Interesterified Palm Oil and Glucose Homeostasis: A Systematic Review of Preclinical Mechanistic Evidence and Limited Human Nutritional Studies

This journal reviews the metabolic safety of interesterified palm oil, which is palm oil modified to replace partially hydrogenated fats in food products. The main focus is to assess whether changes in fat structure affect glucose homeostasis through insulin pathways, liver lipid metabolism, and adipose tissue inflammation. Using a systematic literature review method based on Scopus and PRISMA guidelines, this study filtered 2,088 publications down to 30 articles for qualitative synthesis. The results indicate that human evidence is still limited and insufficient to conclude that interesterified palm oil independently disrupts glucose control. However, preclinical studies show biological plausibility, especially under high-fat diet conditions or metabolic stress. The implication is that health claims related to this product need to be communicated cautiously and supported by more standardized long-term clinical trials.