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Coconut Oil: Sinner Or Saint

Optimum Nutrition

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Autumn 2017

Christian Billinghurst finds out that the devil’s in the detail when it comes to health benefits

- Christian Billinghurst

Coconut Oil: Sinner Or Saint

If one food group has left us confused, it’s fat; and possibly none more so than coconut oil. Hailed as a panacea for a range of health problems, coconut oil has recently been the new wonder-kid on the so-called superfood block, finding its way into processed foods such as vegan cheeses, and into our own kitchen pans. But if anything could have thrown its health halo into doubt, it was a statement this June from the American Heart Association (AHA) that saturated fat was detrimental to cardiovascular health. 1 The statement followed a review of studies into saturated fat in general, but coconut oil was singled out for attention: bad news for the coconut oil industry, and confusing for those of us who just want to know if we should eat it or not.

Health claims

Not only has coconut oil been claimed to be good for skincare or dental health (the latter when used for ‘pulling’ which means swooshing it for several minutes around the mouth — said to remove harmful bacteria), but it has even been claimed to help with weight-loss. This is down to it containing medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), types of fatty acids, which are transported directly to the liver during the digestion process, where they are quickly metabolised, and so avoid getting deposited in fatty tissue.

Overstated?

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