The benefits of coconut oil proved to be false. How can it hurt your health?

It's safe to say that many people like coconuts. In the end, their taste is really incomparable. But coconut water, by and large, is meaningless - it does not have obvious health benefits, so it's just a more salty version of ordinary water.

But do not forget about coconut oil. This culinary fad is becoming more popular every day, and many argue that coconut oil is more healthy than any other. I would not want to destroy your illusions, but, according to the American Heart Association, it is almost as harmful as butter or beef.

Saturated fats in coconut oil

According to a report published in the journal Circulation, which examines all types of fats and their relationship to cardiovascular diseases, coconut oil is saturated with saturated fats. In fact, it contains 82% saturated fats, that is, they are much more than in the usual creamy (63%), olive (14%), peanut (17%) and sunflower oil (10%).

Saturated fats, unlike others, can increase the amount of bad cholesterol, and this increases the risk of heart failure. These harmful fats can be found in fatty meat, fat, cheese, butter, cream, cakes, biscuits and, as recent studies show, in coconut oil.

Difference in opinions

A recent study showed that 72 percent of Americans estimate coconut oil as a healthy food, but only 37 percent of dieticians agree with them. This difference between the opinion of the public and experts appeared due to the advertisement of coconut oil in the media.

More harm than good

A meta-analysis of various experiments has convincingly shown that cream and coconut oil (in terms of increasing the amount of bad cholesterol in your body) are equally harmful.

Since coconut oil increases cholesterol, which is the cause of heart problems and does not have any compensating beneficial effects, experts do not recommend using it for food. In fact, adding it to your diet, you do not win anything, but you can harm your health.

How to replace

If you are already suffering from high cholesterol, coconut oil in your diet can be potentially dangerous to you. By changing it to olive, you can lower cholesterol as effectively as with modern medications.

So the next time someone claims that coconut oil is a very useful and healthy alternative to other fats, you can say with confidence that this is not true. As you can see, not everything that is popular is really useful.

It is important to remember that a small amount of fat in the diet is certainly beneficial for health, since fatty acids are used by our body to absorb vitamins. However, it is necessary to choose unsaturated fats, which are many in avocado, fish oil, nuts and seeds. Only in this way will you be able to provide benefits for your health.