For years I have been using coconut oil ever since I first found that saturated fat was good for you.
Throughout the years I had heard things saying saturated fat was bad for you, even Harvard scientists will tell you saturated fat is bad.
I have also read things about how certain companies are as corrupt as sin and will tell you lies just to sell their products. Dodgy things have been said about Harvard scientists too, so that leaves me thinking “Should I believe what Harvard say or what I first read in the past?”
Personally, I haven’t had any problems using coconut oil and that is high in saturated fat... or is it?
I had another look at the label on the jar I am using right now.
It says per 100g
“Fat - of which are saturates 94g”
OF WHICH ARE SATURATES
According to Michael Klaper M. D saturated fat is also a bad fat.
So does this mean that 94% of that coconut oil is bad for me after all?
But I have had no serious side affects to it, none at all.
In my personal view I think that coconut oil does more good than bad.
But are these saturates in the oil relating to saturated fat only or is it a combo of saturated, mono and polysaturated?
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Matt2584
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It's bad, avoid it, coconut oil is full of it, use olive oil or something healthy.
It’s funny cos one of the people who said it was bad (Michael Klaper M.D)
also says olive oil is bad.
I don’t really know who to believe at the end of the day but that is what the establishment want, worldwide cofusion.
All I know is that I use coconut oil every day and it has not harmed me at all.
As I normally say, I think experience plays a bigger part here.
Hi Matt, this is an excellent question and yes you are right that coconut oil is 94% saturated fat compared to butter which's 64%. But here's the but coconut oil also significantly raises our HDL levels (good cholesterol)
I prefer natural saturated fats over highly processed margarines that contain chemicals our body cannot get rid of, so I eat butter cheese coconut oil. I also drink whole goats milk and my cholesterol levels were 2.9 HDL and 1.4 LDL, total cholesterols levels 4.3.
So it's like everything else it's about moderation and a balanced healthy diet of real and wholesome foods.
Just watched the video ! Not convinced that the very obese man photographed in the clip had achieved his size from eating olive oil. This video shows how a good performer , with MD after their name and referring to ‘research’ , can pursuade us to believe anything.
I’m not exactly fully convinced by Michael Klaper either really.
A lot of things he says I do agree on but not quite sure I agree with his approach of oils.
He says that Greece is the fattest country... really!?
I haven’t been to Greece before and haven’t seen the general public there but I would have thought America was the fattest country.
Saying that though, I haven’t been to America either.
But for may be A problem when it comes to obesity but I think refined sugar is the biggest problem when it comes to obesity.
When you look at America and all the fast food restaurants and joints, bistros, dives and diners and so on and then you look at the obese public.... it’s pretty much a no brainer for me.
I live in the south of england and the town I live in is apparently the fattest town in the UK and it’s again, a no brainer, because our town is full of coffee shops. And what are coffee shops great at dishing out?
REFINED SUGAR.
Not on it’s own obviously but refined sugar is added to many many many foods. Sweet, savoury, condiments, medicines...
I've heard a few things to contradict the saturated fat issue:
Confirmation bias - because scientists wish to prove saturated fat is bad for us, they manipulate the data to get the result they want
A case for this was a study into the effects of saturated fat, which used hydrogenated vegetable oils as the fat, found hydrogenated vegetable oils had a negative effect, but then used that to confirm all fat is bad for us.
They used inappropriate test subjects (rabbits) to prove that fat and cholesterol are bad for humans. They fed herbivores an exclusively meat/egg diet, and when the animals got sick, they said it proved humans couldn't eat those foods.
There was apparently a study into low fat Vs high fat, where 400 people in the low fat/low cholesterol group died and 401 people in the high fat group died, and they used that as evidence that high fat was worse for you.
I still have a niggle in my head that says saturated fat must be bad for us, because we've always been told that, but the more I hear about it, the more I doubt the whole thing! I dunno if it persuaded me that LCHF is the answer, but I certainly think moderate carb,moderate fat is better than low fat.
Like you whenever I hear that saturated fat is bad, and this coming from Harvard scientists or whatever, a part of me always doubts it.
Cos it gets me thinking “How can it really be that bad when I use coconut oil every day and have had no serious affects from it”.
There is a website called wellnessmama.com and the author of the site, Katie Wells uses coconut oil all the time, way more than me. She apparently buys 5 gallon tubs of it, I think. She gets through so much of the stuff.
But I don’t think it’s all for internal use though, I think a lot of it is used externally.
There is a page on her website that lists 101 uses for coconut oil.
Removing mascara is one use and polishing your shoes is another... apparently :).
