Coconut Oil

[KimberleeParticipant]

Coconut Oil keeps popping up on my social media sites. What benefits are being claimed about it and are there any merits to them?

[Rachel SheltonParticipant]

Coconut oil has been hyped as the latest miracle food and there are a wide variety of claimed benefits. These claims include; that it boosts brain function in people with Alzheimer disease, and helps with weight loss, cancer and HIV. Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat (1). Coconut oil is 47.3% lauric acid and 15.8% myristic acid, these components are medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are metabolized differently in the body (2). There is a theory that MCTs could be beneficial for Alzheimer’s disease because their breakdown yields ketone bodies, which can be used by the brain as an alternative to glucose (2). The MCTs are also believed to benefit weight loss because they are absorbed more easily and are metabolized more directly (2), but the evidence is limited. In an experimental study in rats by Lemieux et al. they found that a diet enriched in saturated fatty acids offers strong advantages for the protection against oxidative stress in heart mitochondria in rats which may be a possible prevention of cancer (3). While there are proposed mechanisms for many possible benefits of coconut oil, there is insufficient scientific evidence for any of them. While there are possible benefits, due to its high levels of saturated fat, coconut oil should still be limited in the diet and it is still recommended that saturated is switched to unsaturated fats to obtain the best nutritional value.

Reference List
1. Willett W. COCONUT OIL. Harvard Health Letter [serial online]. May 2011; 36(7):7. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 2, 2015.
2. Cadenhead K, Sweeny M, Lau A. Coconut oil: The new super food? Not likely. British Columbia Medical Journal [serial online]. November 2014;56(9):448-449. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 2, 2015.
3. Lemieux H, Bulteau A, Friguet B, Tardif J, Blier P. Dietary fatty acids and oxidative stress in the heart mitochondria. Mitochondrion [serial online]. January 2011;11(1):97-103. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 1, 2015.

[KimberleeParticipant]

Thank you Rachel for your response! I appreciate your thorough research on my question. It sounds like coconut oil has a lot of potential benefits, but since our current knowledge is still pretty limited I should only use it in moderation to maintain a balanced intake of saturated to unsaturated fat. I also found an additional possible benefit. One study found that the intake of coconut oil could increase HDL, but it had no effect on LDL or triglyercides. This means coconut oil could lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study noted, however, that additional research is necessary to confirm this association (1).

1. Feranil A, Duazo P, Kuzawa C, Adair L. Coconut oil is associated with a beneficial lipid profile in pre-menopausal women in the Philippines. Asia Pacific Journal Of Clinical Nutrition [serial online]. June 2011;20(2):190-195. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 4, 2015.

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