Coconut oil is healthier? Don’t believe it! I really don’t recommend eating it. Anyone who believes it will be cheated!

Myth: "Coconut oil is healthier"

Coconut oil has attracted much attention in recent years. It is advertised as helping with weight loss, beneficial to cardiovascular health, and beauty, and has gained a large number of fans. Is coconut oil really so good and can it play such a big role?

Rumor analysis: Not true.

Coconut oil does not have any "magical" effects. Not only can it not help you lose weight or beautify your skin, but its saturated fatty acid content exceeds 80%, which is much higher than butter, lard, etc. It is harmful to the cardiovascular system. I really do not recommend that you buy it and eat it.

As a cooking oil and beauty product, coconut oil has attracted much attention in recent years due to the promotion of some fitness bloggers and celebrities.

Many people claim that it contains medium-chain fatty acids, lauric acid and vitamin E, which are not only easy to absorb, do not accumulate fat, and can help lose weight, but also contain no cholesterol, are beneficial to cardiovascular health, and can moisturize the skin and beautify the skin, etc. So, does coconut oil really have these "magical effects"?

Is coconut oil really healthy?

After buying a coconut and drinking coconut milk, you can see a thick, chewy, white coconut meat on the inner wall of the coconut. This layer of coconut meat has a high fat content, and the oil extracted from it is what we call coconut oil.

1. Weight loss theory

The source of this statement is that coconut oil is rich in "medium-chain fatty acids MCT". This type of fatty acid is believed to be able to decompose and absorb quickly because of its relatively short carbon chain (8 to 12 carbons), so it can quickly provide energy without storing fat. Other commonly used vegetable oils are mainly "long-chain fatty acids", which are easy to accumulate fat. Why is there such a big difference between "medium-chain fatty acids" and "long-chain fatty acids"? In principle, "medium-chain fatty acids" and "long-chain fatty acids" are a bit like two different routes to work in the metabolic process. Imagine that "long-chain fatty acids" are regular office workers. After being absorbed by the small intestine, they have to take the bus of the lymphatic system to reach the subway station for blood circulation. "Medium-chain fatty acids" are like a cool cyclist who can directly ride a bicycle to enter the highway of blood circulation, saving the trouble of waiting for the bus, and naturally much faster. Because the "medium-chain fatty acids" are fast as a cyclist, they can quickly reach the liver, the "energy factory", and convert them into energy to supply our daily needs. Theoretically, "medium-chain fatty acids" are unlikely to make us fat, as they are more like diligent energy providers. On the contrary, "long-chain fatty acids", which are regular office workers, can easily "settle down" in our fat tissues if we consume too much, causing us to gain weight unknowingly.

Image source: sciencedirect (translated by the author)

However, the principle is the principle, and the current research results are inconsistent as to whether medium-chain fatty acids can really help lose weight. Although some experiments have found that they can increase satiety and reduce food intake, and some studies have found that medium-chain fatty acids may help reduce waist circumference and weight, other studies have not found obvious weight loss effects. Therefore, although medium-chain fatty acids have good prospects for weight loss, more high-quality research is needed to verify them. Even if medium-chain fatty acids are confirmed to be beneficial for weight loss in the future, it does not mean that coconut oil can help lose weight. Because coconut oil ≠ pure medium-chain fatty acids.

Image source: USDA Food Database (Coconut Oil)

Although there are 54% medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil, the majority of them are lauric acid (C12), which has a longer carbon chain and is metabolized in a similar way to long-chain fatty acids. Currently, research on whether medium-chain fatty acids can help with weight loss is mainly based on C8 and C10. These two fatty acids are only 12% effective in weight loss. In other words, there are very few fatty acids in coconut oil that can help with "weight loss." Moreover, coconut oil itself is 99% fat and has a very high calorie content. 100g of coconut oil contains 895kcal, which is similar to other vegetable oils. Therefore, if you rely on coconut oil to lose weight, you may not lose weight, but gain a lot of fat.

2. Reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease

There are two main arguments for reducing cardiovascular disease: Coconut oil is rich in medium-chain fatty acids, which can increase the level of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol HDL), which is beneficial to the health of blood lipids. In addition, coconut oil does not contain cholesterol and trans fatty acids, which is good for preventing cardiovascular disease.

Image source: Introduction to a certain brand of coconut oil on an e-commerce platform

But in fact, coconut oil is not only not good for cardiovascular health, but it can increase the risk of heart disease. The saturated fatty acid content in coconut oil exceeds 80%, which is much higher than butter, lard, etc.

Image source: 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (8th Edition)

A systematic review published in the top cardiovascular journal Circulation in March 2020, by summarizing data from 16 clinical trials, revealed the true impact of coconut oil on health.

(1) Compared with other edible oils, coconut oil significantly increases the levels of "bad cholesterol" LDL and total cholesterol in the blood, and the increase in these two types of cholesterol is closely related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

(2) Coconut oil increases the level of HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), but high levels of HDL cannot offset the harm of LDL and does not necessarily reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In other words, coconut oil has a greater negative impact. In 2017, the American Heart Association (AHA) clearly opposed the consumption of coconut oil in "Dietary Fat and Cardiovascular Disease".

Image source: American Heart Association official website

3. Coconut oil is rich in vitamin E, can it be used to improve skin care and beauty?

The promotion of coconut oil for skin care and beauty comes from the antioxidant vitamin E in it. The coconut oil promotion article describes it as follows: The antioxidant properties of coconut oil, thanks to its vitamin E content, play a vital role in reducing visible signs of aging. These antioxidants help neutralize harmful free radicals that cause oxidative stress on the skin, leading to premature aging such as wrinkles and fine lines. By fighting these free radicals, coconut oil helps keep the skin healthy, vibrant and youthful. But in fact, the vitamin E content in coconut oil is not high. Judging from the data, coconut oil is instantly defeated by common vegetable oils.

Data from: U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Database Therefore, coconut oil is not a "weight loss oil", "health oil" or "beauty oil". Don't blindly believe in its various "magical" effects. It is really recommended not to eat it.

Looking in the mirror of rumors

Such rumors usually have the following obvious characteristics: first, they describe a certain food or ingredient as an "all-purpose health magic"; second, they only promote the benefits of the product without mentioning its side effects and risks. If you see this information, you must be careful, it may be a rumor.

References

doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510. Epub 2017 Jun 15. Erratum in: Circulation. 2017 Sep 5;136(10):e195. PMID: 28620111.

[2]Food Composition Databases Show Foods -- Oil, coconut [Internet]. Food Composition Databases Show Foods. Available from: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/330458/nutrients

[3] Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Chinese Nutrition Science Encyclopedia 2nd Edition (Volume 1)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2019

[4]Mumme K, Stonehouse W. Effects of medium-chain triglycerides on weight loss and body composition: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Feb;115(2):249-263. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2014.10.022. PMID: 25636220.

[5]Assunçao, Monica L., et al. "Effects of dietary coconut oil on the biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting abdominal obesity." Lipids 44.7 (2009): 593-601.

[6]Valente, Flávia Xavier, et al. "Effects of coconut oil consumption on energy metabolism, cardiometabolic risk markers, and appetitive responses in women with excess body fat." European Journal of Nutrition 57.4 (2018): 1627-1637.

[7] Hong Kong Department of Health. “Control cholesterol: Eat for a healthy heart” Improvement tips. https://www.fhs.gov.hk/tc_chi/health_info/woman/30105.html

[8]PG Roopashree, Shilpa S. Shetty, N. Suchetha Kumari, Effect of medium chain fatty acid in human health and disease, Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 87, 2021, 104724, ISSN 1756-4646, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2021.104724.

Author: Li Chun, a registered nutritionist in China

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center