My wife is tellling me to avoid foods that contain coconut oil. However, doing some google searches I found support for coconut oil http://www.coconutoil.com/research.htm
What gives?
My sister-n-law swears by it-uses it for everything. I personally think it is disgusting, but the research has all said good things. Being in the health field, I am still very reserved on using coconut oil, I dont see how an oil, which is the consistency of “crisco” be healthy. Through the course of my education, it was learned that any oil that is solid at room temperature is very high in saturated fat. I dont know how coconut oil can pull off this “trick” and be healthy. Just my opinion. The research looks legit, if you have access a registered dietician would be the ideal person to speak with.
I would take what’s written on those articles with a grain of salt because they are published in Philippine Journal of Cardiology. Remember that Philippine is the biggest exporter of coconut oil to the world and coconut oil is almost 10% of their total export.
I think in a huge list of available oils out there, coconut doesn’t have a place near the top of the list compared healthier better options like Olive Oil, Flax Seed Oil, Grapes Seed Oil…
Agree and on has to very careful when looking at research. Lots of junk done in someone’s self interest. I always look for the double blind research.
from what I have read/ heard it is absolutly rotten for you!
We had a coconut plantation of around 60,000 palm trees and did good busines with it from the 60’s to the early 80’s. Then prices went so low when the word spread about not being a very healthy food that the business is not a good one anymore.
Last time I did something good with those palm trees is when I gave away to a friend of mine who was building a new golf course for his resort about 600 trees.
I eat and drink a coconut from time to time in these days but I do not think that eating them very frequently is a good choice.
Sergio
A humorous quote I came across not too long ago which addresses the research, both good and bad, quite accurately:
“Even perfectly clean water is bad for your health if you’re submerged in it for too long.”
-William McDonough in “Cradle to Cradle”
.
many people don’t use coconut oil for consumption, but rather for… um… adult bedroom activities. “messages” and the like. maybe your wife is sending you a hint.
For those of you that say coconut oil is bad for you, where is your data? All I see is speculation and misinformation. My wife is a raw, organic
cook with several years of training and education on the subject. She uses raw, organic coconut oil in a lot of her meals because of the health
benefits.
Here is a link from Dr. Mercola about coconut oil.
http://www.mercola.com/2003/jan/18/raw_coconuts.htm
BTW, Young coconut water is an amazing pre-race natural energy booster.
What about hydrogenated coconut oil? Is that a killer?
The problem with a lot of the “research” is that there is very little that examines the role of coconut oil in a traditional western diet. It’s not clear what the interaction is between a lot of the foods that are common in a western diet with some of the diets where coconut oil is a large part. I.e., if your diet is primarily fat-based, that is fine, until you start adding in refined sugars and carbohydrates, which your body is much more likely to burn, meaning you will store a lot of the fats. Diets are a complete thing. I don’t think you can look at any one part of a given diet and say THAT is the magic ingredient in what makes diet X healthy. What is it in your diet that coconut oil is replacing? What else do you eat? I think you need to look at all of those things. Certainly, there is very little compelling and sound scientific research done on people that says definitively that coconut oil is a healthy addition to your diet. (I don’t consider an osteopathic physician to be a “real” doctor. You are free to dispute that, but I suspect we shall have to agree to disagree.) There are several studies, mostly on animals, that indicate the opposite - that coconut oil does indeed increase the risk of coronary disease. But of course, there are also others that are inconclusive, or that point to certain positive effects. One of the most interesting was one that observed the differences in fat storage when there was a source of cholesterol in the diet; in that case, the rats studied stored much more of the cholesterol when they had a diet rich in coconut oil than when they had a diet rich in polyunsaturated fats. As with all studies, it seems that there are limitations to what conclusions you can really draw. Not surprisingly, it seems that coconut oil is neither awful for you nor really good, and that as with most things, anyone who touts it as some sort of magic bullet is probably best ignored.
My wife is tellling me to avoid foods that contain coconut oil. However, doing some google searches I found support for coconut oil http://www.coconutoil.com/research.htm
What gives?
Like all food, it depends on how much of it you eat. Nothing is bad for you if eaten in the right quantity, and pretty much everything has a place somewhere in the most people’s diet.
