Coconut Oil Case Study

To lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, a new study suggests taking coconut oil every day for four weeks. About 50 grams or three tablespoons of coconut oil daily boosted the HDL, or good cholesterol levels of participants in an experiment by 15 percent.

One-third of 94 participants aged between 50 and 75, with no history of cardiovascular ailments or diabetes, took coconut oil. Another one-third consumed the same amount of extra virgin olive oil and the remaining one-third had unsalted butter, Deccan Chronicle reported.

Good and bad cholesterol

Kay-Tee Khaw, a researcher, and Professor Nita Forouhi from the University of Cambridge said that the volunteers who took extra virgin olive oil had a slight reduction in their low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol, and a five percent increase in

She said it could be because the main saturated fat of coconut oil is lauric acid which may have different biological effects on blood lipids compared to other fatty acids on animals, but it is the first time they saw proof of its good impact on free-living humans.

But the authors noted that the decisions to consume particular oils depend on more than just the health effects. The Alternative Daily observed that conventional health experts had written off coconut oil as full of calories made of saturated fat. They claim that is supposed to increase the risk of heart diseases and add weight because of the impression that eating saturated fat causes weight gain when people who do so actually lose fat and put on muscle rapidly.

But for the scientific community, coconut oil, since it is 86 percent saturated fat – which is higher than the 51 percent saturated fat content of butter and 39 percent content of lard -- is considered unsafe. Consuming saturated fat is supposed to result in an increase in LDL. In contrast, only 14 percent of the calories of olive oil come from saturated fat and 63 percent in