Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

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Grigoris
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Grigoris »

Sādhaka wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
My understanding is that good fats like coconut oil, olive oil, grass fed butter, ghee, avocado, etc. actually help you to manage weight.

The name "fat" in good fats can be misleading making you think that you'll get fat by eating them; but it's not the case.

Also when you read the nutrition info on the label of foods, the label almost never includes the micronutrients, bioflavonoids, etc. giving the wrong impression that the food in question is only empty calories.
It is quite simple: Every person has a daily average of calories/kilojoules that they must consume in order to maintain their energy levels. This energy may come from fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

If one consumes less energy than they expend, they will lose weight.
If one consumes more energy than they expend, they will gain weight.

Regardless of which food group the energy comes from. Regardless of what sort of diet (vegetarian, vegan, ominvore, paleo) they prefer.

Now, of course, there are minimum daily consumption levels of some foods like proteins (for muscle repair/building), fiber (for correct gut functioning), fat (for brain function and blood vessel flexibility), minerals, vitamins, etc...

But ultimately there is no good or bad fat. There is a correct quantity of fat that must be consumed on a daily basis. There is a correct quantity of carbohydrates that must be consumed on a daily basis. Things go wrong when we over-consume one or the other (or both).
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
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CedarTree
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by CedarTree »

Grigoris wrote:
Sādhaka wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
My understanding is that good fats like coconut oil, olive oil, grass fed butter, ghee, avocado, etc. actually help you to manage weight.

The name "fat" in good fats can be misleading making you think that you'll get fat by eating them; but it's not the case.

Also when you read the nutrition info on the label of foods, the label almost never includes the micronutrients, bioflavonoids, etc. giving the wrong impression that the food in question is only empty calories.
It is quite simple: Every person has a daily average of calories/kilojoules that they must consume in order to maintain their energy levels. This energy may come from fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

If one consumes less energy than they expend, they will lose weight.
If one consumes more energy than they expend, they will gain weight.

Regardless of which food group the energy comes from. Regardless of what sort of diet (vegetarian, vegan, ominvore, paleo) they prefer.

Now, of course, there are minimum daily consumption levels of some foods like proteins (for muscle repair/building), fiber (for correct gut functioning), fat (for brain function and blood vessel flexibility), minerals, vitamins, etc...

But ultimately there is no good or bad fat. There is a correct quantity of fat that must be consumed on a daily basis. There is a correct quantity of carbohydrates that must be consumed on a daily basis. Things go wrong when we over-consume one or the other (or both).
Wisdom, make sure your macros and micro percentages are in check and eat healthy, natural, and if possible organic choices :) Done and done.

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shaunc
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by shaunc »

Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
You might find that cutting sugar from your diet will help you drop more weight than worrying about what type of oil you're using.
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Grigoris
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Grigoris »

shaunc wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
You might find that cutting sugar from your diet will help you drop more weight than worrying about what type of oil you're using.
And it'll help with the pre-diabetes.

Regular exercise is vital.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

shaunc wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
You might find that cutting sugar from your diet will help you drop more weight than worrying about what type of oil you're using.
Thank you for the suggestion. The only thing I have sugar in is my coffee. Fruit doesn't count, since it's a healthy food. You could eat thirty bananas a day and be better off for it.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

Grigoris wrote:
shaunc wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:Since I am watching my weight, I can't justify all the fat and empty calories in coconut oil. Next time, if I want to spread something on my toast, it will be with non-fat cream cheese. If I use coconut oil again, it will be a small amount to grease a frying pan for cooking.
You might find that cutting sugar from your diet will help you drop more weight than worrying about what type of oil you're using.
And it'll help with the pre-diabetes.
Someone who is diabetic or pre-diabetic needs to worry about both fat and sugar in their diet:
In humans, high-fat diets, independent of fatty acid profile, have been reported to result in decreased insulin sensitivity. Saturated fat, relative to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, appears to be more deleterious with respect to fat-induced insulin insensitivity.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10856515
Among individuals at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, structured programs that emphasize lifestyle changes that include moderate weight loss (7% of body weight) and regular physical activity (150 min/week), with dietary strategies including reduced calories and reduced intake of dietary fat, can reduce the risk for developing diabetes and are therefore recommended. A
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... ment_1/S14
The general public, including many diabetics, is unaware of the role that dietary fat plays in the development of diabetes.
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Grigoris
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Grigoris »

Cutting fats and drinking coca-cola is not going to help your pre-diabetes.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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justsit
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by justsit »

Dharma Flower wrote: The only thing I have sugar in is my coffee. Fruit doesn't count, since it's a healthy food. You could eat thirty bananas a day and be better off for it.
Not true. Fruit is carbohydrate, which is broken down in the body into simple sugars, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream. Thirty bananas will send your blood sugar through the roof.

