What science says about Coconut

For many years, people believed that coconut products such as coconut oil and coconut butter were harmful to health due to their high saturated fat content. Saturated fat has been linked to high cholesterol and heart disease.

Recently, this belief has changed, and many experts believe that the coconut is beneficial for overall health. This is because it contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) which increase the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) in the body. Coconut oil may also be beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s.

Accordingly, most of the medical experts and dietitians agree on the benefits of coconut products. They believe that coconut oil, just like any other type of fat, can be used in moderate amounts.

However, they are against the idea of promoting the coconut as a miracle food. Nevertheless, some experts still do believe that coconut is a “poison” and does not have any healing effects.

Opinion in favor of using Coconut

Many healthcare professionals proclaim that coconut products have many health benefits. In addition to providing excellent skin and haircare, nowadays, many experts believe that coconut is a miracle food. This is because although the fruit is rich in saturated fat, a significant amount of that fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids which are not stored in the body as fat. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) have many beneficial effects such as increasing the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) in the body.

Several small studies show that MCTs are beneficial for overall health. MCTs help people lose weight, increase energy levels, and have less of a negative effect on cholesterol than other saturated fats.

One comparative study, “Effects of coconut oil, butter, and safflower oil on lipids and lipoproteins in persons with moderately elevated cholesterol levels” indicated that both coconut oil and butter made from cow’s milk increased women’s HDL cholesterol levels more than safflower oil. Coconut oil and butter did not increase men’s HDL levels. Overall, butter raised both women’s and men’s cholesterol levels more than coconut and safflower oil. However, most of the studies that were conducted on coconut were small, short-term studies. Scientists need to conduct more research to examine the beneficial effects of the coconut more fully.

Opinion against using Coconut

On the other hand, many medical experts and dieticians still doubt the claim that coconut products are healthy foods. They do not believe that saturated fats are beneficial to health, especially because there isn’t enough research about the effects of coconut consumption on human health.

Experts against the use of coconut oil argue that coconut is a bigger threat to the heart than animal fat because of its saturated fat content. The AHA (American Heart Association) suggests limiting saturated fats to only 5-6 percent of the total daily calories. They also recommend avoiding coconut oils and butters because they can increase the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) that lead to heart attacks and strokes.

They also point out that there are better supplements that contain beneficial Medium-chain triglycerides such as MCT oil. MCT oil is a man-made oil extracted from the coconut. It consists of 100% MCTs that are rapidly absorbed by the body and turned into ketones that the body uses for energy.

Coconut oil only contains 45-60% medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) compared to MCT oil. The most common MCT found in coconut is lauric acid, and it is slowly metabolized by the body because it contains 12 carbon molecules.

In contrast, MCT oil consists of shorter MCTs like caprylic acid (made up of 8 carbon molecules), so the body metabolizes it more quickly than coconut oil.

Thus, some experts believe that MCT oil is a better type of saturated fat than coconut oil because it provides the body with more energy than coconut oil does.