Is Coconut Oil Good For You?

The effect of the saturated fat in coconut oil on cholesterol levels.

December 8, 2010
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  • Veguyan

    Does this mean that since my LDL, Direct is 77, it’s okay for me to consume coconut oil? Or should I shun it completely?

    Does eating coconut oil have any benefits?

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      That is fantastic and likely a tribute to a very healthful diet! We should probably shoot for 70, though, so I would recommend cutting out saturated animal fats, trans fats, as well as cocoa butter, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.

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    • ja827

      Doc, thanks for all the work you do and great information. Disagree with you on this topic though. If you can produce a study using Virgin Coconut Oil (not hydrogenated) showing worsening of people’s total cholesterol profile (the proportion of LDL to HDL is more important, vs the LDL only), I’ll listen to what you say. However, at this point, I’ve only seen positive effects in the literature of Virgin Coconut oil on people’s total cholesterol profile. And have been using it daily for a year to improve my own cholesterol profile, which was greatly improved on the last test 1 month ago. LDL decreased, not increased, 25 pts, and HDL increased 15 pts. Coconut oil is a nutritional and ‘medicinal’ powerhouse, IMO. It’s being used to keep in check the progression of HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer’s, to name just 2

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      • Toxins

        Hello ja827!
        Such a great comment you have made, but let me clear up some issues you are having with the video.

        Firstly, when something is hydrogenated, that means it is made into a solid state for preservation purposes. The coconut oil used in the study was not hydrogenated.

        Secondly, all oil is essentially liquid fat with little to no nutrition. That goes for olive oil too! Check out Dr. G’s video on olive oil and see my comment on there regarding its lack of health value http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/extra-virgin-olive-oil/

        Many claims have been made about olive oil as well, but the fact of the matter is, all oils cause epithelial cell damage to your blood vessels which causes a marked increase in your risk for heart disease since the protective cell layer can no longer clear up blockages. Remember, cholesterol is only 1 aspect of true health. One must ingest foods that provide proper nutrition without causing harm.

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        • http://www.weightlossawakening.com DrCarp

          Just because something is not loaded with phytonutrients does not mean it is bad for you. I am not suggesting that you take tablespoons of coconut oil or olive oil but fat metabolism is a many and varied thing and you can’t just automatically say it is bad for you without looking at the context. Secondly – the study mentioned above supplemented the coconut oil in the study with egg yolks, margarine, and white flour. It is a severely flawed study.

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  • Veguyan

    And what about the fact that coconut oil is composed of medium chain fatty acids as opposed to the badder kinds? And Lauric Acid? Monolaurin?

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Coconut oil manufacturers, like those in the beef industry, love to point out the fatty acids in their products that may not be harmful while conveniently ignoring their products also contain kinds of saturated fat that can significantly raise one’s LDL or “bad” cholesterol, which is a risk factor for heart disease. It’s like when, during the McLibel trial, a McDonald’s executive was asked if Coca Cola is “nutritious” and he replied that it is “providing water, and I think that is part of a balanced diet.” Food is a package deal; we can’t get the good without the bad, and so I in my opinion we should ideally choose foods where the risk/benefit analysis is skewed way towards the benefits side.

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      • https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3g3r2B_JydDRw DrCarp

        The libel here is mostly coming from the soybean industry historically. Tell me how much butyric, stearic, or palmitic acid are in coconuts and how much do you have to eat to get comparable levels found in animal and dairy fats?

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  • ChefJenny

    Oh Doc! Say it ain’t so! Not my precious coconut oil!! I saw the study flashed up at the end of the video, but can you tell me more about the effect on cholesterol? I’m almost scared to find out! Sigh…

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Coconut oil appears to raise one’s LDL (“bad”) cholesterol :( So as the Chair of Harvard’s nutrition department recently wrote, “I’d use coconut oil sparingly.”

