coconut oil: a health food?

Eskimopie

I think it is...I stir fry with it, bake with it, and use it as a moisturizer on my face! I adore it. And now the New York Times is beginning to agree:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/dining/02Appe.html

amysj303

interesting!

mommabear2002

It definately is. Better than vegetable oil and butter for sure

mursey

I use it too!

Shaye85

it literally works for everything, my friend introduced me to it in 2009 and i use it all the time now!

muffintopteri

Isn't it expensive though?

muffintopteri

Isn't it expensive though?

newDZ

i use it a lot. i love it.

meagalayne

coconut *butter* is also a great healthy fat -- check out ohsheglows.com for recipes and uses. She makes her own coconut butter and uses it in so many interesting ways!

danielleeeee

I wouldn't call coconut oil a health food - it's almost entirely saturated fat! The fats in other cooking oils, including olive, canola, and grapeseed oils, on the other hand, are mostly UNsaturated.

Eskimopie

Yes....that is the entire point of the article. Here's a starter from it.

“Most of the studies involving coconut oil were done with partially hydrogenated coconut oil, which researchers used because they needed to raise the cholesterol levels of their rabbits in order to collect certain data,” Dr. Brenna said. “Virgin coconut oil, which has not been chemically treated, is a different thing in terms of a health risk perspective. And maybe it isn’t so bad for you after all.”

Partial hydrogenation creates dreaded trans fats. It also destroys many of the good essential fatty acids, antioxidants and other positive components present in virgin coconut oil. And while it’s true that most of the fats in virgin coconut oil are saturated, opinions are changing on whether saturated fats are the arterial villains they were made out to be. “I think we in the nutrition field are beginning to say that saturated fats are not so bad, and the evidence that said they were is not so strong,” Dr. Brenna said.