Coconut
oil is the most controversial vegetable oil. It is considered bad
because of its high cholesterol content. About 92% of the coconut oil
is saturated fatty acids. While it raises cholesterol, it gives a
boost to HDL resulting in a small improvement in the ratio between
HDL and LDL.
Coconut and coconut oil |
In
the Dietary Guidelines launched in 1980 demonized coconut and other
tropical oils and blamed them for heart attacks because of their
saturated fat content. This led to the low-fat craze of the 2000s.
The
Dietary Guidelines recommend that fats make up 20% to 35% of total
calories and saturated fats less than 10%. And even though coconut
oil is liquid, the Dietary Guidelines consider it a solid fat that
they recommend Americans reduce, along with added sugars. It
recommends reducing cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day
and for those at high risk of cardiovascular disease less than 200 mg
per day.
Now
coconut oil has gained shelf space in health food stores and
supermarkets as health food.
Dr.
James J. Kenny, PhD, FACN, nutrition scientist at the Pritikin
Longevity Center in Miami, Florida and Dr. Michael Greger, a Cornell
physician who runs the informative site www.NutritionFacts.org
are both critical of the claims
that coconut oil is a super food or miracle food.
It
was known for a long time that coconut oil has anti-fungal, antiviral,
and antibacterial properties. In many countries such as the
Philippines, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, where coconut is grown
abundantly, coconut oil has been traditionally used in native
treatment of many illnesses. Skin care industry has widely used
coconut oil in their products.
Shredded coconut |
Mary
G. Enig, Ph.D and Sally Fallon Morrel of Weston A. Price Foundation
argue that coconut oil is good for you.(See The Oiling of America
, The Skinny on Fats ).
They
are of the view that some saturated fat and cholesterol are necessary
for proper bodily function. They argue that our body produces 2000 mg
of cholesterol per day but the average American consumption amounts
to only 100 mg per day which is only a fraction of what our body
produces.
Dr
Mercola is another proponent of coconut oil. (Countless Uses for Coconut Oil – The Simple, the Strange, and the Downright Odd -
and The Truth About Coconut Oil:Why it Got a Bad Rep Actually Good)
In
Sri Lanka and Polynesia, where people consume lot of coconut, cholesterol
levels tend to be healthy and rates of cardiovascular disease
relatively low.
The
strongest proponent of coconut oil is Dr. Bruce Fife. He maintains
the website – Coconut Research Center
Dr.
Fife has written many books, including The Coconut Oil Miracle,, The
Palm Oil Miracle, Coconut Lover's Cookbook, and Eat Fat, and Look
Thin. He also publishes the Healthy Ways Newsletter and distributes
it free.
In
the home page Dr. Fife states that modern medical science
acknowledges, through articles published in medical journals, the
many health benefits of coconut oil. He cites no less than 51
benefits. To support his statement he cites no less than 46 pages of
links of articles published in the medical journals.
Dr.
Bruce Fife says that cholesterol ratio is a far more accurate
indicator of heart disease risk than total cholesterol. A cholesterol
ratio of 3.2 mg/dl is considered to be low risk and 5.0 mg/dl is
average and anything above this ratio is harmful. Total cholesterol
value of 240 mg/dl is considered high. The HDL and cholesterol ratio
are said to improve with consumption of coconut oil and on balance
coconut oil reduces the ratio favorably.
Coconut
oil is promoted as a weight loss food. Dr. Mehmet Oz announced on his
TV show that the main health benefits of coconuts was weight loss.
Many weight watchers and body builders believe this. But there do not
seem to be any human studies that support this claim.
Alzheimer's is an age related disease which leads to memory loss. Mary T. Newport, MD published the book - Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was a Cure? The Story of Ketones Second Edition.
Dr.
Newport’s husband Steve was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 51.
She searched for something to halt or reverse his decline. She found
that ketones may help treat various neurological disorders, including
Alzheimer’s. She found that medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) would
boost the ketones in the body. MCTs are converted in the liver into
ketones, which can be used by the brain and other organs as fuel.
They are not stored as body fats and therefore are readily available
as a source of energy. In May 2008, she started giving Steve four
teaspoons of coconut oil every day. His symptoms improved
dramatically for the next two years. When his father died in 2010,
his health declined and he suffered depression and hallucinations. He
had seizures and was treated with Anticonvulsant.
Although
Newport’s story was not that of a success, the connection between
Alzheimer's disease and coconut oil cannot be dismissed altogether.
The University of South Florida’s Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute has
begun a study with 65 people to explore connection between the
coconut oil and Alzheimer’s disease and hopes to release its
findings within a year.
Here
is a video in which 5 medical doctors and two nutritionists discuss
the low carbohydrate, high fat diet and coconut oil for treating
Alzheimer’s Disease.
Most
oils consist entirely of long-chain triglycerides (LCT). Soybean oil
is 100% LCT whereas coconut oil consists of 40% LCT and 60% MCT. The
most abundant MCT found in coconut oil is lauric acid. Coconut oil is
about 50% lauric acid. It is nature’s richest source of lauric
acid. Lauric acid
increases total serum cholesterol more than many other fatty acids.
But most of the increase is in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (the
"good" blood cholesterol).
It
is clear that more research is necessary to ascertain the veracity of
the claims of benefits of coconut oil as well as its impact on
Alzheimer's
disease, We hope the government and international health
organizations will take this as a priority to further the research
that is required.
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