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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Coconut has made a comeback — from coconut water to coconut oil to coconut lotion for your body. No longer relegated to an occasional sprinkle on cake icing, coconut foods are mainstream & their health benefits are touted in blogs, websites, magazine articles and promoted by celebrities. Why was coconut oil avoided in the past and embraced today? To sort this all out you need to understand a little lipid (fat) chemistry.
To call coconut oil an oil is actually misleading. Oil is liquid at room temperature — olive, canola and sunflower. Coconut oil is solid and soft at room temperature just like butter when it is warmed. That is because butter and coconut oil are similar, they are both high in saturated fats. Proponents claim the saturated fats in coconut oil — lauric and myristic — are healthier saturated fats. That may be true because they belong to a group of fats called MCT (medium chain triglycerides) which are used more efficiently in the body and do not travel through the bloodstream where they could contribute to heart problems. However, lauric and myristic fats make up just 60% of the saturated fats in coconut oil. The remaining 40% are saturated fats similar to those found in meats which are not heart healthy. In fact, coconut oil has the highest amount of saturated fat (86%) of any plant oil. Other oils have much lower saturated fat levels — canola (7%), sunflower (9%) and olive oil (15%).
If you are a vegan and you use coconut oil to replace butter that is a reasonable swap. If you are frying in coconut oil, using it in baking, or adding it to a smoothie instead safflower or olive oil your fat choice is heading in the opposite direction for a heart heathy diet.
Proponents tout coconut oil to promote weight loss and to improve blood lipids. It does raise HDL cholesterol which is beneficial but coconut oil also raises LDL which is not beneficial. Many other oils such as olive or grapeseed oil do not raise LDL cholesterol while increasing HDLs which promotes a better total cholesterol/HDL ratio. The studies suggesting coconut oil could improve weight loss did show modest good results but most had very few subjects and the studies were conducted for a very short period on time (4 to 12 weeks). Using calorie-dense oil as a weight loss aid isn’t practical long term. Many of the weight loss studies using coconut oil had participants eating approximately 2 tablespoons of oil each day which equals 232 calories.
According to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database there is insufficient evidence to support the health claims for coconut oil. In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to companies who market coconut oil and have advertised its benefit to treat health conditions. The FDA has also said that coconut oil cannot be marketed as low in calories or healthy because these terms can only be used on foods containing 15% or less of their calories from fat.
Many believe coconut oil is a superior choice for cooking because of its high smoking point. When oils are overheated they breakdown, burn, and develop a rancid taste. Extra virgin olive oil does have a lower smoking point (320o F) than coconut oil (350o F) but many other oils such as sesame, peanut, sunflower and even regular (not extra virgin) olive oil have smoking points that are 400-plus degrees F.
Bottom line:
Too much fat of any kind is not a healthy choice.
All oils, including coconut oil, pack a wallop of calories, but coconut oil contains a high percentage of saturated fat as well.
Using a variety of oils can add flavor and versatility to recipes.
As with all foods, use coconut oil in moderation.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books. Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter
Calorie Counter
Protein Counter
Healthy Wholefoods Counter
Complete Food Counter
Fat and Cholesterol Counter
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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