Re: Is Coconut Oil Healthful?

Ron Peterson wrote:
: George Cherry wrote:
:: The short answer is no. This is from Harvard Medical School:
:
: I found the following text at diseaseproof.com:
: All tropical oils (palm and coconut) are highly saturated fats. Like
: butter, cheese, and meat, tropical oils raise LDL cholesterol and clog
: arteries with plaque, increasing your risk of a heart attack. We use
: coconut oil (because it is so highly saturated) in animal experiments
: to create atherosclerotic plaque for studying heart disease in
: animals. There are different kinds of saturated fats with different
: impact on LDL cholesterol levels. One long-chain sat fat, stearic
: acid, has little impact on LDL cholesterol. But other long-chain
: saturated fatty acids, like the ones that make up most of the
: saturated fat in coconut and palm oils (known as tropical oils), do
: in fact raise LDL cholesterol considerably. These saturated fats are
: called palmitic, myristic, and lauric acids. They also make up most
: of the saturated fatty acids in meat, poultry, and dairy fats like
: milk and cheese. Other saturated fats that have little impact on LDL
: cholesterol levels include medium-chain varieties like caproic,
: caprylic, and capic acids. A small percentage of the saturated fat in
: coconut oil, about 10%, is made up of these less harmful saturated
: fatty acids, but virtually all the rest of coconut oil's saturated
: fat is made up of the long-chain varieties that raise LDL.
:
: Coconut oil is getting promoted on the web, internet and even the
: health food industry, claiming its healthy because most of its fat is
: made up of medium chain fatty acids (MCT), which are metabolized
: differently. Yes, it is true that a small portion of coconut oil is
: MCT (C-6 to C-10 fatty acids) and these do get oxidized more quickly
: and have little impact on LDL-C levels. However, because the vast
: majority of saturated fatty acids in coconut oil are the longer chain
: fatty acids, C-12 to C-16 (lauric, myristic and palmitic acids) it
: does in fact elevate LDL-C. The idea that MCT fats will induce weight
: loss or detoxify the liver is an example of alternative nonsense at
: its highest level. Coconut oil is 92% saturated, making it more
: saturated than butter, beef tallow, or even lard. Palm oil, though it
: contain less saturated fat (50%), is full of a type of saturated fat,
: palmitic acid, which appears to be most conducive to heart disease.

Very nice reasoning but how about this study:

Cox C, Sutherland W, Mann J, de Jong S, Chisholm A, Skeaff M.
Effects of dietary coconut oil, butter and safflower oil on plasma lipids,
lipoproteins and lathosterol levels. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1998 Sep;52(9):650-4.

Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this present study was to determine plasma levels of
lathosterol, lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins during diets rich in
butter, coconut fat and safflower oil. DESIGN: The study consisted of
sequential six week periods of diets rich in butter, coconut fat then
safflower oil and measurements were made at baseline and at week 4 in each
diet period. SUBJECTS: Forty-one healthy Pacific island polynesians living
in New Zealand participated in the trial. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects were
supplied with some foods rich in the test fats and were given detailed
dietary advice which was reinforced regularly. RESULTS: Plasma lathosterol
concentration (P < 0.001), the ratio plasma lathosterol/cholesterol
(P=0.04), low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P<0.001) and apoB
(P<0.001) levels were significantly different among the diets and were
significantly lower during coconut and safflower oil diets compared with
butter diets. Plasma total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and apoA-levels were
also significantly (P< or =0.001) different among the diets and were not
significantly different between buffer and coconut diets. CONCLUSIONS: These
data suggest that cholesterol synthesis is lower during diets rich in
coconut fat and safflower oil compared with diets rich in butter and might
be associated with lower production rates of apoB-containing lipoproteins.
PMID: 9756121

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9756121&query_hl=7&itool=pubmed_DocSum


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Juhana


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