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  • walfaro

    Dr. Greger:
    Thank you for this wonderful site. I have been reading about coconut oil lately and I would like to know your opinion about this article: Coconut oil is associated with a beneficial lipid profile in pre-menopausal women in the Philippines
    [PDF] de 211.76.170.15AB Feranil, PL Duazo, CW Kuzawa… – Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2011 – 211.76.170.15

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      The article confirms what we’ve known about the HDL (“good”) cholesterol elevating effects of certain saturated fatty acids. Though coconut oil is 90% saturated fat (compared to around 50% in beef, butter, and lard), a larger percentage is what’s called lauric acid, which boosts HDL more than palmitic acid, the saturated fat found predominantly in meat and dairy products. So as saturated fats go, coconut oil is preferable, but the recommendation remains “to avoid tropical oils, including coconut oil” according to a statement put out by the American Dietetic Association earlier this year.

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      • walfaro

        Thank you Dr. Greger for your explanation. Regards.

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  • laura lee

    Hi Dr. Greger. So what oil is healthy to use? Isn’t vegetable oil as harmful?

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Other oils are healthier (less saturated), but I recommend eating whole (unprocessed) foods whenever possible and so encourage people to avoid oils in part for the same reason I encourage people to avoid avoid white bread and added sugars–the nutrient to calorie density of these foods (something Dr. Fuhrman famously talks about in his work) is exceedingly low.

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  • modstream

    I have a child that is PDD-NOS (autistic) but doing very well and improving greatly with nutrition and homeopathy. He is skinny though. What oil do you recommend? I typically use olive and coconut oil and was happy about the fat content of the coconut oil for him.

    Also – any nutrition or health information pertaining to autism on the site would be wonderful.

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      Autism is definitely one of my pubmed alerts. In terms of calorically dense plant foods I would recommend nuts, seeds, and nut and seed butters rather than oils, as well as dried fruit and smoothies. I am so glad he is improving!

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      • modstream

        But to cook with – for ex., cooking vegetables or cooking meat … what oil do you recommend? Or can you use seed butters for this? I don’t know of any. I also use sesame seed oil on occasion (it just has a strong flavor). Thank you!

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        • Toxins

          Hello modstream!
          Although this question was directed for Dr. Greger, I believe I can provide you with some alternatives.

          Firstly, you really shouldn’t be eating meat to begin with after looking at the massive amount of information on its health detriments. Check them out here http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=meat

          As far as cooking your vegetables in a pan, water works just as well as oil! I have noticed an insignificant taste difference so using water is your best bet. Also, making hearty plant based soups is an excellent way to bring a lot of foods together in one cooked meal. For more simple recipes check out http://happyherbivore.com/recipes/

          For more information on oil check out these 2 videos by good ol’ Dr. G! http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/forego-fat-free-dressings/ and http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/extra-virgin-olive-oil/

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        • LowFatVeganChef

          Hi Modstream,

          I cook without any oil or cooking spray for all of my recipes. Now that we have non stick pans it is completely unnecessary to use oil to prevent sticking. This was more for those d cast iron pans.

          I made a post on my blog about how I cook without oil if you want to check it out http://lowfatveganchef.com/how-to-cook-without-oil-or-how-to-cook-fat-free/

          I make vegetable broth, or you can use store bought, or just water and seasonings in a pinch.

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  • raerae

    Dr. Greger,

    I have been doing some research on this debate and have come to the question if the studies cited were testing hydrogenated coconut oil versus virgin coconut oil. Do you know which type was tested, as hydrogenated oil have higher bad saturated fats and have found much info stating that pure extra virgin oil is healthier option as it has no trans & hydrogenated fat and 62% mct’s

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  • Daneau

    I have read in a few places that vegans can suffer from poor hormone production if their saturated fat (coconut oil) consumption is too low. Is this true?

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    • Toxins

      Hello Daneau,
      As stated by Jeff Novick, we actually do not need any saturated fat to survive, they are nonessential and harmful. Much of the “studies” coming out claiming carbs are bad and saturated fat is good are actually funded by food industry bodies, like the dairy industry http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/healthy-eating_b_629422.html This is not a reliable source and beef and dairy in themselves contain trans fats, Check out Dr. G’s videos all about those pesky trans fats here http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/good-great-bad-killer-fats/
      Back to Saturated fats, Dr. McDougall states that the study claiming saturated fats were not harmful was debunked by Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, “this dairy-industry funded study based on its flawed methodology, and a disregard of 50 years of diet-heart research with contrary findings, and dozens of metabolic (ward-type-feeding) experiments showing that eating saturated fat and/or cholesterol causes an adverse effect on blood lipids. In addition, thousands of relevant animal studies on the damaging effects of saturated fat and cholesterol were ignored.” Check out the whole McDougall article here going into detail http://drmcdougall.com/misc/2010other/news/weil.htm as well as the editorial by Dr. Stamler that debunks the Saturated fat claim here http://www.ajcn.org/content/91/3/497.full

      To check out more information on other oils, check out Dr. Greger’s video on Olive Oil here http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/extra-virgin-olive-oil/ as well as my comments to the users on that page.