I started buying coconut oil in Costco for about £12 for what I think is about 2L. I top up a smaller pot in our kitchen for cooking, but I also use some to make my own beauty products sometimes. I use it for face moisturiser sometimes, lip balm, body scrub and I've been using it to make my own deodourant. It's a great little oil
When I first started reading up on coconut oil I was interested in reading up oil pulling which is an ancient thing, apparently, and can be done with various oils but most people use coconut oil.
You basically use oil as a mouth wash.
I put 3 half teaspoons in my mouth and swish.
They say you should swish for 20 minutes but I think that is too long, I've got better things to do with my time :). I used to do at least 5 mins but sometimes head for 10 mins.
I usually spit the oil in a plastic pot and put the pot in the bin when I have filled it up, oil shouldn't go down the sink or down the toilet.
I have sensitive teeth (I'm quite the sensitive person :D) and before coconut oil I used to brush my teeth with Sensodyne toothpaste.
This did work for a little while but didn't get rid of the sensitive feeling in my teeth.
After using the coconut oil I found that it has helped with my teeth. I can drink cold water without wincing now :).
I eat tones of coconut oil , i cook with it for everything, put it in smoothies ect and use it for everything. I eat a lot of coconut though both the fruit, milk and now coconut yogurt. Before i ate loads of it my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were high and my good cholesterol level was very low. I know eat loads of coconut oil and my blood pressure is normal and bad cholesterol is normal but the best news was that my good levels had raised massivley my gp was so shocked but said thats good.
And i was eating a healthy diet before the only think i changed was cutting margerine out and lard out of my diet and swapped both with coconut oil. So from my experience id say coconut oil is fine. And coconuts themselves have so much health benefits.
Hi Matt. As far as having no serious side effects from it, well, I don't think it's anything that you can actually feel or see, it's the deep inner walls of the arteries where effect, if any, is taking place. Always a back and forth with this issue. High carbs, sugars, lard, margiran , I would actually keep to a minimum, a bare minimum. As for coconut oil, it's your choice. I use EVO, switching out at times with Avocado oil. There are just right now too many studies going against each other with all this at the present time. You will see it in every posting about this subject. People are different in their makeup and genes, what might be beneficial to one might be poison to another.
The inner walls of the arteries would be affected, meaning overuse of coconut oil could eventually clog up your arteries and you would suffer with a heart attack?
That’s what I mean when I say I have had no problems with coconut oil cos I have had no heart problems.
But anyhow, speaking about clogged up arteries, is’nt that mainly because of trans-fats? The stuff you might find in margarine or doughnuts or the like?
I would definitely keep margarine to a minimum... I wouldn’t buy it.... EVER.
Because of the trans-fat content and vegetable oils.
Butter, especially grass fed, is much better for you.
Thank you for the link, it took some time to read this Sunday morning. This review was written 4 years ago and appears to be a valid in-depth review of the evidence for diet and it’s impact on our health. The message that I will take away is that there is minimal evidence to support current low fat guidelines and that transfats and carbohydrate reduction is where I need to focus my efforts. I will discuss further reductions of margarine and sunflower oil in favour of butter and olive oil with my family. (My son has nut allergies so I will avoid coconut oil.) This article does help to explain why the processing of foods to extend their shelf life and prevent the fats going rancid combined with a switch to a processed carbohydrate based diet often with lots of sweetened drinks looks like the real cause of the obesity, diabetes type 2 and CVD epidemic and not saturated fats.
I will view my local supermarket shelves with even more concern.
My son has intolerance to nuts (produces nasty reaction, face swelling, eyes streaming, vomiting). I was told at hospital it was an “intolerance” not an allergy fortunately otherwise he would most likely have died after eating an Indian meal containing peanut oil. He is fine however with coconut, possibly because it is a fruit rather than an actual nut? I’m not sure, but may be worth you checking out before deciding against using it. I’ve switched to coconut oil for many things including roasting veg and frying eggs.
I guess it depends on how old the ‘grandparents’ were 😃. Mine are long-gone. My mum often talks about the lard factory near their place in Runcorn. As a kid mum always cooked chips in lard. I don’t remember my mum or Nana’s using oil when I was young. There were no fast food outlets or take-aways. Restaurant meals were a very occasional treat.
Hi StillConcerned. Yes, we are different, of course, from animals!! I'm talking about one person to the next here. "People are different in their makeup and genes"--"What might be beneficial to one(person) might be poison to another(person)". As far as being scared from eating fats, I didn't say not to, I use EVO and Avocado oils. Not much, but enough for me. Remember, "our ancestors" never had these on-going studies to look at either. Par for the course, as I mentioned, too many studies going against each other, creating controversy all the time. You choose to eat what you think is best for you.
