Does coconut oil help prevent cardiovascular diseases?
In recent years, with the popularity of ketogenic diet, coconut oil suddenly caught fire. Not only many stars and bodybuilders are recommending coconut oil, but there are also examples on the Internet showing that the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Filipinos who use coconut oil as their main edible oil is much lower than that in western countries.
In this regard, Wang Hao, a professor at the College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology of Tianjin University of Science and Technology, said that coconut oil is made from coconut through saponification, acidification, washing and dehydration. Although coconut oil also belongs to vegetable oil, its saturated fatty acid content is as high as 80% to 90%, which is much higher than other common vegetable oils, such as soybean salad oil (saturated fatty acid content 15%), peanut oil (saturated fatty acid content 2 1%), sesame oil (saturated fatty acid content 16%) and olive oil (saturated fatty acid).
Excessive intake of saturated fat is the main reason for the increase of cholesterol and triglycerides, which in turn leads to aortic stenosis, aortic atherosclerosis and the possibility of coronary heart disease.
Wang Hao introduced that the famous medical journal British Medical Journal published a study in 20 16, pointing out that excessive intake of lauric acid (1 saturated fatty acid), myristic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid would increase the risk of coronary heart disease. The main saturated fatty acid in coconut oil is lauric acid, accounting for 47% ~ 54%. In addition, it also includes 18% myristic acid, 10% palmitic acid and 2% stearic acid.
"It can be said that there is not enough scientific evidence to show that coconut oil has the function of protecting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. At the same time, research institutions such as the World Health Organization, the National Institute of Medicine, and the American Heart Association all recommend limiting the intake of saturated fatty acids. " Wang Hao suggested that consumers should neither blindly believe in the health benefits of coconut oil and eat it in large quantities for a long time, nor completely deny coconut oil. Coconut oil, as a natural food, is also a part of a balanced diet, so the normal intake of coconut oil by ordinary people will not cause much problem.
Is coconut oil healthy?
The health effects of coconut oil are controversial at present. And this happens to be inseparable from the two characteristics mentioned above. Some people say that coconut oil is rich in saturated fatty acids, so it is not good to eat more. Others say that coconut oil is rich in medium-chain fatty acids, so it is good to eat more.
The adverse effects of saturated fatty acids on human body can be said to be "conclusive evidence". If there are too many saturated fatty acids in the diet, the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood will increase significantly, which will further increase the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia and type II diabetes. This conclusion has been verified by a large number of research facts. All kinds of animal fats we usually eat are rich in saturated fatty acids, so it is easy to eat more if we are not careful. Because of this, the reference intake of nutrients in various countries clearly puts forward to limit the intake of saturated fatty acids.
Coconut oil is more than 90% saturated fat. If the total energy intake is 2000 calories per day, as long as you eat 25 grams of coconut oil, the saturated fat has reached the upper limit. This is not counting the fat contained in the meal itself and other cooking oils added during cooking.
From this point of view, too much coconut oil intake is not good for your health.