Coconut oil, along with palm oil, palm kernel oil and cocoa butter, are examples of plant fats that are highly saturated.  We have all heard that saturated fats are “bad” and should be minimized.   The National Cholesterol Education Program has suggested that these fats be avoided.  In the past, coconut oil was widely used in movie popcorn, candy bars and commercial baked goods but was phased out of many of them during the past decade because of consumer opposition to “unhealthy” tropical oils.  I have always believed that characterizing all saturated fats or “tropical oils” as bad was an oversimplified and misleading response.  Now coconut oil is being promoted on the Internet as a weight loss aid and is featured as “healthy” on much internet and popular literature.  Similarly, I think the pendulum has swung too far the other way in much of what I have read about coconut oil and weight loss.  The purpose of this update is to sort through the mess to try to get a sense of what is going on. 

Coconut oil is highly saturated, over 85% of its fat content is saturated.  But all saturated fatty acids (SFA) are not created equal.  SFA differ in their carbon chain length, and this has implications for how they are metabolized.  Short-chain fatty acids contain two (acetic acid, or vinegar), three (proprionic acid) or four (butyric acid) carbon atoms.  The liver rapidly metabolizes short chain fatty acids.  Medium chain fatty acids contain six, eight ten or twelve carbon atoms.  These are not abundant in foods but are found in butterfat and tropical oils like coconut oil.  Medium chain fatty acids are absorbed and shuttled directly to the liver, where they are oxidized (burned) for energy.  The short and medium chain-length saturated fatty acids are shorter than those of other common fats and oils like beef tallow, lard, cocoa butter, soy, corn and canola oil.  All these fat sources contain varying amounts of saturated fatty acids, but these are almost exclusively long-chain fatty acids (16 carbon atoms or greater).  The long carbon chain makes these fatty acids almost insoluble in water, so the body must handle them differently.  After a meal rich in long-chain fatty acids, bile is required for their digestion and absorption.  Once absorbed, long-chain fatty acids must be reassembled into triglycerides and packaged into chylomicrons, which in turn, transport these fatty acids to adipose and muscle tissue for energy or storage. 

About 60% of the fatty acids in coconut oil are 12 carbon atoms or shorter, whereas corn, soy canola have almost no short or medium chain fatty acids .  So what?  Well, some research from McGill University in Canada suggests that medium chain fatty acids (referred to as medium chain triglycerides in the literature, or MCT’s) also boost metabolism and satiety, and therefore may promote weight loss when they replace LCTs in the diet. Because they are more easily digested and metabolized, MCTs' are given in hospitals to provide nourishment for critically ill people who have trouble digesting fat (even though MCT’s are saturated).  Promoters also note that coconut oil is high in lauric acid (12 carbon atoms) and contains trace amounts of caprylic acid (10 carbon atoms), both of which appear to have antiviral and antifungal properties, and support immune function. Lauric acid is actually present in breast milk; infants convert it to a substance called monolaurin that protects them from infections. These two fatty acids and their effects on health are now being studied. 

But if coconut oil is substituted into a typical American diet, and soy, corn or canola oil is substituted out, this will tend to raise both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, as is true when vegetable oils are exchanged with many saturated fats.  Some researchers see lauric acid (C12:0) as a fatty acid that does not increase LDL cholesterol, but myristic acid (C14:0) and palmitic (C16:0) acids – both present in coconut oil - can definitely raise both LDL and HDL cholesterol.  Unfortunately, there are no easy, general rules of thumb here, despite what either websites or governmental organizations choose to pronounce.  A similar debate could be made for butterfat, or clarified butter oil, called ghee, because although it is about 60% saturated, about one-third of the saturated fatty acids are short or medium chain length.   Part of the confusion rests with what you are removing from the diet when you add in coconut oil, and how much coconut oil you add.  Whether coconut oil is “good” or “bad” for you is a function of your genetics, your current diet, your current health, how extensively you might choose to use coconut oil, and how you are living.  Science has a very difficult time dealing with all of these factors, so don’t look for nutrition science to resolve the “good” vs “bad” debate anytime soon.   Stay away from the false dichotomy; we are dealing with shades of gray, not black and white. 

Contemporary nutrition wisdom acknowledges the superficiality of categorizing any specific food as “good” or “bad” independent of context and how a food is used.  Appropriate use is achievable for any food, and defining appropriate use is a function of individual circumstances and context.  Much of what has been written about coconut oil is politically motivated, scientific information disguised as science, but working in service to political and economic agendas.  Coconut oil (and palm oil, for that matter) is not produced in the US, and are not as “bad” as they were made out to be ten years ago.  Similarly, coconut oil does not represent a “quick fix” miracle either.

Craig Hassel