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Is Coconut Oil All It's Cracked Up To Be? Get The Facts On This Faddish Fat
In the past few years, coconut oil has been called a superfood that can help you blast belly fat and raise your good cholesterol. The sweet and nutty trendsetter has been featured in many cookbooks as a substitute for olive or canola oil — and it can cost a bundle at the store.
A recent survey found that 72 percent of Americans say coconut oil is a "healthy food," but many nutrition experts aren't convinced.
The problem is that coconut oil contains a lot of saturated fat — the kind that is a big risk factor for heart disease, which kills more than 17 million people a year worldwide.
[...] So why does the idea that coconut oil is somehow good for us persist? No one is really sure.
"Why things like coconut oil somehow slipped under the radar is a little bit unclear, but it's not consistent with any of the recommendations that have occurred over the past 30, 40, 50 years," says Lichtenstein.
While some research has linked the main type of saturated fatty acid in coconut oil — lauric acid — to increased levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, it still raises LDL cholesterol, or "bad" cholesterol, she notes in the advisory, citing multiple studies.
And while enthusiasts point out that coconut oil is rich in antioxidants, there is little evidence that once the oil is refined, which is how most of us buy it in the store, those properties are retained.
[...] But don't think of coconut oil as a health elixir. And remember that when it comes to good nutrition, including fats, it's all about balance, Lichtenstein says. And there's more solid evidence behind the healthfulness of other plant-based oils such as extra virgin olive oil.
With the rise in popularity of low-carb diets embracing more fat in recent years, it's no wonder consumers are confused about which fats are best. And most oils contain more than one variety of fat. Iowa State University has a handy chart to help you compare the percentages of fats found in common oils.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday January 02 2019, @08:48PM (5 children)
Having been doing a ketogenic diet that includes some coconut oil--but usually more dairy or other traditional saturated fats, I can confirm it works. But it seems to be working because it lowers insulin, raises insulin sensitivity, and facilitates good old thermodynamics. In other words, it's a lot easier to satiate yourself on protein and fat than carbs, and they keep you fuller longer, which *also* makes it easier to do intermittent fasting, which I normally do 16-18 hours out of any given day.
So there probably isn't anything magical about the fats per se, so much as that they're displacing much unhealthier things from the diet and enabling both caloric restriction and autophagy without needing to outright fast for 3+ days. I'm probably going to switch to something like Paleo soon, as the effects on electrolytes and the possibility of increased LDL does worry me...though, total triglycerides, LDL particle size, and the HDL/triglyceride ratio are more important than total cholesterol.
One interesting thing about coconut oil is it's the only source other than mother's milk, so far as I know, of a compound called monolaurin. This is the monoglyceride ester of lauric acid (C12 fatty acid, which is called medium-chain even though it goes through the long-chain pathway). Monolaurin is interestingly anti-viral, and I credit a little coconut oil in bulletproof tea and coffee instead of butter with helping me whup my last cold. Probably not an excuse to use it all day erry day but it's a neat side effect.
I don't know where this is going to end, but I do know Ancel Keyes has ruined the health of 2 or 3 generations of Americans with the low-fat high-carb policies. America is fatter and sicker than ever, and with what we're learning about carbohydrate metabolism and insulin response, I think it's safe to say we've been mislead for the last 60 years to put it lightly. The worst part is that the corn lobby in particular and processed food manufacturers in general have the US by the short hairs.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday January 02 2019, @10:07PM
We certainly agree on a lot of dietary topics.
WRT the LDL and other ratios you can get a quick cheap blood test before diet change and after. Anecdote meaning not too much, but from memory my numbers didn't change much, slight improvement.
Note that people who don't paleo love to straw dog that those diets consist entirely of bacon and red meat; in practice my actual diet is more like vegan plus meat (essentially grainless and no refined carbs). One little chicken kiev with a big salad tonight for example. Whatever naughtiness one little chicken kiev might cause will be swamped by the effect of a much bigger salad with raspberry vinagrette and some carrot sticks and some walnuts.
A fairly accurate summary of what I know about Paleo community in general WRT the ratios mentioned above is saturated fats are mostly harmless without the presence of a lot of refined sugar, then and only then do they kill. So you can't die of bacon overdose, but ice cream with hot fudge every night will surely kill.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @11:50PM
Move over 7 month old, I know how I'm getting through this flu season!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday January 03 2019, @12:05PM
I ran into the electrolyte problem on the ketogenic diet, with the muscle cramps and fatigue. Multi-vitamins and supplements took care of it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:04PM (1 child)
Interesting. Do you know anything modified fats? They surfaced recently as a replacement for transfats, they seem to be in almost everything processed (it's possible, but hard, to find cookies without them), and I don't know of any significant safety testing on them. They might be OK; they might be even worse than transfats. Who knows?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday January 04 2019, @07:57AM
Sorry, no, I don't :( This is the first I'd ever even heard of them. But "modified" is suspiciously evasive; something tells me these probably would be wise to steer clear of.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...