red oil is got from a tree called palm and is grown in africa, especially in nigeria, west africa. from the tree, palm wine is tapped, from the nuts, red oil is extracted. it is said that africans are proned to hypertension and heart related diseases, and science has proved that there is a relationship beween excess cholesterol and heart attack. my question then is to find out ifred oil contains cholesterol since it is a staple food of Africans.

yes

In my understanding ( l am not an expert), it doesn’t contain cholesterol, but is high in saturated fatty acids which have the effect of raising the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Unsaturated fats have the effect of lowering the amount of cholesterol in one is blood.

The World Health Organisation says that there is convincing evidence that Palm Oil increases levels of heart disease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_oil#Blood_cholesterol_controversy

There seems to be a certain amount of disinformation out there. On this site,

http://scienceinafrica.co.za/2005/september/redpalmoil.htm

the article implies by its title ‘Can Red Palm Oil Protect the Heart?’, & stylistically within it, that the oil is good for ur heart generally. However, what it actually says it that it can be good for a heart in protecting it from further damage during reperfusion immediately after a heart attack. Presumably, not having the heart attack in the first place would actually be the best way to protect ur heart.

There seem to be plenty of other reasons for avoiding a world-wide increase in consumption of this oil as its production is causing deforestation.

http://greenpeace.org.uk/forests/palm-oil

Edit: Razzz R & Augusta I, who asked this question, would appear to be one & the same person.

to be honest l would go to the doctor and forget the other supplement that is not in a pres tried to you, you may hurt your heart or something other that you need in the future

l am afraid that it is not that oils contain cholesterol, but some oils are more atherogenic than others.

Palmolein is supposed to contain more saturated fatty acids only. Avoiding oil too much is again problematic. Go in for the polyunsaturated fatty acid kinds - generally those that are liquid at room temperature. Palm oil as also coconut oil (both are palms) congeal at room temperature. See the composition of both oils and decide.