The Great Coconut Oil Debate

Coconut oil: I have never used the stuff, I didn't even know it existed until a few months ago. I was researching natural ways to cure a dry scalp and coconut oil came up as a really great method. So, I was chatting with a co-worker one day and she commented on how good it is for you to eat.

I ordered some from www.well.ca (to try on my scalp) and my Step dad saw it on my counter and said "I hope you don't plan on eating that, it caused many people to die of heart attacks and now they have banned it from movie theatres!"

So my question is "How do you get 2 very different opinions on the exact same product?" I did my research and although I am not a expert, here is what I found:



Coconut oil is loaded with a medium chain fatty acid known as Lauric Acid (the only other high source of it is in breast milk...kinda weird). Now, the reason it got such a bad rap is because in the 80s the American FDA decided that ALL saturated fats were bad for you, so without any further look into the matter, they started replacing Coconut oil with Soybean oils, canola oils and corn based oils....sounds like a conspiracy to me since all the oils they reccommed come from the US...just saying. OK so back the the Lauric acid, since it is a medium chain fatty acid, it is converted into Monolaurin in animals and humans...which has many health benefit - such as being a antiviral, antiprotozoal and antibacterial agent - it does this by destroying the lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, CMV, influenza and for bacteria it does the same thing to listeria (which can cause meningitis in newborns ...God is a thinker! Putting it in breast milk) and helicobacter pylori.( see http://www.alternative-healthzine.com/html/0108_2.html for more details). It is also been shown to aid in weight loss, treating Waldmann's  disease and have promising results for epilepsy, according to other websites.

But, others websites argue that it may cause plaque formations in the coronary arteries and cause an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol. http://www.dietriffic.com/2007/10/05/coconut-oil-good-bad-or-ugly/. The usual arguments, since it is a saturated fat.

So, my conclusion comes to....inconclusive. But I like how this website (http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cholesterol/coconut-oil) sums it up "Used in moderation and in its virgin, unprocessed form, coconut oil may ultimately be revealed as a harmless, neutral food. But the dust is still settling on this battlefield." Oil is still oil, and saturated fats are still not great for you. So I am trying to substitute it in some things and I will see what happens, keeping an eye on my cholesterol can't hurt :) And in the mean time, it still makes a great hair/scalp treatment and an amazing body oil!

Let me know what you think. Have you found other evidence of being good or bad?

-Kristin