I haven’t taken too much notice of the current darling of the cooking fat world, Coconut Oil, because I honestly thought it was just a fad and would pass as quickly as it appeared.But it appears Coconut Oil is still riding a tsunami of hype and debatable ‘healthy’ claims…
Like all saturated fats, Coconut Oil is solid at room temperature. It can be
processed to remain liquid but that involves additives. Yuk.
I hate to burst your balloon – and by ‘you’, I mean at least half of the big-time FOOD Network chefs and others who have maintained the hype about Coconut Oil all these months. But your fave cooking fat is not as healthy as you say it is. Coconut Oil is a saturated fat, and too much of that is definitively known to be bad for you!
Okay. I’ll admit that Coconut Oil has a distinctive, rich flavour which is particularly good in Asian Dishes. But lard has a wonderful flavour that’s great in Pastry, Tex-Mex and Latin American dishes. And you know how vilified Lard has become in recent years. Yet, many cooks stand steadfastly by Lard and you can still get it in almost any grocery store. Hey! Wait a minute… Coconut Oil has always been available, albeit not in the limelight, too. It just hasn’t been as popular as other oils and fats – until the big-name celebrity cooks claimed to have discovered it and praised it to the heights.
What it’s got…
The ‘healthy’ claims for Coconut oil come from its main ingredient, lauric acid, which is a saturated fat but which mimics the good action of unsaturated fats in your system. Like unsaturated fats, it can help increase the level of ‘good’ cholesterol. And dieticians and doctors now say a little saturated fat is actually good for you. So what’s the problem?
And what it’s not…
Coconut Oil does not have many of the beneficial ingredients that other plant-based fats have – like anti-oxidants and fat-soluble vitamins. Coconut Oil also does nothing to reduce levels of bad cholesterol in your system.
Bottom line…
Google ‘benefits of Coconut Oil’ and you’ll get about 1.5 million returns. Google ‘problems with Coconut Oil’ and you’ll only get fewer than 850,000. What better proof that the Healthy Coconut Oil myth persists?
There are very few long-term, large-scale studies on the effects of Coconut Oil in the human diet and it’s way too soon to say whether it’s good for you or bad for you, on balance. But the evidence to date tells me that it’s way too soon to throw out known healthy oils such as Sesame, Sunflower, Safflower, Canola and Peanut in favour of Coconut Oil.
~ Maggie J.