Coconut Oil

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by 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.

FDA Orders Dr. Joseph Mercola to Stop Illegal Claims

[Maverick2272]

Oh, that dudes in my neck of the woods, want I should go wack him upside the head with a big ol coconut?

Call it poetic justice...

I know coconut milk is not good consumed in large quantities, shot my cholesterol way up. But I assume coconut oil is different than coconut milk, and would think it probably wouldn't much better or worse than other oils made from vegetables, etc.

I know not all oils are created equal, but seems to me no matter how healthy the source once you turn it into an oil it looses a lot of its healthy properties along the way.

JMHO

[ErikC]

I have trouble with practically any tropical oil. Not sure why, but it might be my Northern European heritage. Not a lot of palm trees in Scotland and Denmark!

I'm even allergic to bananas! They make me violently ill, and coconut does the same to a lesser degree. Is this coincidence, or are the fats and oils in the two similar?

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Maverick2272

Oh, that dudes in my neck of the woods, want I should go wack him upside the head with a big ol coconut?

Call it poetic justice...

I know coconut milk is not good consumed in large quantities, shot my cholesterol way up. But I assume coconut oil is different than coconut milk, and would think it probably wouldn't much better or worse than other oils made from vegetables, etc.

I know not all oils are created equal, but seems to me no matter how healthy the source once you turn it into an oil it looses a lot of its healthy properties along the way.

JMHO

Maverick, if you look at the link I posted earlier in this thread, there's a table that lists the saturated fat content of various vegetable oils. Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat.

[black chef]

Originally Posted by 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!

coconut oil is not all that bad for you.

if i had a choice between coconut oil and/or butter and some oil that is chemically altered in a plant that looks like an oil refinery... i'll take the natural route.

for every person vilifying coconut oil, you can find one that can list the various benefits of it.

butter, palm oil, coconut oil, and several others were vilified many years ago, and what has happened since...

cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, etc. ARE ALL STILL ON THE RISE AND OUT OF CONTROL.

if you want to use coconut oil, butter, or palm oil, go right ahead. the quantity you use for a single meal won't be enough to hurt you anyway... not this one, single time.

you can go back to using the "won't ever hurt you at all oils" shortly thereafter... if you believe the hype.

there are entire countries that use coconut oil, palm oil, etc. and it's quite funny to me how just about ALL of them have longer life spans than americans.

go figure.

a good explanation from michael... given a while back:

Originally Posted by Michael in FtW

I've spent a week researching this and boy - there is no 25-cent answer to this! And, I haven't found answers to satisfy all of my questions ...

Let's get the Organic and Virgin terms out of the way first - they are the same thing.

Yes, coconut oil is LOADED with saturated fats (about 90%) ... but yeah, they are different from other saturated fats. Most saturated fats are long chain triglycerides ... about 50% of coconut oil's saturated fat is medium chain triglycerides (MCT) ... and that is what makes one of the differences. Instead of going through the normal digestive process - MCT's are sent directly to the liver (instead of being digested in the intestines) and are treated like carbohydrates instead of as a fat - thus they are instantly available for energy. For this reason, coconut oil has been used in a blend with other fats by savvy hospital food nutritionist and doctors in the diets of some patients.

There is evidence that Lauric and Capric Acid (which make up about 50% of the saturated fats in coconut oil) have some significant antimicrobial properties. Derivatives of these are being investigated for treating AIDS/HIV patients with some promising results. But, it's not the only oil that has some medicinal properties ... a 4:1 mixture of oleic and erucic acid (short chain fatty acids) extracted from olive oil and rapeseed (known as Lorenzo's Oil) is a treatment for ALD (Adrenoleukodystrophy) - although the research is still underway.

RE: Hydrogenated Coconut Oil .... what I found is that coconut oil is usually blended with other vegetable oils (high in mono and poly unsaturated fats) which are then hydrogenated, or blended in after the other oil is hydrogenated. But, all of the effects of hydrogenation is another story ....

While there clearly is a benefit to virgin coconut oil on one hand - I can't seem to find answers to all of my questions about how it affacts serum cholesterol on the other. But, that's not the only question I have ...

hope this helps.

the DIFFERENCE is in the type of saturated fat and coconut oil = MCT.

then, there's lauric acid. look on a baby formula label, i'll guarantee coconut oil is listed on it.

[Maverick2272]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

Maverick, if you look at the link I posted earlier in this thread, there's a table that lists the saturated fat content of various vegetable oils. Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat.

I must be tired, I completely missed that! Well I am definitely glad I don't use it, right now I only have Canola and Olive oil. Although wife does insist on lard for her pie crusts...

[black chef]

there was an article in reader's digest recently that VILIFIED the "wholly-accepted as good for you" extra virgin olive oil.

see, this is all about $$$$... one group does a study to dispute the claims of the other... vilifying them along the way.

bottom line: give me natural oils OVER hydrogenated or overly processed oils any day of the week. period. the american public fell for the butter is bad for you crap a long time ago, and it's good to see butter return to cooking... along with coconut oil and other NATURAL fats.

my main go-to oil is pecan oil-which has better properties than olive oil. yeah, it's expensive, but it has a neutral flavor. i simply add a little butter to it and it carries the butter flavor throughout the whole dish.

i

[Maverick2272]

Hmmm... a butter pecan flavor... that could be tasty!

[Dave Hutchins]

pork fat rules for pie crust. Just ask any mother that lived through world war 2 Lard was the acepted fat for a multitude of recipes and made the best pie crust then and still does. Then big business got involved and all of this nonsence started about then
my mother lived to 87 years and used lard every time she made a pie. which was often.

[redkitty]

Well, my hair is loving the coconut oil treatment once a week but I still have not cooked with it.

I do thank everyone for contributing any information about coconut oil!