As always, excellent post Jordan!
Newer “theories” on cultures with high saturated fats in their normal diet, yet with less heart disease than the U.S. (for example) may show this. And one does not have to go to extreme cultural differences either (i.e. Aborigines to New Yorkers) to pull the exercise/activities of daily living card out of whack. I’m talking France/Italy to Great Britain type of differences. There are most definitely more complex interactions in one’s overall/long term diet than most understand. Unfortunately, snake oil salesman may also use this eventual knowledge as well.
Rappstar,
What is considered a traditional western diet? McDonalds? Processed foods loaded with crap like High Fructose Corn Syrup, and artificial
sweetners like Aspartame? Since I have only lived in the USA, I can’t compare us to other countries, but our education on maintaining
a healthy/balanced diet is severely lacking. The vast majority of people in this country have no idea what eating healthy really means.
That is their choice. The information is out there if you want to find it. Like too many in this country, they trust someone else to make
the decisions for them on what is or isn’t “healthy”, including one of our most corrupt government agencies, the FDA. But that is for a
different discussion. My point in all of this is that I try to eat foods that are as close to nature as possible. Raw/Organic Coconut Oil would
be one of those foods that I choose to include in my diet based on the information I have seen. As you probably gathered, living with a
raw/organic cook, my diet is not very traditional. No Dairy, No Refined Sugars, No Processed Foods, No Artificial Sweetners, etc. It hasn’t
been easy making the change, but my body thanks me every day.
Unfortunately, all the bad things that you’ve listed seem to have become part of the western diet, but I was more referring to things which aren’t inherently bad for you like eggs, meat, dairy, etc. that a lot of the diets that are heavy with the tropical oils lack. That is the one seemingly consistent piece of evidence out there on coconut oil - if you consume cholesterol, eating coconut oil tends to make your body hold on to it. So while coconut (and other tropical oils) may not show any adverse effects when they are consumed as part of the complete diet of a specific region, that doesn’t mean that they can or should be introduced in the same quantities into someone’s diet that is perhaps rich in pasta, which aren’t inherently bad for you. Diets need to be addressed as a complete entity.
One of the very interesting debates, I think, is coconut oil vs. palm oil. Palm oil seems to consistently come out ahead. Believe me, I am not at all opposed to coconut oil or “strange diets” on face value. I consume a lot of raw foods, EFAs, hemp protein, essentially no dairy except yogurt, quinoa instead of rice/pasta, etc. I am the first to say that the western diet has gone astray. But I think you have to be careful with the tropical oils in terms of what else you eat. And, as will all things, I think you have to be careful when people really say that something is “IT,” as there seems to be some of that with coconut oil.
Raw/natural is generally good, but just because something is “natural,” it doesn’t mean it is healthy. As my sister, who is a doctor, is fond of pointing out, “arsenic and lead are both natural.” Is coconut oil bad for you? I don’t think there is any evidence out there that says that is universally bad for you. But I do think you need to be careful introducing it into your diet.
As with anything, you need to consider the source. For example, Most people believe that Eggs, Meat, and Dairy are generally
healthy foods, and part of a balanced diet. However, when you source those products from the large “factory” farms and see
how they process everything, it makes me ill. Have you ever watched the “Meatrix” series of cartoons? The orginal version
was real footage shot from “Factory” farms, and was too graphic for the general public to stomach. It is definitely worth a watch
if you haven’t seen it. After watching, you won’t complain so much about the high cost of Organic Meats and Produce.
I don’t want to give you the impression that I use Coconut Oil on everything, and that I think it is natures cure for what ails you.
We use it in the preperation of certain meals as a cooking oil, or a butter substitute. I agree that too much of a good thing can be
bad for you. I took exception to those in this thread that were dismissing Coconut Oil as bad for you purely based on heresay and
opinion. I enjoyed our discussion, and understand your points. I think we have covered this topic in greater detail than I thought
we would. I’m tired, and need to get in an early morning ride, so I’m done. Have a good night.
I hear macadamia nut oil is very good for you.
I bought Macademia butter a couple of times, I’d rather stick with peanut butter though, the white stuff didn’t taste right.