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      • http://www.weightlossawakening.com DrCarp

        There are many different saturated fatty acids. They behave differently in the body. You can find information in articles about how the different saturated fatty acids (SFA’s) react in the body. The whole debate is hopelessly generalized and politicized. Start studying fat metabolism and you will realize that lumping all SFA’s together is just as bad as lumping all carbs together.

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  • yummy

    A well-known cardiologist posted today that coconut oil is fantastic for the heart and whole body…my personal doctor says “no” to using it….no wonder people are confused…sure wish Docs could come together a little more on this subject.

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  • Chelsea

    raerae: The coconut oil used in this study was not hydrogenated. The hydrogenation process is what makes liquid fats (oils) into shelf-stable fats that are solid at room temperature. Many oils are hydrogenated and this will always increase the trans fat content. However, some coconut oil is already somewhat solid at room temperature due to the saturated fat content. Any oil that has been hydrogenated should be avoided! This information is easily found in the ingredients list.

    Coconut oil can sometimes be referred to as “virgin”, though it doesn’t actually have significance in the product. Olive oil, however, does use the term to indicate the amount of times the olives have been pressed. “Extra-virgin” simply means the first press of the olives, as opposed to the second or third press.

    Healthy fats can be added to the diet in many ways other than oil. Watch this video for more information: http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/good-great-bad-killer-fats/

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  • http://www.facebook.com/dmschmidt David Schmidt

    So what’s the least “bad” oil that one can use for frying etc?

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    • Toxins

      Hello David,

      There is actually not a single healthy method to frying. Check out Dr. Greger’s video on frying here http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/deep-frying-toxins/

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      • http://www.facebook.com/dmschmidt David Schmidt

        So what does one use when they are frying peppers, onions, etc. Is there a healthy option for pan frying?

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        • Toxins

          Hello again,
          Such excellent questions you are asking!
          I have used plain old water to pan “fry” food and it turns out great! Just add some seasoning and its good to go!

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        • LowFatVeganChef

          I use vegetable broth, homemade or store bought or even just water and spices to sauté in. Everything I make on my blog is oil free http://lowfatveganchef.com/how-to-cook-without-oil-or-how-to-cook-fat-free/

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1401026402 Gala Christen

    So what is the consensus on the coconut water, I love it! I never went for soda, but I could drink canned coconut water all day. It makes me feel so good. Since it is so similar to plasma, is that a green light?

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    • LowFatVeganChef

      Be careful with coconut water, it is just like juice and loaded with calories. When you say you can drink it all day, it’s because it contains a lot of sugar and our palettes like sugar. Use it as a juice, only drink it once a day or less. If you drank it all day every day, and we’re not a full time athlete, you would be taking in way more calories than you need and gaining weight.

      Canned coconut water is the new soft drink, it is not a cure all, but a refreshing treat. Fresh coconut water is much better for you if you live in the tropics or can get it in China Town or Asian restaurants.

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  • http://www.clinicalcatalyst.com DrDons

    Hi Gala Christen, Coconut water should be fine in moderation. It does have a high potassium content so patients with kidney disease and on certain medications should check with their doctors before using.

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  • http://twitter.com/MacSmiley MacSmiley

    Dr. Mercola was on Dr. Oz again praising virgin coconut oil and “safe” tanning beds for vitamin D. Oy vey!

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    • Toxins

      I find it interesting that people tout liquid fat (coconut oil is 91% saturated fat) as being healthful. Oil is essentially fat without any vitamins minerals or antioxidants. Id like to see the evidence supporting coconut oil.

