The impact of coconut milk and flaked coconut on cardiovascular disease risk.
Is Coconut Milk Good For You?
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What about coconut milk, though, which is rich in MCFAs? Harmful anyway? Harmless? Or helpful?
Some may remember those studies from 2007 that showed that an Egg McMuffin was McDeath on our arteries, olive oil didn’t do anything, and walnuts showed an immediate benefit. Well, that experiment was repeated, but this time with coconut milk. And the arterial reaction to coconut milk was as bad as the McDonald’s.
What about the whole food, though? Flaked coconut, which is just whole dried coconut. Research on defatted coconut flakes shows a cholesterol-lowering effect. That’s no surprise; all whole plant foods have fiber, and fiber lowers our cholesterol.
But this was for coconut flakes with the fat taken out, which isn’t available commercially. What about just regular flaked coconut that you’d buy in a store?
The fat part—the coconut oil—is bad, but the nonfat part of coconuts is good. Put them both together, and does the fat win out, making it harmful? Do they cancel each other out? Or does the fiber win out, making both flaked and whole coconuts helpful?
I’ll give you a hint: she thinks flaked coconut’s just yummy.
And the answer is: just harmless, based on studies of coconut-eating Malaysians.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- F. Jakulj, K. Zernicke, S. L. Bacon, L. E. van Wielingen, B. L. Key, S. G. West, and T. S. Campbell. A High-Fat Meal Increases Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stress in Healthy Young Adults. Journal of Nutrition, 137(4):935, 2007.
- Ng CK, Chan AP, Cheng A. Impairment of endothelial function--a possible mechanism for atherosclerosis of a high-fat meal intake. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2001 Sep;30(5):499-502. Erratum in: Ann Acad Med Singapore 2001 Nov;30(6):679.
- T. P. Trinidad, A. S. Loyola, A. C. Mallillin, D. H. Valdez, F. C. Askali, J. C. Castillo, R. L. Resaba, and D. B. Masa. The cholesterol-lowering effect of coconut flakes in humans with moderately raised serum cholesterol. J Med Food, 7(2):136{140, 2004.
- Lipoeto NI, Agus Z, Oenzil F, Wahlqvist M, Wattanapenpaiboon N. Dietary intake and the risk of coronary heart disease among the coconut-consuming Minangkabau in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(4):377-84.
What about coconut milk, though, which is rich in MCFAs? Harmful anyway? Harmless? Or helpful?
Some may remember those studies from 2007 that showed that an Egg McMuffin was McDeath on our arteries, olive oil didn’t do anything, and walnuts showed an immediate benefit. Well, that experiment was repeated, but this time with coconut milk. And the arterial reaction to coconut milk was as bad as the McDonald’s.
What about the whole food, though? Flaked coconut, which is just whole dried coconut. Research on defatted coconut flakes shows a cholesterol-lowering effect. That’s no surprise; all whole plant foods have fiber, and fiber lowers our cholesterol.
But this was for coconut flakes with the fat taken out, which isn’t available commercially. What about just regular flaked coconut that you’d buy in a store?
The fat part—the coconut oil—is bad, but the nonfat part of coconuts is good. Put them both together, and does the fat win out, making it harmful? Do they cancel each other out? Or does the fiber win out, making both flaked and whole coconuts helpful?
I’ll give you a hint: she thinks flaked coconut’s just yummy.
And the answer is: just harmless, based on studies of coconut-eating Malaysians.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- F. Jakulj, K. Zernicke, S. L. Bacon, L. E. van Wielingen, B. L. Key, S. G. West, and T. S. Campbell. A High-Fat Meal Increases Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stress in Healthy Young Adults. Journal of Nutrition, 137(4):935, 2007.
- Ng CK, Chan AP, Cheng A. Impairment of endothelial function--a possible mechanism for atherosclerosis of a high-fat meal intake. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2001 Sep;30(5):499-502. Erratum in: Ann Acad Med Singapore 2001 Nov;30(6):679.
- T. P. Trinidad, A. S. Loyola, A. C. Mallillin, D. H. Valdez, F. C. Askali, J. C. Castillo, R. L. Resaba, and D. B. Masa. The cholesterol-lowering effect of coconut flakes in humans with moderately raised serum cholesterol. J Med Food, 7(2):136{140, 2004.
- Lipoeto NI, Agus Z, Oenzil F, Wahlqvist M, Wattanapenpaiboon N. Dietary intake and the risk of coronary heart disease among the coconut-consuming Minangkabau in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(4):377-84.
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Is Coconut Milk Good For You?
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Also check out the prequel: Is Coconut Oil Good For You?
For more context, see my associated blog post: Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk.
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