A look at Coconut oil

In 2018 a headline in The Independent screamed: 'Coconut oil is ‘pure poison’ Harvard professor claims’ (i). Dr Karin Michels, professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumour Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg, argues that coconut oil is “one of the worst foods you can eat” due to the damaging effect the saturated fatty acids in the coconut oil can have on your body.

To me this is deeply unhelpful. As nutritionist Lily Soutter says "Claiming that any one food is a poison can be dangerous as it instils fear around food." 

Coconut certainly seems to divide opinion. In recent years we’ve seen the claims like this report that coconut oil is poison and we’ve also seen folks go crazy for coconut with claims like it boosts our immune system and can be beneficial for Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately a number of the health claims for coconut oil seem to be based on studies that used a special formulation of coconut oil made of 100% medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) (ii). This is not the coconut oil available in shops. Indeed the coconut we buy in the UK contains mostly lauric acid.

Cooking with fats and oils

Kirsten Chick, a nutritional therapist, who spoke at the Your Life and Cancer weekend, raises the question of cooking with fats in her new book, ‘Nutrition Brought to Life’ (2020). Heat will cause unsaturated fatty acid rich oils to go rancid faster. It is why we keep them in dark bottles/cupboards and buy cold-pressed. She notes that for years we’ve been encouraged to cook with oils like olive and rapeseed which have some of the highest unsaturated fatty acid contents. 

Yet we don’t know enough about rancid oils from the oxidation - or oils that have also been damaged by the heat. Kirsten says some research suggests they maybe more difficult to digest which may aid inflammation? We also know that high levels of cancer forming aldehydes occur in heated unsaturated fatty acid rich oils. Interestingly it seems from new research that coconut oil and butter have the fewest unsaturated fatty acids - coconut oil performed particularly well in tests under heat compared to others. 

So the research confirms that if you cook with fats/oils use ones that have low levels of unsaturated fats - in other words not the corn or sunflower oils that have been suggested in the past for cooking. Kirsten concludes that appropriate levels of saturated fats within a balanced diet are healthy.

 

Update 12/10/20: Just been sent this new article that concludes similarly it should be used in moderation - however they argue it is best not used in cooking (!) - this is the opposite to nutritionist Kirsten Chick noted above and research she quotes specifically looking at using fats at high temperatures: https://www.createcures.org/the-healthy-properties-of-coconut-oil/

Update 28.01.24: I just read an interesting study where they heated a number of common oils including extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to 240°C and then held the oils at 180°C for 6 hours,. The concluded: “EVOO yielded low levels of (unhealthy) polar compounds and oxidative by-products (compared with other oils). EVOO’s fatty acid profile and natural antioxidant content allowed the oil to remain stable when heated (unlike oils with high levels of polyunsaturated fats [PUFAs] which degraded more readily).”

https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf

 

But what of cancer?

Looking generally at cancer, Lizabeth Gold, Head Dietician at the The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Chicago, responding to a question about coconut oil at the Your Life and Cancer weekend (Oct 2020) said we should be limiting overall intake; plant-based oils are better but it is best that coconut "should not to go beyond 8-10% of intake of fats”. 

 

And prostate cancer particularly?

Chris Woollams of Canceractive writes: ”Saturated fat intake is linked to an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer and an increased risk of fatal prostate cancer; whereas good fat like fish oil EPA reduces risk and mono-unsaturated fats show no raised risk (iii)” In his article he writes that coconut oil is linked to chronic inflammation as it has twice the saturated fat content of lard. Chris also quotes Professor Thomas Seyfried, the Boston College champion of the Ketogenic Diet saying he wouldn’t touch it and goes onto argue folks should take lycopene and lots of raw ginger.

In a major review looking at ‘Lipids and Prostate Cancer’ (2012) they note: "Several epidemiological studies have suggested increased consumption of saturated fatty acid correlates with increased risk of prostate cancer and reduced progression-free survival; however others report no significant association (iv)". Most of the studies don’t differentiate the type, quality or quantity of the fat, and may not disaggregate other factors for example people who eat a diet high in saturated fats from processed foods may do less exercise, be more overweight etc. Interestingly palm oil, a saturated fat often lumped in the research of saturated fatty acids, has been shown to have carcinogenic effects in animal studies. So does some of the research reflect that?

Energy ball; made with coconut oil?

Toral Shah, Nutritional Scientist and Functional Medicine Practitioner, who was another speaker at Your Life and Cancer agrees that it coconut oil is better than other saturated fats so she would use for cooking but not putting in all food. Interestingly in answer to a question I raised at the conference about fats and prostate cancer, she says we don’t yet understand the link. Toral asks "Is it the fat itself or is it the diet and the whole being obese?” Then goes onto say we know there is a link between a diet high in saturated fats and obesity, we know obesity increases the risk of prostate cancer, so would a low fat diet be about reducing weight to change the metabolism to improve health and outcomes with cancer or is it the fat itself?

 

Conclusions

We are all different and metabolise differently so I guess we all have to make up our own mind. Hopefully more research can help in the future. To further confuse there are wider questions about what else we are eating - I’ve not managed to get my head around the various ketogenic diets and still not written up my wider approach to nutrition in this blog. However it seems to me that the benefits of coconut oil have been overstated and I heed the comments made specifically about saturated fats and coconut oils. It would also seem to make sense, (bearing in mind the research that Kirsten Chick quotes), that if cooking then maybe that is the time for a small amount of coconut oil - there don't seem to be many oils that work for cooking!

 

Then the way to go the rest of the time is a modest intake of olive oil along with foods rich in fatty acids such as oily fish, avocado, nuts and seeds, etc. This re-confirms my view of 18 months ago when I mentioned coconut oil in a blog then (vi).

To finish I love this comment from a nutritionist: "The more I read the more I’m convinced that what we put into the diet – especially in terms of vegetables and some fruit – is more important than what we take out, there’s some wonderful literature emerging on the potent anti-cancer benefits of plant bioactive compounds, all from everyday, delicious foods like berries, broccoli, mushrooms, green tea, garlic, spices and herbs (amongst many others!), also feels a much more positive approach than the ‘shalt nots’. All a balance of course but that’s exciting for me”. 

Kirsten Chick is talking about sugar at a free Wigwam Forum on Weds 28th Oct 2020 - sign up at: https://www.wigwam.org.uk/forums-and-webinars


Notes

(i) https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/coconut-oil-health-benefits-harvard-professor-poison-youtube-video-a8500611.html
(ii) https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-there-a-place-for-coconut-oil-in-a-healthy-diet-2019011415764
(iii) https://www.canceractive.com/article/saturated-fat-and-increased-cancer-risk
(iv) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3348998/ 
(v) https://www.healthline.com/health/palm-oil-cancer

(vi) https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-mystery-of-fats-and-oils.html