Coconut Oil : The “New” Super-food?
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| The Coconut Oil Myths: Exposing Some Common Myths Surrounding Coconut Oil |
Coconut oil’s popularity continues to increase here in 2014, and as a
result it seems like everyone has something to say about it. Since we
have been writing and publishing research about coconut oil for over 13
years, it is time to update our article on common myths surrounding
coconut oil.
First, coconut oil is NOT new! It has been a staple in the diets of
millions of people for thousands of years. So when you read someone
stating that coconut oil is some new fad, or that the information
regarding its health benefits is all “hype”, you are reading one of the
many myths being spread around on the Internet by those who are
seemingly too lazy to do some basic research, or type “coconut oil” into
the search field at PubMed. While it is decreasing, bias against
coconut oil is still prevalent today, and people will write from this
bias without even investigating the historical uses of coconut oil, or
the vast amount of research conducted on coconut oil, particularly the
medium chain fatty acids it contains.
But the myths being spread around the Internet are not simply from
those who have a bias against it. Many people trying to jump on the
coconut oil popularity bandwagon are also propagating some myths.
So here is a look at some of the most common myths routinely found published on the Internet today:
Coconut Oil Myth #1: Only Virgin Coconut Oil is healthy – Refined Coconut Oil is bad for you
FACT: ALL coconut oil you can buy online or in stores is healthy.
This myth persists primarily because of the saturated fat bias (see
below). The reasoning is that coconut oil must be bad because saturated
fat is bad, therefore the health benefits for coconut oil must only
apply to virgin unrefined coconut oils, which somehow escape all the
nasty things saturated fats are blamed for.
However, anytime you can purchase coconut oil, you are purchasing the
healthiest oil you can cook with since all coconut oils have medium
chain fatty acids that are healthy and that do not break down when
heated. The other options offered in today’s market for cooking oils are
more than likely less healthy than coconut oil, and might even become
toxic if used in cooking.
The one exception would be hydrogenated coconut oil, but we are not
aware of any hydrogenated coconut oils being sold as edible oils in the
U.S. market. If you live in a tropical country, there is a chance that
hydrogenated coconut oil might be manufactured and sold in your
location. Coconut oil is hydrogenated to keep it solid at higher
temperatures. In its natural form, coconut oil is liquid above 76
degrees F. and solid below that. That is why we call it “coconut oil”
and not “coconut fat”. In North America and many other places, coconut
oil is almost always solid, making it technically a “fat” and not an
oil. But in tropical climates it is almost always liquid, making it an
oil. So there is a history of hydrogenating the small unsaturated
portion of coconut oil in tropical climates to make it a solid. But the
dangers of trans-fats are well published now, so I think even in
tropical cultures this is rare today.
Speaking of liquid coconut oil, a “new” product did hit the shelves
of many health food stores in 2013 called “Liquid Coconut Oil”. It is
being marketed as a coconut oil that stays liquid even in your
refrigerator. This product is actually “fractionated coconut oil” where
most or all of the saturated lauric acid has been removed. It has been
marketed in the past as “MCT Oil”, and not as coconut oil. It was more
of a dietary supplement in the past. While we do not believe this
product is harmful, it is a manufactured product, and actually a clever
way of marketing a “left over” by-product, since lauric acid is the star
fatty acid chain in coconut oil, known for its powerful antimicrobial
activity. It is only found elsewhere in nature abundantly in human
breast milk. You can read more about the clever marketing of “liquid
coconut oil” here: Is Liquid Coconut Oil that stays Liquid in Your Refrigerator Real Coconut Oil?
As far as refined coconut oils, the most common method used to refine
coconut oil in coconut oil producing countries is via the RBD process:
Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized. This process renders a neutral flavor
and smell due to a steam deodorization process. The “bleaching” part
does not involve bleach like you use in your laundry. It is a clay that
is used to filter the oil of impurities. Some of the nutrients will more
than likely be lost in the refining process, but it does not make the
oil unhealthy. If you can find out if the refined coconut oil was
refined using solvent extracts or through “physical refining”, choose
the physically refined coconut oil. There is some concern that oils
using solvent extracts could leave residues in the oil. But even so,
those residues are probably very small, if present at all, so even these
coconut oils would be healthier than toxic trans fats or
polyunsaturated oils for cooking.
As far as “virgin” coconut oils, there is absolutely no difference
between “extra virgin” and “virgin” when it comes to coconut oil, like
there is with the olive oil industry. They are simply different labels
for the exact same coconut oils. Some people want to promote virgin
coconut oils as “seeing no heat in the process” as a superior coconut
oil, but there are no published standards identifying an “extra virgin”
quality, and research actually shows that traditional coconut oils
processed with heat have higher amounts of antioxidants. (See: New Research Highlights High Antioxidant Activity of Traditionally Made Coconut Oil)
Coconut Oil Myth #2: I cannot use coconut oil because I am allergic to coconut oil
FACT: Most food allergies are due to the inability to digest
proteins, such as gluten (found in wheat), casein (found in dairy),
protein found in tree nuts, etc. The coconut is technically a tree nut,
but protein is found in the meat of the coconut, not in the oil.
Therefore, if one has problems digesting or eating coconut oil, it is
highly unlikely that it is due to an “allergy”. It is more likely due
to not being able to digest fats well, or possibly to the detoxification
properties of coconut oil which can cause symptoms such as diarrhea,
skin eruptions, etc. These are typically NOT allergic reactions, and can
be minimized or even eliminated altogether by reducing the amount of
coconut oil one eats to very small amounts until the symptoms don’t
occur, and then gradually increasing the amount over time.
