In my last post, I talked about oils that are good for us. And of course we all know that olive oil is one of the best ones around. However, cooking with this oil is not recommended as it breaks down under heat and becomes toxic and rancid. That’s why you have to keep in the refrigerator.
But don’t despair there is an oil out there that can be used safely and that can be heated to a higher degree without turning it to poison for the body as all other oils do.
Hang on to your hat as I am about to tell you about coconut oil. Yes, the oil that we heard so very long ago when margarine was being touted as the safest and best for our health. Yes the oil that we were told to avoid at all cost because it is a saturated oil and saturated oils are bad for the body. Right? Wrong!
Now that there is more information available about how the body works, coconut oil is no longer being black listed into oblivion.
Lauric acid is a major fatty acid from the fat of the coconut and has been used in soaps and cosmetics. However, it recently has been recognized for its unique properties in food use. These properties are antiviral, antibacterial and antiprotozoal.
Recently, published research has shown that natural coconut fat in the diet leads to a normalization of body lipids, protects against alcohol damage to the liver, and improves the immune system’s anti-inflammatory response. Nothing wrong with that!
So why bad mouth coconut oil in the first place?
The coconut industry has been verbally abused for more than 30 years by the consumer activist group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the American Soybean Association (ASA) and other members of the edible oil industry, and those in the medical and scientific community. Look at how margarine was shoved down our throat as the only answer to replacing butter. Supposedly, it was healthier. In all cases like this, just follow the money! Someone gains and someone loses, and that is usually the consumer.
However, the research over 40 years concerning coconut oil in the diet and heart disease is quite clear: coconut oil has been shown to be beneficial. We might would ask then if it should be used to both prevent and treat coronary heart disease?
With the latest hoopla over trans fatty acids, things are changing for the better. Thank God!
Both the United States and Canada will soon require labeling of the trans fatty acids, which will put coconut oil in a more competitive position than it has been in the past decade. A fear of the vegetable oil manufacturers has always been that they would have to label trans fatty acids. Now the rats may have to run for cover.
The producers of trans fatty acids have relied on the anti-saturated fat crusade to protect their markets. However, the latest research on saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids shows the saturated fatty acids coming out ahead in the health race.
Let’s compare saturated fatty acids to trans fatty acids:
- saturated fatty acids raise the good cholesterol, the trans fatty acids lower it
- saturated fatty acids lower the blood levels of the atherogenic lipoprotein, trans fatty acids raise levels
- saturated fatty acids conserve the elongated omega-3 fatty acid, trans fatty acids cause the tissues to lose these omega-3 fatty acids
- saturated fatty acids do not inhibit insulin binding, trans fatty acids do
- saturated fatty acids are the normal fatty acids made by the body, and they do not interfere with enzyme functions , trans fatty acids are not made by the body, and do interfere with many enzyme functions
- some saturated fatty acids are used by the body to fight viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, and they support the immune system, trans fatty acids do not and actually interfere with the functions of the immune system
Since obesity is a major health issue, one study used coconut oil to enrich a high fat diet and the results reported were that the “coconut-oil enriched diet is effective in…[producing]…a decrease in white fat stores.” (Portillo et al 1998) Read that again. It actually helps you to lose weight. Wow!
This oil also appears to help the immune system response in a beneficial manner.
Coconut products are slowly regaining their former place in several small markets now. I get mine from a health food store. It is also available online and is quite reasonable because after all you are limiting your use of saturated fats, aren’t you?
Tags: coconut oil, saturated fats, trans fat, weight loss
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