Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is often described as the “healthiest oil on earth.”

This wasn’t always so. For years it had a reputation of being unhealthy because of its high saturated fat content.

We now know there are certain health benefits of coconut oil.

How Did Coconut Oil Get a Bad Reputation?

• Coconut oil is saturated oil. Saturated oils were understood to raise blood cholesterol and cause heart disease.
• A specific study conducted 40 years ago seemed to verify this concern. Yes, it did increase heart disease.

But, what no one at the time seemed to take into account was that this study was done on hydrogenated coconut. The problems with hydrogenated oils are well documented by numerous studies.  Even the general theory of saturated fats is now suspect.

Coconut oil has been used throughout Asia and the Pacific for thousands of years as both a food and a medicine.

In tropical climates like Polynesia, Sri Lanka, and the Yucatan where they have a diet high in coconut oil, the people are healthier, have less heart disease, cancer, and colon problems than unsaturated fat eaters. It is now accepted that there is good cholesterol and there are good saturated fats.

To quote Dr. Mary Enig: “The research over four decades concerning coconut oil in diet and heart disease is quite clear: coconut oil has been shown to be beneficial.