Hi Matt. It usually takes a long time (years) for anything bad to happen from eating anything that may have a negative effect. Yes, the trans-fats are not good. Some studies now are showing high sugar and high refined carbohydrates are just as bad or worse.
Yes, it usually does take a long time, years, for anything bad to happen.
Like with aspartame.
When I was little I had a terrible junk food diet which consisted of many sugars and fizzy drinks and hardly ate any natural, REAL food.
In 1996, when I was 11, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and was diagnosed with a second tumour in 98.
Years down the line from there I found out more about the artificial sweeteners, aspartame, and how dangerous it can be. I used to guzzle fizzy drinks like water including diet drinks containing aspartame.
I would not be surprised at all if the reason for my tumours was because of my terrible diet.
Hi Matt. When we are young, we just don't realize what it happening, or, what could happen later on. If a certain food tastes good, we are going to eat it, good or bad. I don't know if your doctors stated that your situation started from eating this or that, probably not. Sometimes diet plays a role, sometimes not. I live in Pennsylvania,USA. I'm 65, and when I was growing up, I was also the "typical" kid eating all that candy, sodas, and all the other "bad" foods that were around at that time. Back then no one really paid attention to the ramifications of these things, if it was made to be eaten, well, we ate it and that was that. I have 2 grandchildren, and I can attest to the same mode of thought with them, they are typical kids. Now, that's not to say that ALL the foods that I ate in my younger day was all bad, same for my grandchildren, my family was of European descent, and we also ate many good things. Today I look around at where I live, and really get to see all the junk and crap that people eat, when they go to the nearest discount grocery store it's pathetic. One must realize however that not all people are "savy" with the latest info out there on detrimental foods, or, the very fact that to eat really good, it's more expensive, and that's a major factor also in today's world.
I read into conspiracies because they make a lot of sense but I don’t fully believe in them either.
If you look at Agenda 21/Agenda 30 AKA worldwide depopulation, which may sound outlandishly stupid to some, and then look at what really goes on in the world today including adding all harmful ingredients to our foods, it sound so stupid after all.
Yes, when I was young I obviously didn’t really realise what I was eating, I was too young. And my parents didn’t realise either what I was eating. I would have thought they thought what I was eating and drinking was completely safe cos it was advertised on tv.
Brainwashed. Just like the rest of the population at the time.
Now, is a different matter.
Me and my mum have woken up to it and realise what we put in our mouths.
No, my doctors never told me about diet, they never even asked me what my diet was like before the tumours.
They never said my situation stemmed from eating this or that because they likely don’t know that diet can play a major role
And that brings me back to the “ridiculous” conspiracies again.
But shouldn’t the doctors be learning more about diet and what diets/certain foods can do?
I would think millions/billions of kids had a junk food diet but most probably also had some REAL nourishment as well. I hardly ate any fruit or veg at all. Never veg that’s for sure. Maybe some haricot beans and potatoes but no greens... ever.
There is a very good reason why parents tell you to eat your greens.
I probably learned the hard way.
And as I say, I used to guzzle fizzy drinks.
All diet drinks have aspartame in them. And refined sugar, according to some studies, fuels tumours.
All the affordable processed foods are usually lined with additives and chemicals and all the raw, healthy foods can be expensive.
Hi Matt. I would think that food companies from years ago might not have known too much with chemicals and additives being put in the foods that they sold. But, fast-forward to today, I like the saying "if you can't pronounce the ingredients you read on the side panel, DON"T eat it". One of the more troubling aspects with all of this is the current status of the weed killer Roundup. It's everywhere, even organic foods can't escape it. With the people so far winning their court trials with this poison, you would think that it would be banned already. But Monsanto still keeps it's ground saying that it's safe. I really think that if it is eventually banned, it will still be around for many years showing up in foods because it is used so much, it won't go away overnight. Even worse yet, the very mention of "chemicals" opens the door to a whole array of things. Chemicals from building and furniture materials, plastics from water bottles,food packaging,car exhaust, the air pollution, colors still being used in foods , even the powdered green tea or organic cocoa powders that I put in my morning coffee has alerts on the packaging stating that they may contain lead from the soils they are grown in, escape seems to be futile from it all. And all the info now on vaping, I just don't get it at all. I'm sorry, but, WHO in their right mind would ever want to do this, I have the same feelings with smokers. I don't care very much for whatever their arguments for it would be, my stance is concrete. Yes, chemicals are still around in this fast moving world,and in my opinion with little regard or common sense with them still being placed in foods, and, everything else. Talk of pollution and chemicals, I still think of the poor people that were subject to the chemicals in the air from working at Ground Zero in New York. They still suffer to this day.
