Adverse effects of coconut oil • Coconut oil is poisonous • Properties of coconut oil
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In her lecture at the University of Freiburg — entirely in German and posted in July — professor Karin Michels, of the university’s Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology, calls the health claims surrounding coconut oil “absolute nonsense” and says it’s “pure poison” for its saturated fat content and its threat to cardiovascular health. The video of her lecture has amassed close to a million views and counting.
“Coconut oil is one of the worst things you can eat,” Michels said.
While others have taken a more measured view, they hardly buy into the ballyhoo. A 2016 survey in the New York Times suggested that 72 percent of Americans think coconut oil is healthy, versus only 37 percent of nutritionists polled.
“There are many claims being made about coconut oil being wonderful for lots of different things, but we really don’t have any evidence of long-term health benefits,” said Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where Michels is also an adjunct professor.
“Coconut oil is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum in terms of types of fats. It’s probably better than partially hydrogenated oils, [which are] high in trans fats, but not as good as the more unsaturated plant oils that have proven health benefits, like olive and canola oil,” Willett previously told CNN.
Health organizations tend to discourage the use of coconut oil, which is more than 80 percent saturated fat. The American Heart Association says it’s better on your skin than in your food, and it recommends that no more than 5 percent or 6 percent of your daily calories come from saturated fats — about 13 grams per day. The association also advocates replacing coconut oil with “healthy fats” such as polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, like those found in canola and olive oils, avocados and fatty fish.
Coconut oil is “probably not quite as ‘bad’ as butter but not as good as extra virgin olive oil,” Kevin Klatt, a molecular nutrition researcher at Cornell University who is studying the metabolic effects of coconut oil, previously told CNN.
Klatt cautions that we should not develop too strong of an opinion of it without more data. “But at the same time, you have to be evidence-based … and [currently], the evidence reflects benefits for olive oil, fish, nuts and seeds — so that should be the focus in the diet.”
Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the fruit. It contains mostly saturated fat, which is also found in large quantities in butter and red meat. Like other saturated fats, coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, commonly known as “bad” cholesterol, which has been associated with increased risk of heart disease.
But coconut oil also raises HDL, the “good” cholesterol, especially when replacing carbohydrates in the diet. This may be due to its high content of a fatty acid known as lauric acid. (This is also noted in Michel’s statement summarizing her talk.)
“Coconut oil is half lauric acid, which is a little bit unique,” Klatt said, as the acid seems to raise HDL more than other saturated fats and is rarely found in such high amounts in foods.
Still, though the increase in HDL seen with consumption of coconut oil may offset some of the disease risk, it’s still not as good as consuming unsaturated oils, which not only raise HDL but lower LDL, according to Willett.
Complicating matters is the fact that we still don’t know for sure what exactly a high HDL translates to in terms of health risk. “There’s been debate about the role of HDL,” Willett cautioned. “Partly because there are many forms of HDL which have different health consequences … which has made the water murky.”
For example, there are different forms of HDL that do different things. One role is to help take LDL cholesterol out of the bloodstream. “But some forms of HDL don’t do that,” Willett said, “so we don’t know for sure that higher HDL is better.”
In her lecture at the University of Freiburg — entirely in German and posted in July — professor Karin Michels, of the university’s Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology, calls the health claims surrounding coconut oil “absolute nonsense” and says it’s “pure poison” for its saturated fat content and its threat to cardiovascular health. The video of her lecture has amassed close to a million views and counting.
“Coconut oil is one of the worst things you can eat,” Michels said.
While others have taken a more measured view, they hardly buy into the ballyhoo. A 2016 survey in the New York Times suggested that 72 percent of Americans think coconut oil is healthy, versus only 37 percent of nutritionists polled.
“There are many claims being made about coconut oil being wonderful for lots of different things, but we really don’t have any evidence of long-term health benefits,” said Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where Michels is also an adjunct professor.
“Coconut oil is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum in terms of types of fats. It’s probably better than partially hydrogenated oils, [which are] high in trans fats, but not as good as the more unsaturated plant oils that have proven health benefits, like olive and canola oil,” Willett previously told CNN.
Health organizations tend to discourage the use of coconut oil, which is more than 80 percent saturated fat. The American Heart Association says it’s better on your skin than in your food, and it recommends that no more than 5 percent or 6 percent of your daily calories come from saturated fats — about 13 grams per day. The association also advocates replacing coconut oil with “healthy fats” such as polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, like those found in canola and olive oils, avocados and fatty fish.
Coconut oil is “probably not quite as ‘bad’ as butter but not as good as extra virgin olive oil,” Kevin Klatt, a molecular nutrition researcher at Cornell University who is studying the metabolic effects of coconut oil, previously told CNN.
Klatt cautions that we should not develop too strong of an opinion of it without more data. “But at the same time, you have to be evidence-based … and [currently], the evidence reflects benefits for olive oil, fish, nuts and seeds — so that should be the focus in the diet.”
Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the fruit. It contains mostly saturated fat, which is also found in large quantities in butter and red meat. Like other saturated fats, coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, commonly known as “bad” cholesterol, which has been associated with increased risk of heart disease.
But coconut oil also raises HDL, the “good” cholesterol, especially when replacing carbohydrates in the diet. This may be due to its high content of a fatty acid known as lauric acid. (This is also noted in Michel’s statement summarizing her talk.)
“Coconut oil is half lauric acid, which is a little bit unique,” Klatt said, as the acid seems to raise HDL more than other saturated fats and is rarely found in such high amounts in foods.
Still, though the increase in HDL seen with consumption of coconut oil may offset some of the disease risk, it’s still not as good as consuming unsaturated oils, which not only raise HDL but lower LDL, according to Willett.
Complicating matters is the fact that we still don’t know for sure what exactly a high HDL translates to in terms of health risk. “There’s been debate about the role of HDL,” Willett cautioned. “Partly because there are many forms of HDL which have different health consequences … which has made the water murky.”
For example, there are different forms of HDL that do different things. One role is to help take LDL cholesterol out of the bloodstream. “But some forms of HDL don’t do that,” Willett said, “so we don’t know for sure that higher HDL is better.”
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