# Coconut milk = good? Canola oil = bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490 "2007-02-02T02:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/21 "2007-02-02T22:47:06Z")
> [@](#): > > It has been alleged that the many studies of saturated fat in the diet do not distinguish between saturated fat and trans fat. With this bias, such studies do not isolate saturated fat as unhealthful, so saturated fat could be healthful. From [Saturated fat - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat) Saturated fat may have gotten a bad rap (I suspect it has). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/22 "2007-02-02T23:01:12Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] Personally I love fresh coconut milk. I learned to love it while I was in the Western Pacific. I used to drink probably four or five green coconuts a day. A local Asian market has relatively fresh coconuts trucked in once a week and so I drink probably three a week. [/QUOTE] If you were drinking the liquid out of freshly tapped green coconuts, that wasn’t coconut milk as we know it in the states. It was [coconut water or coconut juice.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_water) Yummy refreshing amazing stuff when fresh (and can be used in IV’s!), pretty dull and lackluster when exported. It’s entirely fat-free. But to be confusing, it’s sometimes also called coconut milk. What we call [Coconut _milk_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_milk), that has a lot of fat in it, is made by shredding the white coconut meat and then soaking it in water and squeezing it out. The squeezed out liquid is the coconut milk. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/23 "2007-02-02T23:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] What we call [Coconut _milk_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_milk), that has a lot of fat in it, is made by shredding the white coconut meat and then soaking it in water and squeezing it out. The squeezed out liquid is the coconut milk. [/QUOTE] Yep. You can make almond milk the same way-- soak almonds overnight in watter, then put the almonds and some (new) water in a blender, blend it up nice and good, then filter it thru cheesecloth. I think you use a ratio of 3:1 water: almonds. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/24 "2007-02-03T06:19:11Z")
> [@](#): > > In my years in the Pacific I only knew of one islander who died of heart problems. At least that’s what we thought it was. No doctor or nurse around. That being said they were in fantastic shape and ate a lot of fresh seafood and the occasional pig and dog. TV time, where the heck was THAT? Maybe a Yapese outer island like Eurapik? On the high islands it seems like people subsist on Spam and rice…with terrible health consequences. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/25 "2007-02-03T06:35:02Z")
[QUOTE=Common Tater] Canola tends to leave pans and lids with a near epoxy-like substance that is the devil to remove. [/QUOTE] How to get that off (the Secret of Women passed on to me when I bitched at my wife that her frying pans took forever to wash): Baking soda. Moisten the pan. Shake baking soda on liberally. Let it set for a few minutes. Wipe the crud off. It actually works, which pissed me off to no end. However, she STILL, after 30 years of marriage, cannot cook eggs wiithout leaving half of them in the pan because she uses canola oil, which sucks for frying in the amounts she uses. Might as well be a bare pan. The same amount of canola plus an equal amount of butter or olive oil is a different story. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/26 "2007-02-03T21:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=CairoCarol] TV time, where the heck was THAT? Maybe a Yapese outer island like Eurapik? On the high islands it seems like people subsist on Spam and rice…with terrible health consequences. [/QUOTE] Actually when I was on Map (Mop) it was a lot like that too, but most of the time I was on Wotegai, part of the Woleai Atoll, probably Eurapik’s closest neighbor (as the crow sails a sailing canoe). ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490/27 "2007-02-03T23:01:27Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Me, too. Canola is especially good for making popcorn-- olive oil has a lower smoke point so you can’t get the corn as hot. But… you can put olive oil on it afterwards instead of butter. It’s really good that way! [/QUOTE] Use normal olive oil, not extra virgin. I love the taste of popcorn cooked in normal olive oil. -Tcat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-milk-good-canola-oil-bad/390490.md?page=1)