Coconut Oil

[redkitty]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I pretty much stick to olive oil when cooking and use butter for baking only.

I think I'll stick to using the coconut oil for my hair, which btw works wonderfully for conditioning!!!

Edited to add... After reading the bottle I bought, Coconut Oil is 100% free of cholesterol, trans and hydrogenated fat. So not all saturated fat is bad!

[Alix]

Redkitty, I think trans fats are found in UNsaturated fat. And I believe that only animal fats can contain cholesterol. So, having said that, your bottle's label is completely right, but only tells part of the story. LOL. I'm glad you decided not to use it in cooking. No sense putting more saturated fat into yourself than necessary.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by redkitty

...Edited to add... After reading the bottle I bought, Coconut Oil is 100% free of cholesterol, trans and hydrogenated fat. So not all saturated fat is bad!

It's tricky labeling to tell you a vegetable product is cholesterol free. Only animal products contain cholesterol (for all practical purposes). It's like labeling a jar of jam cholesterol free. It makes the consumer think it's healthier than other jams.

If you were to hydrogenate coconut oil, it would then contain trans fats. One normally finds trans fats in hydrogenated oils such as vegetable shortening.

All saturated fat is worse for you than unsaturated fats.

That kind of label on a container of coconut oil is INTENTIONALLY misleading to direct you away from the inherent negative health aspects of the product.

[redkitty]

Thanks Andy & Alix... no worries as I won't be cooking with it! But I'm glad others can read this thread if they had the same concerns I did.

Just to mention again, wonderful for conditioning the hair!!!!!

[Poppinfresh]

Cholesterol: Can only come from something that has a liver. It's a basic rule since the liver is what creates cholesterol.

As it pertains to coconut oil: The nature of coconut oil is as such to where it WILL, in fact, raise your LDL cholesterol in spite of it containing none (LDL is the "bad" cholesterol...at least this year). The thing is, though...it raises your HDL (the "good" cholesterol....this year) as well. You actually want your HDL to be as high as possible (over 120, so say the doctors...this year). Ultimately it ends up being a wash.

The thing about coconut oil that makes it nice is that it's already saturated though. Meaning producers can't hydrogenate it (which even I agree is just asking for a heart attack)

[Alix]

Cholesterol: Can only come from something that has a liver. It's a basic rule since the liver is what creates cholesterol.

Not totally true. Cholesterol IS found in plants too, but in negligible amounts. Therefore you don't need a liver to create it...sure helps though!

[Barbara L]

My dad called last night to see how we are faring financially and otherwise. Halfway through the conversation he started telling me that he was reading that a couple tablespoons of organic virgin coconut oil twice a day is supposed to be good for all kinds of ailments. The more things something is supposed to cure/help the more red flags I normally see, but I figured I should check it out since he brought it up. So far all I have found are websites promoting it, but I am hoping to find some unsolicited comments on it, so I will keep checking it out. What exactly is the difference (the process, nutritional value, etc.) between organic virgin coconut oil and other coconut oils?

Barbara

[Poppinfresh]

Well I won't go into the "virgin vs. not" coconut oil topic, since I'm not aware that coconut oil even goes through more than one pressing.

I will mention the organic vs. not thing though: That's complete bung (like most things touting the "benefit" of organic). The only thing an organic label would accomplish would be a higher sticker price. Seeing as how most coconut oil is produced in regions where they lack the resources to even do something other than organic (and the hardiness of the trees and fruit), I would imagine most of it is "organic" anyways.

[Barbara L]

I was wondering about that Poppinfresh. Thanks! I know that a lot of foods that are listed as organic are grown without pesticides, etc., and that a lot aren't. Technically organic just means it is/was alive, so it is in iffy term if you are looking for something specific.

Barbara

[wysiwyg]

I don't use coconut oil, but I consumed it in significant quantity while working in Northeast Brazil (Salvador).
My Dr. was worried I was going there for a while (6 months) since my Cholesterol was a bit over 200, but after coming back we checked and it dropped to 140.
Please note that I was running almost daily and playing soccer twice a week while there.
Since I also run and play soccer here in USA, my Dr. couldn't figure the reason for the drop, my explanation is that I did not consume processed food while there, it was all cooked from scratch.
That was one of the reasons I started to cook myself, oh and I also switch to another Dr. LOL

According to Dr. Marcola (a dude that is into healthier foods, etc.) coconut oil is the thing to use for cooking.