On the new PEERtrainer Facebook page recently somebody posted something to the effect of "Your vegetable soup recipe is great, but I took out the coconut milk because my friend the cardiologist says that the saturated fat in coconut is bad for you."
We had been thinking about this question for a few days. Then today a box arrived in the mail with 6 books from Dr. Jonny Bowden. He is someone that we have gotten to know recently, and have begun to dig into his work. What we have found so far is someone who has taken all the "health stuff" and made it very understandable.
Anyway, we were flipping through one of the books, titled "The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth." And one page 107 there was a section on Coconut, that answered this exact question! Bowden writes:
"I really looked forward to writing this section, because I felt that it would give me a chance to right one of the greatest nutritional misconceptions of all time: the idea that coconut, because it contains saturated fat, is bad for you."
Summary of Dr. Jonny Bowden's insights on coconut:
- Coconut and coconut oil are superfoods. Coconut is one of the most healthy, amazing things you can ingest.
- People in Asia and the Pacific Islands whose diets are high in coconut oil have low levels of chronic disease- cancer, heart disease etc.
- The fat in coconut is actually good for you. The book explains the science in detail, but the basic idea is that the fatty acids in coconut are easier to metabolize, and are different from the fatty acids in other forms of saturated fat.
"Some studies have shown that MCTs can help in the process of excess calorie burning, and thus weight loss. However, close to half of the calories in one's diet would have to be from the MCTs themselves. Therefore, consuming medium-chain triglycerides in a regular diet may or may not be beneficial to weight loss; studies are still being conducted"
Anyway, the bottom line here is that we now have a greater level of understanding now of WHY our soup recipe has been such a hit. Most of the calories in the soup come from the coconut milk, which might explain why so many people have found that it helped them lose weight.
And we have also found a great book, one that that we will be referring to again and again. Also- if you are interested in our recipes, please keep reading this post for information on how to be sent new recipes from PEERtrainer that meet our criteria of being easy, tasty, cheap, nutrient dense, fill you up, give you energy....
Here Is One:
Michelle, I believe you've got that backwards. Virtually every study I've ever read states that coconut oil lowers LDL cholesterol and raises HDL cholesterol.
Posted by: Dragonlady | March 07, 2011 at 02:37 PM
I think people are being frightened into worrying about cholesterol and saturated fats and it is more for profit and not your health.
The current Government food guides in my opinion are based on economics and cost. I have been following a paleo diet for the last 6 months and have never felt better. My blood lipid profile has improved as has my energy and my weight has dropped. This may be anecdotal evidence but people like Dr Bowden, Prof. Lorain Cordain, Robb Wolf, Nora Gedgaudas all stand by there research and it makes very compelling reading.
Posted by: Richard Insley | December 13, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Unfortunately, if Dr Bowden is asserting that Pacific Islanders have low rates of obesity related disease, the evidence does not back this up. Studies among Hawaiian and Samoan Pacific Islanders indicate that they have among the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the world.
There is also published research that coconut oil can cause an immediate increase in LDL, (bad), cholesterol after ingestion.
I have not read Dr Bowden's book so can't comment further without knowing what research he relies on but until more solid research is available, I would proceed with caution with this saturated fat. For now, the evidence in support of olive oil as part of a mediterranean type diet is much more compelling.
Posted by: Michelle Adams | December 09, 2010 at 03:19 AM