Coconut oil is great, but....

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cgarand
cgarand Posts: 541 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do you really need to add it to things like smoothies and oatmeal? I use it in place of fats (butter) to saute things or pan fry things like pancakes. Are the health benefits good enough to add it to things that I wouldn't normally use an oil/butter in?

Replies

  • STC1188
    STC1188 Posts: 101 Member
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    No--if you don't want to, you don't have to.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    If your diary is accurate you should... you're not eating enough calories so your fat and protein needs aren't being met. Just eating whole foods in the proper amounts will do wonders for your health; there's no need to force the "super food" of the month into your diet.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I think coconut oil is better than typical seed oils like corn or soybean. I prefer ghee over butter but if it's a choice between coconut oil and butter than there's not much difference.
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
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    You don't have to use it at all, technically. If you like it, sure. I enjoy using it on days I'm having issues reaching my fat macro and I just enjoy the taste in general.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    I think coconut oil is better than typical seed oils like corn or soybean. I prefer ghee over butter but if it's a choice between coconut oil and butter than there's not much difference.
    Yup. Reminds me that I need to pick up some more ghee from the Indian grocer next time I'm in Toronto.. Thanks mate.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    the vast majority of touted health benefits of coconut oil are anecdotal at best and completely untrue at worst. Coconut oil is tasty...I like using it in much of my cooking...but it isn't necessary and adding it to coffee and smoothies and other things where you wouldn't normally add dietary fat just seems stupid to me.

    That said, make sure you are getting enough dietary fat in. IMHO, there are better ways to go about this than dropping Tbspoons of coconut oil into your coffee...but dietary fat is essential and you need to hit those goals.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    the vast majority of touted health benefits of coconut oil are anecdotal at best and completely untrue at worst. Coconut oil is tasty...I like using it in much of my cooking...but it isn't necessary and adding it to coffee and smoothies and other things where you wouldn't normally add dietary fat just seems stupid to me.

    That said, make sure you are getting enough dietary fat in. IMHO, there are better ways to go about this than dropping Tbspoons of coconut oil into your coffee...but dietary fat is essential and you need to hit those goals.
    Yeah, I always though that was weird as well. It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    the vast majority of touted health benefits of coconut oil are anecdotal at best and completely untrue at worst. Coconut oil is tasty...I like using it in much of my cooking...but it isn't necessary and adding it to coffee and smoothies and other things where you wouldn't normally add dietary fat just seems stupid to me.

    That said, make sure you are getting enough dietary fat in. IMHO, there are better ways to go about this than dropping Tbspoons of coconut oil into your coffee...but dietary fat is essential and you need to hit those goals.

    Not gonna lie - sometimes I DO add it to my coffee, but usually on days that I don't have time to make breakfast and need some calories.
  • cgarand
    cgarand Posts: 541 Member
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    the vast majority of touted health benefits of coconut oil are anecdotal at best and completely untrue at worst. Coconut oil is tasty...I like using it in much of my cooking...but it isn't necessary and adding it to coffee and smoothies and other things where you wouldn't normally add dietary fat just seems stupid to me.

    That said, make sure you are getting enough dietary fat in. IMHO, there are better ways to go about this than dropping Tbspoons of coconut oil into your coffee...but dietary fat is essential and you need to hit those goals.

    That's how I use it too, but I keep seeing smoothie recipes and things I would never usually add an oil to.
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
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    Putting it in a smoothie does sound gross haha. I love it in coffee though!
  • creativehi
    creativehi Posts: 10
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    Yes there is not much ifference between coconut oil and butter ,except fat,coconut oil contains less fat than butter.My suggetion is that over all total fat should be counted,you can cut down your calories from another meal.I personnaly found butter tastes better.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Yes there is not much ifference between coconut oil and butter ,except fat,coconut oil contains less fat than butter.My suggetion is that over all total fat should be counted,you can cut down your calories from another meal.I personnaly found butter tastes better.
    Actually coconut oil contains more fat than butter. Generally all fats are pretty close, but butter is generally 12-14% water so basically there's fewer calories in butter.
  • erbear117
    erbear117 Posts: 62 Member
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    I think we are missing the point here.

    Coconut oil contains medium chain triglycerides (MCT) - this type of fat is immediately used for energy, as opposed to being stored in the body. So not only will eating coconut oil give you more energy, but using coconut oil instead of butter or other oils will help you to lose weight.

    Therefore coconut oil is vastly more healthy than using butter, ghee, etc, even if the "Nutrition Facts" shows something like the same amount of fat grams or calories.


    My favorite way to eat coconut oil is to add it into my morning smoothie - typically with almond milk, banana, protein powder, coconut oil, etc. It's nice to keep the coconut oil cold (versus adding to coffee) so that it doesn't have that oily texture.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I think we are missing the point here.

    Coconut oil contains medium chain triglycerides (MCT) - this type of fat is immediately used for energy, as opposed to being stored in the body. So not only will eating coconut oil give you more energy, but using coconut oil instead of butter or other oils will help you to lose weight.

    Therefore coconut oil is vastly more healthy than using butter, ghee, etc.

    In all fairness ghee contains far more MCTs than butter. Not as much as the tropical oils of course but more than butter.
  • GreatGreenSea
    GreatGreenSea Posts: 47 Member
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    I use it in place of other oils for cooking (sometimes I use olive oil for cooking, but normally I save the olive oil for roasting or using in salads). I've put it in smoothies before but I think it's gross...it solidifies and you have this little lumps. As a replacement it works really well, and makes a great moisturizer, but you don't need to eat it all day every day.
  • erbear117
    erbear117 Posts: 62 Member
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    Agreed, if you're going to use butter, you are much better off using ghee :)
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Agreed, if you're going to use butter, you are much better off using ghee :)
    They have different nuances that lend themselves to certain applications and personally wouldn't draw that same conclusion.
  • erbear117
    erbear117 Posts: 62 Member
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    from a nutritional standpoint......
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Which standpoint? I'd imagine your referring to MCT's. I agree that MCT's can help with immediate energy, but it's a bit of a moot point when efficacy is part of the equation.

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