The food companies (as in the supermarkets, newsagents/convenience stores and so on) might not have been very aware of the chemicals and so on in the food they sell but the suppliers/manufacturers of those foods would know full well that they are putting potentially harmful chemicals in the foods and the FDA allow it!
Yes, if you can’t pronounce an ingredient on the ingredients list, don’t consume it.
Urgh, Round Up. Disgusting stuff.
Not saying I have ingested it before... I would be dead otherwise :).
There was a court case a while back between Monsanto and a groundskeeper who had cancer after coming into contact with Round Up.
The groundskeeper won the court case and took $189 million from Monsanto.
Monsanto are mega rich and this was probably a little scratch to them.
I did hear a long list of court cases Monsanto is going through. I hope what I heard is true and I hope they are going down.
You would think after all the bad news about Round Up and it’s killer ingredient Glyphosate that it would be banned but as I said, Monsanto are mega rich and they pay people to lie about their products.
There is a video of an interview between this French guy and Patrick Moore. Now bear in mind that Moore USED to work for Greenpeace until he was bought out by Monsanto.
In the interview Moore was saying how safe Glyphosate was and that you could even drink it. Heaven knows why you would want to drink it anyway.
But anyhow, the interviewer offers him a drink of Glyphosate and Moore says “No... I’m not an idiot”!
Vaping, it was supposed to be the safe, clean, healthy way of smoking but none of those it actually is.
Who in their right mind would do these sorts of things?
Hi Matt. You are correct, the food stores, supermarkets, corner stores might not be too aware of the chemicals in the foods they sell, they're there to sell. I was referring to the actual food companies who actually make the foods to sell, but from years ago, when there were no, or, very limited studies or info about possible hazardous chemicals being put into foods made by them. Heck, doctors used to say at one time that smoking cigarettes was actually good for you! Commercials on television would always have cigarette ads, kid shows were based on commercials with candy, cakes, sodas, studies were basically non-existant or very limited as to detrimental effects years down the road from consuming these items. Yet, sadly, things are still somewhat the same. Chemicals and preservatives are still used in foods, but, today, when a study comes out, it seems like it's brushed under the rug, or not talked about enough in the media, if something detrimental comes out of it because of corporate greed and the like, and I haven't even started on prescriptions yet being pushed by doctors with enough side effects to think that they are safe!!! It's a world gone mad, just try having a conversation with a doctor now a days about taking something natural, most of the time, you might as well be talking to a wall, there are a few exceptions, but here in the USA, not too many. It is not the 1%, or the elite that smoke and vape and eat the totally junkiest of foods, at least not here. These people actually know better. It is the growing majority of poorer people,both old and young as you say with no feeling or remorse for whatever reason, that drink, smoke, throw trash all over the sidewalks with no regard to anyone else, doing as they please. I see it more and more here.
I too have not had any negative effects from using coconut oil - both for cooking and as a daily moisturizer. I've also read that coconut oil is bad for you, but research has found that medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) - which coconuts are rich in - are the most healthful type of saturated fat, as opposed to long chain and short chain triglycerides.
Also, coconut oil is the only one that does not turn carcinogenic when heated, making it the safest for cooking.
The UK's Channel 4 TV programme, "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" tested coconut oil against olive oil and butter on 100 human test subjects. They were surprised by the results. Here's the conclusion and a link to an article about the show's test:
Conclusions
In our study, coconut oil did not raise ‘bad’ cholesterol, despite being high in saturated fat. It also seemed to increase ‘good’ cholesterol.
These results were surprising and not in line with expectations about the effects of consuming saturated fat.
One explanation for the results is that coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which may be processed in the body differently from other saturated fatty acids. Within the class of saturated fats, evidence suggests there are probably ‘good’ and ‘bad’ saturated fats. Identifying beneficial saturated fats is an important next step in understanding the health implications of consuming saturated fat in foods such as coconut oil.
Further studies are needed to find out the longer term effects of coconut oil, but our results suggest it is a comparatively healthy addition to the diet with respect to cholesterol.
This study has been accepted for publication in the medical journal BMJ Open and the full version will be available soon.
Check it out with the experts - The British Heart Foundation- their free helpline answers all these questions. Their advice is up to date with all the latest research.
If you watch a documentary like What The Health you will see just how corrupt these organisations are just to make money.
I know the documentary is based in America and refers to American organisations but this does not mean that organisations across the world could be just as corrupt.
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