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10/14/2018 Saturated fats: Why all the hubbub over coconuts? http://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/05/01/saturated-fats-why-all-the-hubbub-over-coconuts 1/4 Home / News / Saturated fats: Why all the hubbub over coconuts? Heart Attack And Stroke Symptoms Volunteer Donate Healthy Living Health Topics Professionals About Us Get Involved CPR Find Your Local Ofce Published: June 21, 2017 Saturated fats: Why all the hubbub over coconuts? By American Heart Association News Coconut oil, with its sweet smell of the tropics and its purported claims to cure what ails you, is everywhere. People are using it in their shampoos, skin creams, and even in their smoothies and coffee. Chatter spiked even more recently, after a new science advisory from the American Heart Association recommended against ingesting coconut oil. The advisory, an analysis of more than 100 published research studies dating as far back as the 1950s, reafrmed that saturated fats raise LDL, or "bad" cholesterol. Tropical vegetable oils such as coconut oil contain high levels of saturated fats, and the authors reported that coconut oil raised LDL cholesterol in seven controlled trials. Related Articles Advisory: Replacing saturated fat with healthier fat could lower cardiovascular risks Saturated Fat Polyunsaturated Fat

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10/14/2018 Saturated fats: Why all the hubbub over coconuts?

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Published: June 21, 2017

Saturated fats: Why allthe hubbub overcoconuts?By American Heart Association News

Coconut oil, with its sweet smell of the tropics and its purported claims tocure what ails you, is everywhere. People are using it in their shampoos,skin creams, and even in their smoothies and coffee.

Chatter spiked even more recently, after a new science advisory from theAmerican Heart Association recommended against ingesting coconut oil.

The advisory, an analysis of more than 100 published research studiesdating as far back as the 1950s, reaf�rmed that saturated fats raise LDL, or"bad" cholesterol. Tropical vegetable oils such as coconut oil contain highlevels of saturated fats, and the authors reported that coconut oil raisedLDL cholesterol in seven controlled trials.

Related Articles

Advisory: Replacing saturated fatwith healthier fat could lowercardiovascular risks

Saturated Fat

Polyunsaturated Fat

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The paper pointed out there are great bene�ts to replacing saturated fats– such as coconut oil, butter, beef fat or palm oil – with healthier,polyunsaturated fats. Some studies have even suggested that this couldhelp lower cardiovascular disease risk as much as cholesterol-loweringstatin drugs, the authors noted.

While the statement covered many types of saturated fats, many peoplefocused on coconut oil – which has of late been touted as a good-for-youalternative. A quick cruise on social media or the web comes up withclaims that coconut and its many derivations help with weight loss,improve metabolism and lower cholesterol. A recent survey reported inThe New York Times showed 72 percent of the public, compared with 37percent of nutritionists, called coconut oil “healthy.”

Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D., thinks she might know why there’s such abig difference.

She conducted research that showed a type of fat in coconut oil canincrease metabolism and boost weight loss. That ingredient is calledmedium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs, and St-Onge’s study reported thatthey are processed by the body differently than other dietary fats. Inaddition to higher saturated fat content, St-Onge noted that coconut oilhas a higher proportion of these than most other fats or oils.

St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at ColumbiaUniversity, said much of the hype of coconut’s bene�ts is liberal“extrapolation” of that fact as well as other research.

However, she said, many people tend to overlook an important catch inher research.

The oil she used in her study was a special 100 percent medium-chaincoconut oil. Most coconut oils typically have 13 percent to 14 percent ofthis medium-chain triglyceride, she said. So, people would have to eatlarge quantities to replicate the results.

“No one eats 150 grams (10 tablespoons) of coconut oil in a day,” said St-Onge.

Nor should they.

Coconut oil, extracted from the meat of what can loosely be called a seed,a fruit or a nut, is mostly saturated fat, about 82 percent. One tablespoonadds up to more than 11 grams of saturated fats, according to the federalNational Nutrient Database. That’s nearly the total daily limit of 13 gramsrecommended by the American Heart Association.

“I think people associate coconut with vacation and the tropics. It’ssomething new to latch onto,” said Lisa Young, Ph.D., an adjunct professorof nutrition at New York University and a registered dietitian. “Peoplethink they can have two tablespoons a day and the weight will disappear;they want to disassociate from reality.”

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In March, St-Onge presented research using a blend of coconut and otherfats showing that lower doses of medium-chain triglycerides did notincrease calorie burn in overweight adolescents. A study in April in theEuropean Journal of Nutrition also found coconut oil did not increasemetabolism or improve cardiometabolic risk markers among overweightwomen.

St-Onge said she is surprised last week’s science advisory stirred so muchconversation.

“And people have called it a coconut oil report,” she said. “It’s a report onstated knowledge about saturated fat. It puts things in perspective.”

There is no magic formula, said Young, who acknowledges she loves the�avor of coconuts – but doesn’t eat meat or butter. A healthy diet, shesaid, is “a balancing act” that each individual has the power to achieve.She counsels people to eat unsaturated fats found in �sh and non-tropical vegetable oils.

“It’s a moderation thing,” she said. “People don’t want to face reality whenit comes to their own dieting, their own health. They want to believe inwishful thinking. … But thinking you can have unlimited amounts of oneparticular thing and everything will disappear is not based on reality.”

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