Yes, it is healthier to get simple sugars from foods like fruit and milk, because they also contain vitamins, fiber, and important nutrients like calcium.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

The most promising thing I've read about coconut oil is that it helps to suppress hunger throughout the day. Has anyone tried this for suppressing appetite?
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

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Just adding humor to the discussion

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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

Admin_PC wrote:Just adding humor to the discussion

phpBB [video]
There are different explanations for the French paradox:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_pa ... planations
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

The French paradox might even be a misattribution:
Mortality from ischaemic heart disease in France is about a quarter of that in Britain, though the major risk factors are similar. On p 1471 Law and Wald consider various explanations, such as undercertification (which might account for 20% of the difference) and wine drinking (which they think accounts for very little). Instead they argue that consumption of animal fat and serum cholesterol concentrations rose only recently in France compared with decades ago in Britain and that a time lag accounts for the differences.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1115820/
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Grigoris
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Grigoris »

Dharma Flower wrote:The most promising thing I've read about coconut oil is that it helps to suppress hunger throughout the day. Has anyone tried this for suppressing appetite?
There is this excellent new fad method for suppressing hunger throughout the day that you just MUST try... It's called eating a nutritious breakfast full of complex carbohydrates, fruit and nuts (and yoghurt if you are not a vegan). It is quite amazing. I've found it works really well.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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CedarTree
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by CedarTree »

Every time I see this post it makes me want to use Coconut Oil on something Lol

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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

justsit wrote:Thirty bananas will send your blood sugar through the roof.
While I would never suggest that people should go on a fruit-only diet, the available evidence suggests that the average person would benefit from substantially increasing their fruit intake, due to vitamin and fiber deficiencies:
According to one Metabolism study, when participants ate 20 servings of fruit per day for two weeks, they experienced no adverse effects in their weight, blood pressure or triglyceride levels. They did, however, reduce their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 38 points.

Meanwhile, a 2013 Nutrition Journal study found that decreasing fruit intake had no benefit on the blood sugar levels, weights or waist circumferences of people with Type 2 diabetes.

“I don’t recommend people eat as much fruit as they want, as some weight-loss programs recommend,” White says. (For example, fruits are zero points in Weight Watchers, meaning dieters can eat all they want.) “But it’s incredibly rare for anyone to actually need to decrease their fruit intake. Most need to work on eating more, not less.”
http://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/ ... ke-you-fat
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Dharma Flower »

Does anyone here eat avocados? Are they a healthy source of dietary fat? I realize that they are high in fat content, but I've cut fat almost entirely from my diet.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by KristenM »

Dharma Flower wrote:Does anyone here eat avocados? Are they a healthy source of dietary fat? I realize that they are high in fat content, but I've cut fat almost entirely from my diet.
Yes, avocados are a favorite of mine. they are considered healthy, but they are rich and high in fat, which means they still need to be eaten in moderation.

I saw you mentioned eating something like 30 bananas or 30 servings of fruit a day. A banana is more than one serving of fruit. So, be careful about portion size as opposed to an actual fruit, etc.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Cianan »

Coconut oil has been shown on multiple occasions to treat health conditions ranging from obesity to Alzheimer's Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25997382/

Based on the research we have and what we know about its various compounds, calling it a source of empty calories is misguided. Part of what appears to make it so beneficial is that it mildly yields the benefits of ketosis by supplying the body with ketones through medium-chain fatty acids.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by lostitude »

Cianan wrote:Coconut oil has been shown on multiple occasions to treat health conditions ranging from obesity to Alzheimer's Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25997382/
I'd be cautious about this kind of studies that depict coconut (or any other food item) as one miracle food with only advantages for myriad diseases and no downside. It really seems quite biased to me.
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Re: Is Coconut Oil Overrated?

Post by Vasana »

I've recently been doing more research on diet and health and feel quite dejected that there are completely contradictory claims on just about every topic you can read about. There's so much misinformation and media spin hyperbole out there and even doctors have widely oppositional views on any given topic. It makes it difficult to discern fact from hypothesis. Even the plant-based and vegan advocates are found knowingly or unknowingly skewing information in the same ways they accuse other industries of doing so.

I came across this site earlier and it looks like a useful resource for learning how to critically assess the legitimacy behind any study or health claim. There are always so many other factors to consider when anyone hints at a definite causal relationship between anything.

https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/
To back up our goal of improving the public dialogue about health care interventions, we offer these tips for analyzing studies and health care claims and interventions, aimed at helping both journalists and consumers.

We also offer writing tips for health care journalists that touch upon some of these issues.

Absolute vs. relative risk
Animal & lab studies
Biohype bibliography
Be careful with composite endpoints/outcomes
Conflicts of interest in healthcare, academics, public relations and journalism
Phases of drug trials
Medical devices
FDA approval not guaranteed
Is the claim legit or just health fear-mongering?
How much will it cost?
Intention-to-treat analysis
NNT: number needed to treat
Non-inferiority trials
Observational studies: association vs causation
Odds ratios
“Off-label” drug use and marketing
News from scientific meetings
Small studies: Be vigilant when writing about them and skeptical when reading about them
Mixed messages about statistical significance
Subgroup analysis: 3 reasons to be suspicious
Surrogate markers may not tell the whole story
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis
The replication crisis (or replicability crisis) refers to a methodological crisis in science in which scientists have found that the results of many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to replicate on subsequent investigation, either by independent researchers or by the original researchers themselves.[1] While the crisis has long-standing roots, the phrase was coined in the early 2010s as part of a growing awareness of the problem.
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