Coconut-Good or bad?

joshuaperson

Ounce per ounce, coconut has more fat/calories than butter... So why is it deemed a "health" food? Thoughts?

cwolfman13

For one thing, dietary fat is an essential macro-nutrient...so dietary fat is a health food.

Beyond that, coconut oil is just trendy right now...it's delicious, but it's trendy. A little more than a decade ago, it was the devil...but now carbs are the devil...low carb/high fat diets are the current rage, thus the rise of coconut oil. It is also made up largely of medium chain triglycerides, so there's also that...

In general, matters of nutrition aren't black and white, "good" or "bad"...context and dosage are very important. I would also add that caloric density has nothing to do with nutritional density.

larrodarro

Shredded and on a cake, good. Dropping out of a tall tree onto your head while you are on vacation, bad.

kimny72

There are a couple of different "ideas" out there that have caused coconut oil to be a health fad. One is the possibility that even though coconut is saturated fat, it doesn't act like saturated fat in the body. The other is that it somehow increases metabolism. As far as I know, neither of those is a proven fact.

Regardless, I do know for a fact it is an amazing moisturizer, so it's at least better than butter there!

tennisdude2004

GOOD

yarwell

Unless you eat a constant number of ounces of food the calories per oz are probably irrelevant.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/0/2 says 201 cals per oz of butter

An ounce of raw coconut flesh is 99 calories. So less than butter ? http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3106/2

PunkyRachel

bad...for me (I'm allergic to coconut, and so is my dad)
good....for everyone else

SandyBVTN

I'm not doing the good or bad thing with food. I find if I start demonizing some items or getting too hardcore into one way of eating, I burn out and end up not focusing on my goals.

Some say that coconut oil is a super food and great for us (especially our brains), other say it's a marketing gimmick that has made coconut companies tonnes and tonnes of money.

Personally, I love coconut oil on popcorn and in southeast asian dishes. I don't use it when the coconut flavour isn't desired, such as in Italian food for example.

zenabby

I'm from India, and coconut oil has been used regularly in specific dishes there all the time. The people who have more coconut oil based dishes tend to be much more healthy and shinier looking. I think the key is different oils provide different benefits and if you include a variety of oils, it is good for you. also I think coconut oil is medium chained so, it actually improves your hdl (good cholesterol). Obviously everything in moderation.

it is an amazing moisturizer. If you have a cut or bruise and want to moisturize your skin and the traditional moisturizers burn, try coconut oil. Also for any moisturing on your lips or near where you might swallow - try coconut oil (at night) - it's amazing. You can use it on your hair too (but wash before leaving home).

xmichaelyx

Ounce per ounce, coconut has more fat/calories than butter... So why is it deemed a "health" food? Thoughts?

Fat isn't bad for you. Fat doesn't make you fat. Fat doesn't make you sick.

Your question implies that you buy into the anti-fat craze that was big in the '80s but has since been disproved again and again.

AuroraD82

Coconut and avocado are the only saturated fats from non animal sources, and they actually blah, blah, blah contributing to lower bad cholesterol in the body.

cosmonew

YES... on the moisturizer... I have used coconut oil as a body lotion and also in homemade deoderant. Save it to slather on your body... not on your food.

SheGlows

Cake can be a "health food." Cookies can be a "health food." Donuts, Doritos, Coca Cola, you name it. "Health food" is relative.

I really think it's about time we stop assigning foods as "good" or "bad." You can pick apart scientific studies/articles to portray any food as healthy or unhealthy. There's conflicting evidence for *everything*.

That being said, I love coconut. I love eating it in all forms and I love the oil as a moisturizer. Wham bam.

Also, +1 for everything cwolfman13 said.

neanderthin

There are a couple of different "ideas" out there that have caused coconut oil to be a health fad. One is the possibility that even though coconut is saturated fat, it doesn't act like saturated fat in the body. The other is that it somehow increases metabolism. As far as I know, neither of those is a proven fact.

Regardless, I do know for a fact it is an amazing moisturizer, so it's at least better than butter there!

Coconut oil has quite a bit of lauric acid witch is a medium chain triglyceride (MCT) and is metabolized by the liver and gets used as immediate energy, so basically it doesn't get stored as would a normal saturated fat or any other fat for that matter. Basically lauric acid is used in much the same way a charboydrate is.

As far as increasing metabolism is concerned, that's more about nutrient deficiencies and ones that directly effect our metabolism like folate, zinc, carnitine, arginine, B12 etc. No food really increases metabolism beyond it's thermic effect, unless it has an active ingredient in it like caffeine and capsaicin.

ChefSteveUrso

Besides the nutritional benefits of coconut oil, it is stable when heated for cooking. Where vegetable oils break down into carcinogenic chemicals that are dangerous to eat and even to inhale the fumes.

harmar21

Because fat isn't bad unlike what many nutritionists try to shove down our throats.

glasshalffull713

There are a couple of different "ideas" out there that have caused coconut oil to be a health fad. One is the possibility that even though coconut is saturated fat, it doesn't act like saturated fat in the body. The other is that it somehow increases metabolism. As far as I know, neither of those is a proven fact.

Regardless, I do know for a fact it is an amazing moisturizer, so it's at least better than butter there!

Coconut oil has quite a bit of lauric acid witch is a medium chain triglyceride (MCT) and is metabolized by the liver and gets used as immediate energy, so basically it doesn't get stored as would a normal saturated fat or any other fat for that matter. Basically lauric acid is used in much the same way a charboydrate is.

As far as increasing metabolism is concerned, that's more about nutrient deficiencies and ones that directly effect our metabolism like folate, zinc, carnitine, arginine, B12 etc. No food really increases metabolism beyond it's thermic effect, unless it has an active ingredient in it like caffeine and capsaicin.

This is what I was going to say. There is science behind why coconut oil is better for you than other types of fats. That being said, as many have pointed out here, there are many forms of fat which are healthy in moderation, such as olive oil and avocado for example. Coconut oil also has a whole host of other health benefits as well. It is a very unique fat.

Although it is unhealthy to blanket categorize good or bad foods, there are choices that are healthier than others.

kimny72

Thank you guys for posting some of the science behind this!

nam985

I would classify it as AMAZING!

Aside from just being tasty and a great addition to many foods (soups, curries, smoothies, desserts, etc.), coconut oil has been a beauty staple of mine for a long time, I use it in my hair as a deep conditioning treatment, slather it on my skin during the dry winter months, add it to a hot bath for a moisturizing soak.

kaseyr1505

Because fat is delicious and keeps your body in running order.