Coconut Oil Myth #3: Coconut oil is good for certain conditions
(like Alzheimer’s and Dementia), but long-term effects are not known and
there is a risk for heart disease because coconut oil is a saturated
fat
FACT: There are plenty of epidemiological studies on coconut oil in
native populations, and saturated fat has never been proven to cause
heart disease. Sadly, this myth has been around a long time and still
persists today, even though it is not true! This is the basis of the
coconut oil bias.
The benefits of a high-fat ketogenic diet
in curing epilepsy was first developed at the Mayo Clinic in the 1920s
and used extensively at John Hopkins Hospital. This high-fat diet rich
in saturated fats has been documented as curing epilepsy in children
where drugs failed. But as the lipid theory of heart disease gained
popularity after the 1950s and influenced the government to adopt a
low-fat dietary guideline in the 1970s, children and parents who
benefited from the high-fat ketogenic diet were frightened into
believing that if they continued such a diet, it would lead to heart
disease.
Today, the ketogneic effects of coconut oil are well-known and
coconut oil’s tremendous impact on those suffering from Alzheimer’s and
dementia are well documented, and can no longer be denied, just as the
ketogenic diet has cured epilepsy for many years now. Unfortunately, the
myth of saturated fat — and by implication coconut oil — causing heart
disease is a myth that continues today, scaring people who receive
tremendous benefits from consuming coconut oil into thinking they may
have a higher risk of heart disease if they continue such a diet. The
lipid theory of heart disease, however, is losing popularity in the
light of real evidence-based science.
One of the most exhaustive studies on saturated fat and heart disease was published in 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
titled: “Saturated fat, carbohydrate, and cardiovascular disease”. The
study reviewed many other studies over a period of 5 to 23 years
covering 347,747 subjects. Their conclusion: “A meta-analysis of
prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant
evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an
increased risk of CHD or CVD”. The abstract is found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648.
As far as coconut oil specifically, Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit in the
Philippines published a comprehensive study looking at the evidence of
saturated fat from coconut oil and cardiovascular disease in populations
consuming large amounts of saturated fat in the countries of the
Philippines, Polynesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia and found no
link between coconut oil consumption and heart disease. His study was
published in 2003 in the Philippine Journal of Cardiology: http://www.coconutoil.com/DayritCardiology.pdf
In another study, Dr. Janaki Gooneratne in Sri Lanka conducted what
is probably the largest study ever undertaken examining the relationship
between coconut oil, cholesterol, and heart disease. Her research
studied almost 1,000 people in Sri Lanka and included factors such as
socio-demographic data, family history of disease, and lifestyle.
She studied associations between selected heart disease risk factors
and coconut oil intake using the Chi-square test, and further examined
the data in a multivariate model adjusting for potential confounding
variables. The data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The
results of this extensive research concluded that consumption of coconut
oil at levels up to 16.4% of total energy per day had no heart disease
risk on the local population. (Note: for a standard 2,000 calorie diet
that would equate to about 2.5 tablespoons of coconut oil a day.) Dr.
Goonerante believes that this extensive research is one of the first
studies of this magnitude on dietary coconut oil ever conducted anywhere
in the world. Read more about her research on coconut oil here.
What New Coconut Oil Myths Are we Likely to See in the Future?
As coconut oil continues to gain popularity and continues to have a
greater impact on people’s health, often producing better results than
expensive pharmaceutical drugs, and without all the side effects, expect
these attacks and myths to continue, and probably new ones to pop up.
But just remember that coconut oil is a natural food that has nourished
billions of people around the world for thousands of years. It cannot be
patented, and hence it is unlikely there will ever be clinical studies
funded of the same type that pharmaceutical companies spend millions of
dollars to complete for patenting and getting their drugs approved by
the FDA. Therefore, it is unlikely that the FDA will ever approve any
health claims for coconut oil.
However, the health benefits of coconut oil are becoming too
well-known to continue ignoring, and we saw signs in 2013 that drug
companies are looking for ways to mimic the effects of coconut oil in
patentable drugs. This has actually been occurring already for many
years now with lauric acid, the star component of coconut oil. Lauric
acid is frequently extracted from coconut oil to make into other drugs
and products that can be patented. The significance of coconut oil then
is trivialized in favor of expensive drugs.
So we can expect the mainstream media and Big Pharma to invent new
myths condemning coconut oil in favor of their drugs in the future,
count on it!
About the authors:
Unlike many people who write about coconut oil by simply reading about
it, Brian and Marianita Shilhavy actually lived in a coconut producing
area of the Philippines for several years. Marianita Jader Shilhavy grew
up on a coconut plantation in the Philippines and in a culture that
consumed significant amounts of coconut fat in their diet. She later
went on to earn her degree in nutrition and worked as a nutritionist in
the Philippines. Brian Shilhavy also lived in the Philippines for
several years with Marianita and their 3 children observing firsthand
the differences between the diet and health of the younger generation
and those of Marianita’s parents’ generation still consuming a
traditional diet. This led to years of studying Philippine nutrition and
dietary patterns first hand while living in a rural farming community
in the Philippines. They are authors of the best-selling book: Virgin Coconut Oil: How it has changed people’s lives and how it can change yours!
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