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  • http://twitter.com/MacSmiley MacSmiley

    I came up against a Dr-Oz-recommends-coconut-oil-so-it-must-be-true discussion today. I was about to refer the other conversants to the study you cite, but then I read the abstract.

    True, it says that the effect of coconut oil on HDL and total cholesterol is comparable to butter, but that it lowers LDL like safflower oil.

    “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.”

    The study, therefore, is not as clearcut as it would seem from your video, Michael, and doesn’t help our position in the discussion.

    Any thoughts?

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    • Michael Greger M.D.

      I can see how you’d be confused just reading the abstract! LDL levels weren’t lowered by coconut oil; they just weren’t raised as high as butter (but how much is that saying?)

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      • DrCarp

        This article you choose is hopelessly flawed. Do you know that the coconut oil group had their diets supplemented with egg yolks and margarine as well as white flour and they were encouraged to eat meat and cheese as part of their diets? Not all saturated fats are created equal and this has actually been studied. On the other hands, populations of Pacific Islanders have been studied who have 60-70% of their diets from the fat of coconuts with minimal heart disease. (Dr. Ian Prior) MCT’s have been extensively studied and the metabolism of them as well, that is why you can find them in supplements, in hospitals, and infant formulas. They are converted and used as energy when eaten. You don’t betray the saturated fat thesis by accepting the possibility that coconut oil has no effect on heart disease, you just have to understand fat metabolism in the body and the differing effects of caproic, caprylic, lauric, palmitic, and stearic acid. They don’t react in the body the same way!! Its like saying that all carbs are equal when we clearly know that white flour is deadly and unprocessed millet is probably ok. Lumping all saturated fats together is done too carelessly.

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        • Toxins

          You cannot really be on the side that coconut oil is healthy. Coconut oil is 91% saturated fat. 23% of that type beiong the most harmful type. We have absolutely no dietary need for saturated fat. Coconut oil contains no omega 3 fats at all, which has no help keeping the omega6:omega3 4:1 ratio balancd when we need to keep this ratio 4:1 or under. Oil is not a food, it is the most calorie dense edible substance on the planet and is 100% fat. Where is the fiber, vitamins, or minerals? What about the antioxidants or phytonutrients? They are missing. You cannot reasonably argue the use of almost pure saturated fats in the diet as being healthful, this is an inherintly flawed argument.

          Here is the reputable and renowned Jeff Novick giving his position on coconut oil.
          http://www.jeffnovick.com/RD/Newsletter/Entries/2008/4/10_Marketing_Junk_Food%3A_Dont_Go_Cuckoo_Over_Coconut_Oil.html

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          • https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3g3r2B_JydDRw DrCarp

            I am aware of Jeff Novicks article already – nutrient density only goes so far. Assuming you get enough Novick defined nutrients per day who is to say that certain fats are bad for you. Is it really only the micronutrients in nuts that make them good for you and worthwhile? The same thing goes here, if you are eating cocunut butter, you are getting those as well but my point goes further than that. Certain aspects of fat metabolism have effects that go beyond a simple calculation of nutrient density. It has effects on metabolic rate, modified insulin responses, nutrient absorption, fat soluble vitamins, and the list can go further. Yes, I agree that nutrient density should be looked at but it can only be carried so far especially when you understand fat metabolisms effects on the body. As much as Novick and others discuss ideal fat percentages as total calories, the data just does not bear out especially if you take out poisons like white flour and oxidized fat. Traditional cultures who eat lots of coconut butter / flesh and oil assuming they don’t eat white flour and oxidized vegetable oils do just fine and don’t have heart disease. As far as N6:3 ratios, that is another topic altogether and plays no bearing on this topic. We are not dealing with EFA’s here, that subject is separate, we are dealing with how different SFA’s behave differently in the body. Cheers :)

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          • https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3g3r2B_JydDRw DrCarp

            I might add that I think you will be perfectly healthy if you follow Jeff Novick’s advice, I have great respec for him.

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  • Ethan

    What about the significance of medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil?

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    • http://www.weightlossawakening.com DrCarp

      They are used as the body as an energy source and should not be considered as SFA’s that raise the risk of any disease.

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  • Chrysanthemum

    Coconut oil was very soothing on a bad sunburn I had two years ago, but it kind of grossed me out to consider eating it. Thanks for the info!

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