Is Coconut Oil Unhealthy?

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

The majority of scientific evidence indicates that coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol levels, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. While it also raises HDL cholesterol, this does not mitigate the adverse effects on LDL cholesterol. Compared to other fats, coconut oil is less harmful than butter but more detrimental than unsaturated plant oils. The potential benefits of coconut oil in traditional dietary contexts or for topical applications do not translate to its consumption in a typical Western diet. Therefore, replacing coconut oil with unsaturated fats is advisable for better cardiovascular health.

Coconut oil has been a topic of debate regarding its health effects, particularly its impact on cardiovascular health. While it is popularly marketed as a healthy oil, scientific research presents a more nuanced view, especially concerning its high saturated fat content and its effects on cholesterol levels.

Key Insights

• Increase in LDL Cholesterol:
  • Coconut oil significantly raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels compared to unsaturated plant oils, which is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease1 2 3 4 5 7 8.
• Increase in HDL Cholesterol:
  • Coconut oil also increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, which is often considered beneficial for heart health. However, this does not offset the increase in LDL cholesterol1 3 5 7 8.
• Comparison with Other Fats:
  • Compared to butter, coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol to a lesser extent but still more than unsaturated plant oils. It also increases HDL cholesterol more than butter and olive oil2 4 6 7.
• No Significant Effect on Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors:
  • Coconut oil does not significantly affect triglycerides, body weight, body fat, markers of glycemia, or inflammation when compared to nontropical vegetable oils1 3 5.
• Contextual Differences:
  • Observational studies suggest that traditional dietary patterns involving coconut flesh or squeezed coconut do not lead to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, these findings are not applicable to a typical Western diet2.
• Potential Benefits Beyond Cardiovascular Health:
  • Limited evidence supports the topical use of coconut oil for preventing and treating atopic dermatitis and dental caries through oil pulling. However, these benefits are not related to its consumption3 4.

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Bart  De Geest has answered Likely

An expert from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Cardiology, Molecular Biology

The question whether coconut oil is healthy or unhealthy can be answered from different angles.

First, the effect of coconut oil on biochemical endpoints, which are potentially surrogate endpoints, like serum cholesterol, can be evaluated. The effect on a biochemical endpoint does not prove that coconut oil is healthy or unhealthy but can constitute the foundation for hypotheses.

The second perspective is to analyse the effect of coconut oil on clinically meaningful endpoints in animal intervention studies. In such studies, a causal relationship is demonstrated but the limitation is that animal studies may fail to predict the clinical phenotype.

The third angle is the evaluation of the association between coconut oil intake and clinically meaningful endpoints in epidemiological studies. Here again, no causal association can be demonstrated.

Finally, a conclusive answer can only be provided in a randomized clinical trial on coconut oil consumption, which is hard to execute.

Coconut oil predominantly contains medium-chain saturated fatty acids (SFA): caproic acid (C6:0) 1%, caprylic acid (C8:0) 9%, capric acid (C10:0) 7%, and lauric acid (C12:0) 47% of the overall fatty acid composition1.

Medium-chain fatty acids do not rely on membrane transporters for their uptake into cells and mitochondria(2,3). They are directly activated in the mitochondrial matrix by medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase prior to β-oxidation. The large majority of lauric acid is transported directly to the liver via the portal vein whereas a minor part is reformed into new triglycerides and incorporated into chylomicrons, which enter the lymphatic system and reach the blood via the ductus thoracicus4. Besides medium-chain fatty acids and the unsaturated fatty acids oleic acid (C18:1) (6%) and linoleic acid (C16:2, n-6) (1%), coconut oil further contains the long-chain SFA myristic acid (C14:0) (17%), palmitic acid (C16:0) (8%), and stearic acid (C18:0) (3%). Myristic acid and palmitic acid may increase serum cholesterol but constitute together only 25% of fatty acids of coconut oil.

An important question is whether coconut oil may result in detrimental effects that are independent of an effect on serum cholesterol. We have demonstrated that feeding coconut oil aggravates pressure overload-induced cardiomyopathy in mice(5) without having any effect on serum cholesterol. In more recent unpublished work, we demonstrated that coconut oil induces heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in mice (Mudit Mishra et al. 2018).

Taken together, there is no simple answer to the question whether coconut oil is healthy or unhealthy. It is however difficult to envisage that it is healthy. However, in dealing with such question, one should always be aware that the answer may be dependent on the food component that is used as comparator.

REFERENCES

1.       Eyres, L., et al. Nutr Rev 74, 267-280 (2016).
2.       Labarthe, F., et al. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 22, 97-106 (2008).
3.       Bremer, J. Physiol Rev 63, 1420-1480 (1983).
4.       McDonald, G.B., et al. Am J Physiol 239, G141-150 (1980).
5.       Muthuramu, I., et al. Int J Mol Sci 18, 1565 (2017).

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Senthilkumar Sankararaman MD has answered Likely

An expert from Case Western Reserve University in Nutrition, Gastroenterology, Pediatrics

Coconut oil is stated to offer various health benefits including weight loss, enhancing immune functions, supporting cardiovascular health, improving memory etc. Majority of these claims have no solid scientific back up. Coconut has the highest saturated fat content (~90%) much higher than any animal source of saturated fat such as butter, lard or beef tallow. Current evidence clearly demonstrates ingestion of coconut oil increases LDL-Cholesterol, the bad cholesterol which has been linked to adverse cardiovascular outcome. Lower prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in some parts of the world where coconut products (coconut flesh, oil etc.) are widely consumed cannot be generalized to the developed world as the dietary practices and life style factors are way different. Also coconut oil is often referred as an excellent source of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) due to high concentration of lauric acid (~50%). Here researchers differ in opinion whether lauric acid to be considered as MCTs or not. However the clinical benefits of commercially available MCTs (predominant mix of capric and caprylic acids) are different from coconut oil (predominantly lauric acid) and both are not interchangeable. Till we have large scale, well designed studies quoting long term effects, it is recommended to consume coconut oil within the recommended 10% of the total caloric intake.

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Glen Lawrence has answered Unlikely

An expert from LIU Brooklyn in Biochemistry, Chemistry

Coconut oil does indeed contain a higher percentage of saturated fats than beef or even butter, but there is no evidence that these fats are unhealthy. The scare regarding saturated fats is based on the fact that feeding people mostly saturated fats in the diet will raise serum cholesterol somewhat, but there is no evidence that such a change in serum cholesterol from foods is going to result in more heart attacks. Some people interpret scientific data to implicate dietary saturated fats as increasing the risk of heart disease, but studies are not conclusive on this fact and indeed, studies have shown that omega-6 vegetable oils will increase risk of heart attacks more than saturated fats. Unfortunately, most studies did not differentiate saturated fats and trans fats from hydrogenated vegetable oils. Countries that consume large amounts of coconut oils (in southeast Asia) have some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world.

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Ruhul  Amin has answered Likely

An expert from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Cardiology, Genetics, Molecular Biology

The answer is yes, in general because it contains lot of saturated fatty acids. We have recently published a research articles explaining the detrimental effects of coconut oil (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071565) in cardiac structure and functions.

In contrast we can’t simply say that its a ‘pure poison’ and if so that would be kind of an extreme assumption.

Is coconut oil unhealthy?

Shyh-Hsiang Lin has answered Unlikely

An expert from Taipei Medical University  in Nutrition, Health

No, coconut oil is not “unhealthy”. Although it contains a lot of saturated fatty acids, but those are C12 in majority, so so call mid-chain fatty acid.