Did you see the article shared by USA Today and many other news stations that stated how the American Heart Association says eating coconut oil isn’t healthy? Here is the article. 

One line from the article states, “You can put it on your body, but don’t put it in your body,” Sacks said.

I know that as consumers this is SO confusing!! One group says coconut/saturated fat isn’t “bad,” and there this well respected organization is saying something different! What are we supposed to do?

Well, we need to educate ourselves, people. The AHA is the same group who told us to eat low-fat foods loaded with sugar and margarine laced with trans fats. Ugh.

1. Let’s get on the same page- we all understand FAT is not bad, right?
And that sugar is actually more the culprit for most health diseases!?

2. This is not a “NEW” study. The article even says, this is a review of existing studies. People like “disruptive” headlines though 😜

3. Particle SIZE and SHAPE are not discussed in this study. Rarely is this discussed when people talk about having high cholesterol. When it comes to the LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) it is not discussed how there are two different types: fluffy large particles (healthy) and small, dense, sticky particles (the bad/inflammatory kind). Most doctors just see “high LDL” and put people on medications to lower total cholesterol. Coconut oil increases the large fluffy kind and can actually be protective! Also, the old data linking high cholesterol levels to heart attacks is outdated. Studies that show that most people who have heart attacks actually have normal cholesterol levels.

4. Many people opposing saturated fats lump ALL saturated fats together. Ones coming from research using animals who were grain fed and animals who were grassfed. If research was to be done on the impact on people’s health comparing those who consume “conventional” meats/sat fat/etc vs those grassfed, grassfinished, meats/fats… there would be a big difference (but unfortunately that kind of study would be very hard to do). Omega 6 vs omega 3 fatty acid composition.

5. The author in the end recommends vegetable oils, another ugh. These oils are highly inflammatory thought the body and inflammation is linked to many conditions. Also people who cook vegetable oils are cooking with them which causes oxidation. Those oils are not to be used with cooking at high temperatures and are more damaging then high saturated fat oil such as coconut and avocado oil.

Comment below with any questions you have!

Here is one good article about Cholesterol from Dr. Hymen. 

The actual study from American Heart Association