Coconut Oil

Food · Grains & Legumes · Nuts, Seeds & Oils

Connected to · 1

contrast · 1

Coconut Oil Truth
In the pooled clinical trials of at least two weeks (Neelakantan 2020), coconut oil raised LDL compared with non-tropical vegetable oils. The food page covers how to use the bottle in the kitchen; the nutrient page covers how lauric acid raises LDL and why MCT oil and coconut oil are not the same thing.

Read full story

Stop 1/6

Is coconut oil a healthy fat

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

Lauric acid, the main fat in coconut oil, behaves in the body more like a long-chain saturated fat, and it raises the bad cholesterol in your blood (). How it pushes LDL up is covered in the chapter on why it is simply saturated fat.

Coconut oil was sold as a healthy superfat on a borrowed name: medium-chain (MCT). The fats that made MCTs famous are caprylic and capric acid (C8 and C10). Coconut oil's main fat is lauric acid (C12), which carries the medium-chain name but is not handled the way they are. A little in cooking is fine; what does not hold up is eating it every day as a health oil.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

Back

Coconut Oil

Food · Grains & Legumes · Nuts, Seeds & Oils

Connected to · 1

contrast · 1

Coconut Oil Truth
In the pooled clinical trials of at least two weeks (Neelakantan 2020), coconut oil raised LDL compared with non-tropical vegetable oils. The food page covers how to use the bottle in the kitchen; the nutrient page covers how lauric acid raises LDL and why MCT oil and coconut oil are not the same thing.

Read full story

Stop 1/6

Is coconut oil a healthy fat

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

Lauric acid, the main fat in coconut oil, behaves in the body more like a long-chain saturated fat, and it raises the bad cholesterol in your blood (). How it pushes LDL up is covered in the chapter on why it is simply saturated fat.

Coconut oil was sold as a healthy superfat on a borrowed name: medium-chain (MCT). The fats that made MCTs famous are caprylic and capric acid (C8 and C10). Coconut oil's main fat is lauric acid (C12), which carries the medium-chain name but is not handled the way they are. A little in cooking is fine; what does not hold up is eating it every day as a health oil.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.