SO IS COCONUT OIL GOOD FOR YOU OR BAD FOR YOU?

KC Craichy of Living Fuel has responded to a recent pronouncement that coconut oil is not good for you.  His piece is titled "Why the American Heart Association is Wrong on Coconut Oil."  

 The American Heart Association recently issued an advisory that warns against the consumption of coconut oil and other saturated fats, claiming they raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and increase the chance of heart disease. But there is conflicting information regarding the subject of saturated fats and heart disease, including many studies that show no correlation. Additionally, coconut oil has a long list of health benefits related to thyroid function, heart health, brain function, immunity and weight loss that were not mentioned in the report.

The AHA advisory was authored by Frank Sacks, M.D. He said the tipping point that led to the advisory was a well-publicized 2014 study that concluded the amount of dietary and saturated fat had no bearing on the risk of heart disease. The AHA decided it needed to counter that report and reviewed studies dating to the 1950s related to saturated fat and heart disease to issue the advisory.

However, the studies chosen for inclusion are in conflict with others on the subject. A 2009 report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reviewed 21 separate studies and concluded: “A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) or CVD (cardiovascular disease).”

A similar review of studies was conducted last year by a group of international researchers and published in BMJ Open. Twelve of the 30 studies showed no link between LDL levels and mortality, while 16 actually found that lower LDL was linked with higher mortality risk – the opposite of what was expected.

Studies such as the ones cited by the AHA need to be taken with a grain of salt, or sugar in this instance, as there is always the potential for a conflict of interest. The New York Times reported last year on documents found that revealed how sugar industry executives paid researchers in the 1960s to shift the focus away from sugar intake to saturated fat consumption as the culprit for heart disease.

It is the AHA’s recommendation that saturated fat should make up less than 10 percent of daily calories for healthy Americans. At the same time, Sacks, who is professor of cardiovascular disease prevention in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health is in favor of deep fried foods. “There’s nothing wrong with deep frying as long as you deep fry in a nice unsaturated vegetable oil,” he said.