Okay, the coconut oil
debate has finally gotten under my skin. I think it was an article
that popped up a couple days ago, written by a “nutrition expert”
who was boldly defying any health concerns about coconut oil, and basically
claiming it to be a miracle cure-all for everything from hair growth to jock
itch. Anytime someone takes a hard nosed position like that it makes my
eyebrows raise up a bit. I think the article popped up on my Facebook news
feed, and today, I honestly couldn’t tell you who wrote it. But, it did
motivate me to see if I could get to the bottom of this question:
“Is coconut oil good for you?”

Food trends, especially health food trends, come and go with the
tide, but sometimes we can get caught in a virtual rip tide of
information. When this happens, it is hard to take the necessary time to
really get the information we need to make an informed decision about what is
best for our basic, whole food nutrition needs. It becomes almost impossible
for the average person to distinguish between product
marketing, and nutrition facts. So, I
decided to break down the skinny on coconut oil and hopefully make it
easy to understand.

In summary, you could say that coconut oil provides
some health benefits, but at the end of the day, it is still 90%
saturated fat. We’ll get into the details of coconut oil’s fat make up in
this article. But suffice it to say that because of this, I
have always used coconut oil in moderation (maybe 1-2 tbsp. a day and not
necessarily every day). But, I don’t avoid it altogether.

So What Gives? Is Coconut Oil Good For You, or
Not?

There are a handful of purported health benefits to consuming
coconut oil: help your heart and thyroid, protect against
illnesses like Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and diabetes, and even help you lose
weight. Today I’m just going to focus on the conversation around coconut
oil’s fat, since it is mostly fat, after all. You may
have heard coconut oil referred to as “good fat.” Coconut oil
contains medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) known to raise HDL (good
cholesterol) in the blood, therefore helping to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol),
and clearing blockages in the arteries. Along the same lines, it is believed
that the MCFA’s present in coconut oil increase the rate of metabolism,
thereby leading to higher consumption of energy for metabolic activities and
the resultant burning of more fats. To back things up, this 2014 clinical
trial can be referenced, where two groups
of women were given supplements of either soybean oil or coconut
oil over a 12 week period. The group that was given coconut oil was found to
have higher levels of HDL, and although both groups showed reduced body mass
index, only the coconut oil group showed a reduction in waste
circumference.

Whereas this all seems great, Doctors Alona Pulde MD and Matthew
Lederman MD of Forks Over Knives, point out that when we are eating coconut
oil, we aren’t just eating the MCFAs. We are eating the oil in its
entirety. So what else are we eating then?

As it turns out, MCFAs only make up a portion of all the fatty
acids (saturated fat) in coconut oil. This article
from pritican.com points out that a small percentage of the
saturated fat in coconut oil, about 10%, is made up of MCFA’s, but virtually
all the rest of coconut oil’s saturated fat is made up of long chain fatty
acids (LCFAs), the notoriously bad saturated fat that sends LDL soaring.
Since coconut oil contains more than 90% saturated fat altogether, you could
basically eat pig lard mixed with butter and get less of the
bad saturated fat than you would in the same amount of coconut
oil.

So this becomes another case where reductionism, or the practice
of only addressing an isolated piece of a whole food, and disregarding the
other parts of the food, comes into play. In reality, coconut oil offers
almost no redeemable nutrients, but instead a handful of possible benefits.
So let’s focus on what you can actually use coconut oil for, that has sure
results: enhancing the flavor and aesthetics of food. It makes a great high
heat stir fry cooking oil for tropical dishes, can be used in vegan baked
goods, and I have heard of people whipping it into their morning cup of
coffee with an emersion blender for delicious results. That being
said, the healthy parts of the oil, if weighed against the oil in its
entirety, don’t really pan out for making it a “miracle health
food.”

Polynesia, Coconut Oil, and Heart Health

The fact that the Polynesian diet includes a lot of coconut fat,
yet the people of Polynesia are considered so healthy, gives us some
perspective on our own consumption of coconut oil, our lifestyles, and how
that might impact us. Many aspects of the Polynesian lifestyle
are very healthful, and probably help counteract the cholesterol-raising
effect of the coconut fat in their diet. Their traditional diet, for example,
is very high in dietary fiber and heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids from
fish, and very low in sodium. All these factors would certainly promote heart
health, and probably explain why they have a lower rate of heart disease in
Polynesia.

So How Much Coconut Oil Can I Eat?

If you are gong to enjoy coconut oil for what it is, a delicious
oil additive to your meals, or if you think you want to try it for it’s
benefits, then just how much is a safe amount to consume? I guess it depends
on your overall diet and your approach to how you are using it. As referenced
with the Polynesian diet, if you are active, well hydrated, eating lots of
fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber, and essential fatty acids, you can
probably enjoy some coconut oil and not have to worry about it. But if you
are a heart patient on a low fat diet, I am not sure you should be eating it
at all, and you should definitely check with your doctor or licensed health
care provider. I keep mostly vegan in my day to day life. My diet is probably
a lot healthier than most. And I consume an average of about 1 tablespoon of
the oil per day, sometimes less, sometimes more. I am honestly hesitant to
eat much more than that, but I know some nutritionists who recommend more
than a tablespoon per day as a supplement to an already healthful, clean
diet. As pointed out in a newsletter
by Walter C. Willett, M.D., chair of the Department of Nutrition at the
Harvard School for Public Health, “I don’t think coconut oil is as
healthful as vegetable oils like olive oil and soybean oil, which are mainly
unsaturated fat and therefore both lower LDL and increase HDL.” So,
again, the key is to really look at why you are eating it, and what you are
getting in totality, when you do eat it.

Of course, there are all sorts of benefits to using it topically, that
probably have nothing to do with MCFA’s or LCFAs! Maybe we will cover those
in another article.

If you have enjoyed this objective look at this oil, you’d
probably create a lot of value from nutrition coaching. You can schedule a
free strategy session to check it out and see what’s possible for you. Schedule
your session here!