“It’s as if they saw a house burning and determined that the bigger the fire, the more firemen are present, and then concluded that firemen cause burning houses.”
― Uffe Ravnskov, The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease
It’s official – coconut oil is good for you!
Last week Dr Michael Mosley from the BBC2 programme Trust Me I’m a Doctor, revealed that a study carried out by Cambridge University showed that coconut oil actually improved cholesterol levels by boosting the ‘good’ cholesterol.
“Coconut oil, because of its saturated fatty acids of varied chain length, and its low linoleic acid content, should be considered as part of a protective diet.” Ray Peat Ph.D.
And yet The British Heart Foundation still advises against using coconut oil. They instead suggest you cook with canola oil and replace butter with margarine; a hydrogenated, highly processed, deodorised, inflammatory promoting product.
The fear of saturated fat has just gone on and on but I haven’t wavered and nor has my father who for over 25 years, even when the so called studies came out to say it could give you a heart attack, stood by his belief that saturated fats were not the enemy.
Simple biological facts are completely ignored by the mainstream medical community.
Photo by Adam Birkett on Unsplash
“Based on information [supplied by the mainstream health industry], most people naturally think of cholesterol as something damaging, something to be avoided. But cholesterol is absolutely essential for life. It is not some alien chemical that we can remove from our diets, or our bodies…I sometimes remark to those who think my ideas on heart disease are entirely batty, “Why do you think that an egg yolk is full of cholesterol?” Because it takes one hell of a lot of cholesterol to build a healthy chicken. It also takes a hell of a lot of cholesterol to build, and maintain, a healthy human being. In fact, cholesterol is so vital that all cells, apart from neurones, can manufacture cholesterol, and one of the key functions of the liver is to synthesize cholesterol. We also have an entire transportation system dedicated to moving cholesterol around the body”. Dr Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con.
The population of Tokelauans who live in the South Pacific have lived on a diet of coconut oil for generations. Over 60% of their diet would come from coconuts and yet they were found to be in excellent health with very low rates of heart disease.
Several other populations around the world have survived and thrived on a diet high in coconut oil.
“Coconut oil is the least fattening of all the oils. Pig farmers tried to use it to fatten their animals, but when it was added to the animal feed, coconut oil made the pigs lean [See Encycl. Brit. Book of the Year, 1946].” Ray Peat Ph.D.
Coconut oil benefits –
- Anti-microbial
- Anti-bacterial
- Anti-inflammatory
- Improves metabolism
- Supports brain function
- Improves thyroid health
- Improves oral health
- Improves cholesterol
- Improves brain function
- Supports the immune system
- May reduce seizures
Brain tissue is very rich in complex forms of fats. The experiment (around 1978) in which pregnant mice were given diets containing either coconut oil or unsaturated oil showed that brain development was superior in the young mice whose mothers ate coconut oil. Because coconut oil supports thyroid function, and thyroid governs brain development, including myelination, the result might simply reflect the difference between normal and hypothyroid individuals. However, in 1980, experimenters demonstrated that young rats fed milk containing soy oil incorporated the oil directly into their brain cells, and had structurally abnormal brain cells as a result.” Ray Peat Ph.D.
If you want to read more on the myths that surround saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease see the following –
The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics
