Is coconut oil a beneficial food or "pure poison" ?

Since the 1970s, a number of adverse effects have been attributed to the consumption of saturated fats. However, in recent years, it has been scientifically demonstrated that both sugar and processed fats (hydrogenated and trans fats) are a risk factor for heart problems.

To understand this belief, we have to go back to 1970 when Ancel Keys, an American physiologist, published his original study titled Coronary heart desease in seven countries (Coronary heart disease in seven countries). It analyzed the lifestyles of more than 10,000 men aged between 40 and 59 years. This population was selected in 7 countries: Italy, Greece, Finland, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, the United States, and Japan.

It showed that the higher the consumption of saturated fat, the higher the death rate from cardiovascular disease. What was the problem? It only showed 7 countries out of the 22 for which it had data. Otherwise, the graph would have been very different and saturated fats would not have been demonized.

Comparative graph of the results of Ancel Keys' trial with all the countries (left) and only the initial seven (right)

Since then, a reduction in the consumption of fats, especially saturated fats, has been promoted. To make foods palatable, the food industry replaced them with sugars and carbohydrates, and a large number of new artificial additives.

The change in the diet of the U.S. population, which reduced its consumption of eggs, whole milk, and meat in order to comply with the new dietary recommendations, resulted in an exponential increase in the pathologies it sought to combat. In 2014, this meta-analysis published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine finally dismantled the belief that reducing the consumption of saturated fats produces a reduction in blood cholesterol. In fact, the increase in these pathologies was attributed to a rise in the consumption of industrial carbohydrates and sugars, which have been shown to increase LDL, or “bad cholesterol,” without increasing “good cholesterol,” or HDL, as saturated fats do.

In this regard, the magazine TIME published an article in June 2014 titled The truth about fat (The truth about fats), which also dismantled the belief that saturated fats were harmful and concluded that, under no circumstances, were they responsible for the obesity and cardiovascular disease epidemic affecting the United States (and the rest of the world) in recent years.
 

 Three coconut trees (Cocos nucifera), palms of the Arecaceae family

In recent days we have been able to read many articles and headlines in the media about this food, and at Baïa Food Co. we wanted to share our view on the matter.

Coconut is a tropical fruit that comes from the coconut palm, scientifically known as Cocos nucifera. This palm is currently the most widely cultivated in the world. It belongs to the Arecaceae family and in its natural state can grow up to 30 m or more in height.

First of all, coconut oil for consumption should always be extra virgin cold-pressed oil and, if possible, organic. It is obtained by cold-pressing the white pulp of the coconut without using any type of chemical product.

It is composed of nearly 90% saturated fats, most of them the beneficial medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA – Medium Chain Fatty Acids). Of these fatty acids, approximately 45% is lauric acid (the only natural food that contains more lauric acid than coconut oil is breast milk).

Coconut oil: a beneficial food or pure poison. Video credits Baïa Food Co.

Coconut oil is in liquid form from 22º C of temperature onward. Below that, it tends to solidify more intensely at lower temperatures. Its properties are not altered by changing from solid to liquid state or vice versa. Its color is white in solid state and transparent, slightly yellowish in liquid state. Its acidity is below 2%.

Despite its high nutritional and energy value, we should not be alarmed because, within the framework of a healthy diet, it can become an excellent source of saturated fat beneficial for the body.

As mentioned previously, its nutritional profile is composed mostly of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA or MCTs), among which lauric acid stands out, followed by myristic and palmitic acid. Lauric acid, according to a meta-analysis carried out by Maastricht University called Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials is characterized by having “a more favorable effect on total HDL cholesterol than any other fatty acid [examined], whether saturated or unsaturated.” Likewise, the antimicrobial properties of lauric acid are supported by more than 250 scientific publications on the reference portal PubMed.

Polineseo climbing a coconut tree to collect the coconuts

Michels also commented in his controversial lecture that there was no scientific evidence demonstrating that consuming coconut oil can be beneficial for health. Here are some benefits supported by prestigious studies that show this is not the case:

• HELPS BURN FAT: This study from Columbia University found that regularly consuming oil composed of MCFAs or MCTs causes the body to burn fat and lose weight without increasing blood cholesterol or raising the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• IMPROVES COGNITIVE ABILITY: Another study from Yale University concludes that the consumption of MCFAs improves cognitive ability and preserves brain function in diabetic hypoglycemic patients treated with insulin.
• HELPS REDUCE VISCERAL FAT:  This study from 2011 concludes that coconut oil helps reduce visceral fat, especially in men, and without any harmful effect on the lipid profile.  
• SHORT-TERM MEMORY IMPROVEMENT IN PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMER'S: This scientific study from 2009 shows that patients with Alzheimer's improve short-term memory when taking coconut oil.
• ANTIMICROBIAL POWER: This study from the year 2000 highlights the antimicrobial power of coconut oil.
• HELPS PREVENT CANDIDA: A scientific trial from June 2007 concludes that coconut oil helps prevent candida.
• HAS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANALGESIC EFFECT: This in vitro study from February 2010 highlights the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect of coconut oil. 
  
  

Freshly harvested coconuts

At Baïfa Food Co. we recommend that you be critical of all the information you read on the internet, in newspapers, and on TV. Do not let a criterion be imposed on you; rather, create your own.

Do not forget that the media live off the attention of the masses: read in depth, do not stop at the headline, and always draw your own conclusions.

In this case, decide for yourselves whether coconut and its oil are “pure poison,” as Prof. Karin Michels says, or rather a food that can provide scientifically substantiated nutritional benefits.