I use coconut oil for a LOT of things (at the moment my hair has a bunch in it to help the dryness lol one of these days I'll make a post about all my uses for it.) but I had been told by a doctor that it was bad for you to consume do to the high volume of saturated fat. This had really confused me because I had always heard it was a great alternative for unhealthy oils. Well today I stumbled across a great explanation of coconut oil regarding health and I would really like to share it. This just helps me prove that even though a doctor is very knowledgeable they are not nutritionists.
"There is widespread misconception that coconut oil is bad for you because it is said to raise blood cholesterol and cause heart disease. The only “proof” is one four-decades old study. The study used hydrogenated coconut oil.
It is now known that the process of hydrogenation creates “trans fatty acids” (TFAs), which are toxic entities that enter cell membranes, block utilization of essential fatty acids (EFAs) and impede cell functionality. TFAs also cause a rise in blood cholesterol. These substances are not present in natural coconut oil.
In other words, a study based on hydrogenated coconut oil has no relevance to the non-hydrogenated coconut milk or coconut oil that you eat…Coconut Oil as Saturated Fat
Another reason people believe coconut oil must be bad for you is misguided association: it is a saturated fat and “saturated fats are bad for you.” Dietary guidelines inevitably fail to distinguish between different kinds of saturated fats and insist that saturated fats (meaning all saturated fats) are harmful.
This is not just misleading. It is bad science. Leading scientists now recognize that just as there is good cholesterol, there are also good saturated fats.
Fats are classified as short-, medium- or long-chain based on the number of carbon molecules they contain. Nearly two-thirds of the saturated fat in coconut oil consists of medium-chain fatty acids.
When we eat long-chain fatty acids, they must be emulsified by bile salts in the small intestine before they can be absorbed into our body. Short- and medium-chain fatty acids, such as those in coconut milk, are absorbed directly through the portal vein to the liver, where they are immediately available to the body.
In other words, most of the saturated fat in coconut oil is easily digestible and converted into quick energy. And these types of fatty acids are less likely to cause obesity because they are immediately used by the body and have no opportunity to be stored.”
I hope this helped you as much as it helped me!!
