[Friendofgeorge]

I was told by my Dr that Coconut oil is one of the tropical oils I am to avoid. I am to avoid ALL tropical oils

Speaking of artery health, not body fat. Anyway I am open to my Dr being wrong for sure, just sharing :)

[traderrob6]

I have a Doctor friend who says exactly the opposite. C oil is fantastic and it’s Canola (Rapeseed) Corn, Palm, and Soybean oils that should be avoided.

[Brookhaven]

Your doctor is behind the times by a couple of decades.

Saturated fat used to be the bogie-man before they did the research and found that fat consumption (saturated, unsaturated, and anything in between) had zero effect upon cholesterol levels.

Modern heart attack prevention is all about cholesterol, cholesterol, cholesterol.

You may want to ask him why you should avoid saturated fat since it dosn’t contribute to high cholesterol levels?

[CatherineofAragon]

Your doctor was talking about hydrogenated coconut oil; that’s the type we were always told to avoid. Pure organic virgin coconut oil is very healthy. It’s been shown to have antibiotic/antiviral/anti-inflammatory properties, and is fine for your heart.

Incidentally, I find it’s always cheaper at vitamin stores than health food places.

[fatnotlazy]

Same here. A Freeper sent me links to various articles on the benefits of coconut oil, which I printed out and showed to my cardiologist. He told me that the supposed benefits of coconut oil have yet to be proven. What studies have been done are flawed or suspicious since many of the studies were done by or on behalf of manufacturers, distributors and sellers of coconut oil.

The cardiologist did say that studies by reputable entities (Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins for example) are being done, but it may take some years to get results. In the meantime, he advised me to avoid all saturated fats, including coconut oil.

[jjsheridan5]

Coconut oil had a terrible reputation years ago. The problem was that there was a study done that showed it was one of the worst oils out there (health-wise).

The problem was that the study was done on hydrogenated coconut oil, which artificially creates trans-fat. None of these negative effects hold true for unrefined coconut oil. In fact, together with lard, palm oil, and several other oils like avocado, coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils out there — as long as it is not hydrogenated.

As far as your doctor is concerned, remember that doctors get virtually no education in nutrition, and most of what they say is merely regurgitated conventional wisdom. I don’t hold that against any doctor, but I also ignore anything they say regarding diet, unless there is a very specific problem.