If you’ve been watching the headlines about coconut oil recently, you might find yourself utterly confused about whether to include it in your diet or avoid it completely; it has been called everything from a healthy super-food to a poison. Yikes! Diametrically opposed nutrition advice has done it again, making it impossible for people to know what to eat!
As someone who has recommended coconut oil in the past, and used it regularly in my own diet, I was particularly interested to see this latest round of disagreements play out.
To understand the controversy, let’s first look at where the two camps are coming from.
The American Heart Association came out with a report in June of 2017 which recommended against including coconut oil in your diet due to the fact that it’s high in saturated fat, and that saturated fat is known to raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), which is associated with heart disease. Furthermore they noted that there were no known favorable effects from the oil. Following the AHA report, headlines popped up everywhere that coconut oil should be avoided. Earlier this year, a Harvard Professor of epidemiology, Karin Michels, gave a lecture in German at The University Of Frieberg, stating that coconut oil was “one of the worst things you can eat” and that it was as good for you as “pure poison”. The video of the lecture went viral, and more headlines about coconut oil being bad for you flew across the media.
The opposing camp has taken issue with the AHA recommendations, first, because the AHA does not distinguish between ‘unrefined’ coconut oil, which is the substance touted as having health benefits, and the highly processed and refined coconut oil used in junk food and popcorn machines at the movies.
Secondly, the saturated fat in coconut oil is made largely from medium-chain fatty acids, whereas animal fats are made of long-chain fatty acids. Initial studies suggest that all saturated fats may not be created equal, and that the saturated fat in coconut oil may be used differently by your body than the saturated fat found in animal product (for instance the 2015 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition noted in a study that saturated fats were associated with an increase in risk for cardiovascular disease, except when the source of the saturated fat was from vegetables and fish). The AHA used an old understanding of cholesterol and saturated fat, without noting any new data distinguishing coconut oil from animal fat. So while it seemed that the AHA recommendations were new, or based on new findings, it was quite the opposite; they had no new research or findings to report, and therefore they were sticking with their old recommendations, which is that all saturated fat is bad for heart health. Part of the problem here on both sides is that there has not been enough research to properly address this concern.
There has been some evidence however that medium chain fatty acids could aid in weight loss, partly because they’re satiating and allow people to feel full longer. Moreover, since the fatty acids in coconut oil are partially made of lauric acid, only otherwise found in breast-milk, which is known to have anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, there is reason to believe that coconut oil does have some health benefits. Most importantly, unrefined coconut oil is said to have anti-inflammatory properties due to the lauric acid.
The reason this is so important is that inflammation is at the root of most disease, and therefore could affect risk for heart disease just as much as cholesterol. Corn and soybean oils, which the AHA recommends instead of coconut oil, are inflammatory because of their high ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids. Additionally, in America these vegetable oils have been found to contain large amounts of pesticides. It’s confounding, then, that the AHA is recommending these oils. It’s important to note that the AHA recommended margarine as a healthy alternative for many years, and of course we now know how harmful trans fats are for us; they have since been banned in the U.S. The AHA has seemed woefully slow in modifying its poor recommendations over the years, which should give us some pause when considering their ‘new’ recommendations.
Another criticism of the AHA’s report, is that saturated fat in general and coconut oil in particular has been known to boost HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). This is important because the risk for heart disease has more to do with the ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol, than LDL (the bad cholesterol) as a lone factor.
As you can see, the issue of coconut oil is not black and white!
This is what led Dr. Michael Mosley, who hosts a show on the BBC, to launch a study last year to look into the differences between the saturated fats in animal sources vs. coconut oil. He pulled two Cambridge academics to help him conduct what is thus far the largest study on this subject (published in the BMJ, or British Medical Journal), although it is still only one study and was limited in scope.
Here’s what they found: They had participants eat 50 grams of either butter, olive oil, or unrefined coconut oil each day for a month. The group who ate the butter (saturated fat) did indeed see a 10% increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol. But there was no increase in LDL cholesterol for either olive oil or unrefined coconut oil. Additionally, butter and olive oil both increased good cholesterol (HDL) by 5%, but unrefined coconut oil increased it by 15%. If these results can be replicated and expanded, then we’ll really have reason to believe there’s a stark difference between medium and long chain saturated fat as it relates to cholesterol. You can read an article by Dr. Mosley detailing the study here.
Going Beyond the Research:
While the ongoing research is fascinating, it’s extremely limited, so here’s my personal experience with coconut oil, in case this should be helpful for you.
Some years ago, I suffered through some major digestive distress, leading me on a many-years-long journey to heal myself (which is what led me to become a holistic health coach). The final piece of the puzzle was the discovery of Candida, an overgrowth of yeast in the gut. I consequently did a 6-month candida cleanse, which forever changed my health for the better (but was not at all fun, just to be clear!). I used the guidance of the Body Ecology Diet, which touts the benefits of unrefined coconut oil and it’s anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties for treating candida. I used A LOT of coconut oil every day over those six months, and as I was losing weight so quickly, I felt I really needed the extra fat for energy and healing. I credit the coconut oil as one of the items that helped me get through to the other side… which was the healthiest I’d ever felt. I continued to use unrefined coconut oil more moderately after the cleanse. In the years following, my cholesterol numbers when tested were always within normal and healthy range.
Last year, due to some personal stress on top of a year of chronic daily stress from news and politics (not sure much has changed there), I ate what I would characterize as an insane amount of coconut oil in the form of home-made ‘healthy’ desserts. When I got my blood-work done at the end of the year, my LDL went out of the normal range for the first time ever (although only slightly). My blood sugar was still good, a testament to using low glycemic sweeteners and whole food for the desserts, and I hadn’t gained any weight, but the LDL did go up nonetheless. I had to ask what I had done differently that year, and I realized that the two factors that had changed were my stress levels and the insane amount of coconut oil I ate. Now, stress is also known to raise LDL, so I can’t be sure it was the coconut oil, but considering the arguments against it, I did take note and reduced my intake back to a more reasonable amount. I’m also happy to report that I addressed the stress in the best ways I could. Since then, my LDL levels dropped back into normal range. And just for the record, I always recommend stress-reducing activities, like yoga, or watching great comedy, or going for a walk in nature, over eating dessert (even the healthier versions)! But these were desperate times, my friends…
Now, while we await the results of new studies to come out on coconut oil, I’m always of the belief that you should listen to your body as to what’s right for you, because everybody’s different. For instance, someone who is a vegan may do very well with unrefined coconut oil in their diet because their saturated fat intake may already be so low (even the AHA states that 20-30 grams of saturated fat/day is ok). On the other hand, someone who eats lots of animal product and butter may find the addition of extra saturated fat from another source to be excessive.
No matter what you decide to do, remember that moderation is always a good idea. You only need so much oil in your diet after all, even the healthy ones. And whole foods are always your best bet.
Let me know about your own experiences with coconut oil in the comments below!
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