil"? Or is that just me...

    Zaf, dairy was the hard part for me too. Just look around at health food stores and find vegan alternatives. Like, I drink rice milk and I eat soy ice cream. I don't know if you like a lot of cheese but I've heard there are some really good cheese alternatives (I don't personally eat "cheese"). What I did to get off dairy was I slowly replaced my favorite dairy products with vegan "dairy" products, one-by-one, until I didn't eat regular dairy anymore.

    Keep looking around on VF too. There's tons of info here. Happy posting
    erm I dont

    Its definitely something I'm going to be tackling a bit at a time baby_vicuña, Ive never drunk milk but do use it in cooking etc so Ive got a lot of experimenting and advice-taking to do with that one, I like rice milk and soya milk to drink so no problem there. I absolutely love cheese and Ive got some vegan cheese in the fridge but havent plucked up courage to try it yet, perhaps today will be the day!

  9. #9

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    Default Re: coconut oil v palm oil?? Oils/butters?

    Quote baby_vicuña View Post
    Anyone else think of human palms (like your hand) when you hear the term "palm oil"? Or is that just me...

    Zaf, dairy was the hard part for me too. Just look around at health food stores and find vegan alternatives. Like, I drink rice milk and I eat soy ice cream. I don't know if you like a lot of cheese but I've heard there are some really good cheese alternatives (I don't personally eat "cheese"). What I did to get off dairy was I slowly replaced my favorite dairy products with vegan "dairy" products, one-by-one, until I didn't eat regular dairy anymore.

    Keep looking around on VF too. There's tons of info here. Happy posting

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