The Good and Bad News About Coconut Oil
By Debra Rodzinak
The buzz about coconut oil is all over social media. The rumors of coconut oil helping to slow aging, the heart and thyroid, and protection against diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease, makes this tasty oil sound almost too good to be true.
The Bad News
Saturated fat, the bad fat, is found in unhealthy foods and should be avoided. Lard and butter are full of saturated fat. In fact, the calories found in butter are made up of 63 percent from saturated fat. Eighty-four percent of coconut oil calories are from saturated fat. This explains why coconut oil is solid at room temperature and has a long shelf life.
The American Heart Association suggests limiting saturated fat to no more than 13 grams per day. One tablespoon of coconut oil contains around 13 grams of saturated fat.
The Good News
The proponents of coconut oil claim that coconut oil contains MCT-saturated fat which helps to boost good cholesterol (HDL). Therefore, it makes coconut oil less bad for overall heart health. However, critics are quick to point out that it also raises the bad cholesterol (LDL).
Fans also point out that people who have consumed a large amount of coconut oil, like those in Sri Lanka and Polynesia, don’t seem to have high rates of heart disease. However, some say that overall factors like genetics, diet, and physical activity can neutralize the amount of coconut oil consumed.
Weight loss has been thought to accompany consumption of coconut oil due to the body’s ability to process the MCT-saturated fats differently than other dietary fats. They claim that the body is more likely to burn off these calories rather than convert them to fat. Critics comment that a common mistake with this line of thinking is that many will just add this high calorie oil to their diet and not cut back calories in other areas, leading to weight gain.
The Bottom Line
If you decide to add coconut oil to your diet, be aware of the pros and cons of switching oils. If you currently use olive oil in your diet, it may not be the best course of action to switch to coconut oil due to the health benefits of olive oil versus coconut oil.
Also, not proven to be heart healthy or a source of weight loss, many people should be wary of the claims of those on social media pertaining to coconut oil. The bottom line is that the benefits of coconut oil have not been proven enough for health officials to tout it as the new “miracle cure.”