Coconut oil fans battle back in cholesterol war
Coconut oil, long shunned as a saturated cholesterol booster, is, in some quarters, coming into vogue. Three of the many prococonut books, The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife, The Coconut Diet: The Secret Ingredient That Helps You Lose Weight While You Eat Your Favorite Foods by Cherie Calbom, and Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Eig, have been selling well and generating enthusiastic feedback on Amazon.com. ("A 'miracle' of a book!" writes one Calbom fan. "I've lost 25 pounds," says another.)
The authors say the oil has been wrongly maligned, lost in the pro-soybean frenzy. And, they say, rather than undermining your health, it heals, improves, and protects it. This is because the oil contains medium chain fatty acids, which they say are easily absorbed, the energy created is rapidly spent, and, they add, consumption boosts metabalism. Eig recommends 3 tablespoons a day for those weighing up to 130 pounds, 41/2 tablespoons for those between 131 and 180, and, for those over 180, 6 tablespoons daily.
Sound advice? "Add 800 calories of fat and lose weight?" asks Alice Lichtenstein, professor of nutrition at the Friedman School at Tufts University and coauthor of the new Strong Women, Strong Hearts. "I'm absolutely astounded."
The Harvard School of Public Health website says coconut oil raises both types of cholesterol, the heart-plaque-causing LDL and the desirable HDL.
And Dr. Andrew Weil, a proponent of natural medicine, has looked at both sides of the argument. His conclusion? "I do not recommend using it."
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