Unlike many other "healthy" oils, unrefined coconut oil is a great option for cooking and frying.
Long vilified for its heavy saturated fat content, coconut oil seems to be staging a comeback.
The latest health darling is popping up in whole food stores, in recipes and on the Internet.
Does coconut oil - extracted from the meat of the mature coconut and used for generations by people living in tropical climes - have a place in a healthy North American diet?
Yes, say some local health experts. Registered dietitian Samara Felesky-Hunt says coconut oil shines as a cooking and frying oil - not that people should be frying, she hastens to add.
"When you're cooking with fat, you have to be careful. We're now worried about the dangerous effects of heating oils at high temperatures," says Felesky-Hunt.
She explains that when many healthy oils - flax, canola and olive oil, for example - are heated to their "smoke point," not only do they lose nutritional value, they burn and break down into toxic compounds, essentially making them carcinogenic.
"This is why we're now seeing a movement back to coconut oil. It has a higher smoke point and because it's a medium-chain fatty acid, it's harder to break down. You can take it up to a higher temperature and you're not going to damage this fat," she explains.
"If you aren't frying your food, you could simply use extra-virgin oil olive all of the time, but if you're taking the temperature in a pan up high and you want that crispy chicken, you might want to look at coconut oil."
Other pluses: it's a boon to vegans who don't consume any animal products, and people are rarely allergic to it, says Felesky-Hunt.
Dr. Shaun Riddel, a naturopath with the Calgary Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, also recommends his patients use unrefined coconut oil - sometimes sold as raw or virgin - for cooking. A naturally occurring saturated fat, it comes in a solid form at room temperature, "looks like hard Crisco" and doesn't require refrigeration, he says.
(Processed or partially hydrogenated coconut oil is another matter. It's a trans fat often found in snack foods and, like all trans fats, should be avoided.)
"The nice thing about coconut oil is that it's stable at high heat so it's good for things like stir-fries," says Riddel.
But what about its saturated fat, something that's been long been fingered as a link to heart disease? After all, one tablespoon (15 mL) of coconut oil contains 12 grams of saturated fat, about 58 per cent of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat.
For one thing, nutrition science has changed its tune. We've been told for years to cut down on saturated fats from meat, high-fat dairy and tropical oils. But a stunning report this spring in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found there's no evidence linking saturated fat to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
Riddel cites some earlier research that looking a Polynesian populations and coconut oil: "One in particular looks at a specific island population that got 30 to 60 per cent of their total caloric intake from it, and they had virtually no cardiovascular disease."
Plus, not all saturated fats are the same. "Yes, coconut oil is super high in saturated fat, but it's coming from a plant source so you're not going to get the cholesterol," says Felesky-Hunt, who says small amounts of saturated fat are essential for proper brain and body function. The key is to eat a mixed-fat diet.
"We need to balance our diet and balance our fat intake. We need all of our fats: our monounsaturated fat (olive, avocado, nuts and seeds), our polyunsaturated fats (omega 3s, flaxseed oil, canola, fish oil, hemp and chia seeds) and our saturated fats (meat, dairy, butter and coconut oil)."
Also read: Most Amazing Health Benefits of Drinking Coconut Water Empty Stomach
source: calgaryherald
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