There are lots of claims made about the benefits of taking this oil (that it can help prevent cancer, heart disease), and that it’s a great thing to use. Some sites say that the saturated fat in the oil makes it less healthy, but other sites say that coconut oil has a different kind of saturated fat, so it’s okay to use. Of course most of the sites that sing the praises of coconut oil, also happen to sell coconut oil. So are there any definitive studies that have examined these claims?
Yes, to some extent–search on Medline and you’ll find them after wading through a bunch of animal feed studies. I’m sorry I can’t link right now; I’m taking a little break from a big project and can’t take time to search.
Well, AFAIK, saturated is saturated, I don’t know what they mean when they say a different kind of saturated fat. Saturated means that all the fat chains have hydrogen molecules on the ends of them. Here’s an example. Note that even the unsaturated fat has most of it’s carbon molecules attached to hydrogen as well, just not all of them.
One thing to understand is that all fats are a combination of mono and poly-unsaturated fats, and saturated fats, and certain oil have a greater percentage of one over the others, and often if the percentage is great enough, the whole fat will be called saturated/unsaturated. Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat, but, IIRC, it’s one of the few (only?) saturated fats that is naturally occuring and is not animal-based. Vegetable shortening (like Crisco) is an artificial saturated fat, made by bubbling hydrogen gas through vegetable oil until enough of the free fatty acids grab on to the hydrogen molecules to become saturated.
Why is saturated desirable? Because saturated and trans fats are solid at room temperature. We all know that trans fats are bad (well, are bad right now. Trans fats now are being treated like saturated fats were in the 60’s and 70’s, it seems.) So if we want a fat that is to be solid at room temp, we go with saturated, and if for some reason we want an all-natural, yet non-animal derived, saturated fat, we go to coconut oil.
The Master Speaks: Why is Palm Oil Bad for You?
Yeah, but 1990 is a long time ago. People getting into college this month were born in 1990.
hmmm that is clear.
What they mean is that the chain length of the fatty acid is different. It appears that medium chain length fatty acids (6-12 carbons) appear OK, these are found in coconut oil, and do not raise cholesterol. However the longer chain (14 carbon +) that are common in animal and hydrogenated fats are the culprits (coconut does contain some).
My quick read suggests that a balanced diet with some coconut oil products is fine. Feeding studies show that a diet exclusively of coconut oil is bad, mainly because one misses the essential polyunsaturated fats, rather than any effect from the coconut.
some info here (slightly new agey site but the science and cites seem sound)
http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/coconut_oil.html
Thanks everyone.
I read that this type of medium chain fatty acid is the same as you find in breast milk, and that it’s broken down for energy faster than other types of fat. Anyone know if that’s true?
Some of the studies that made saturated fats bad and unsaturated fats good lumped trans fats with saturated. Using saturated fats may not be a problem.