Does Coconut Oil Clog Arteries?

Even if the science isn't there, why at least not try treating Alzheimer's with coconut oil? Well, unlike other natural remedies like the spice saffron which was able to beat out placebo and seemed to work as well as the leading drug without the side effects, coconut oil is one of the rare plant sources of saturated fat normally only found in animals which tends to increase LDL or bad cholesterol, the number one risk factor for our number one killer: heart disease.

You want to try coconut oil on someone with Alzheimer's for a few days to see if it makes a difference? Fine! I'd try almost anything, but if as expected you don't see any improvement, I'd be hesitant to keep anyone on it long term.

Now, those selling coconut oil say one needn't worry because coconut oil contains a saturated fat that doesn't raise cholesterol. You hear the same thing from the beef people. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is always going on about how beef contains a saturated fat called stearic acid, unlike those evil saturated fats: palmitic, myristic and lauric acids which do increase blood cholesterol levels, stearic acid has been shown to have a neutral effect on blood cholesterol.

Now, see that's true, and beef does contain stearic acid, but guess what? It has twice as much of the palmitic and myristic. Which they just admitted does raise cholesterol. It's like Coca Cola saying they know for a fact that soda doesn't make you gain weight because Coke contains water, and water has a neutral effect on weight gain. Yea, but that's not the only thing in it. And the same thing with beef, and the same thing with coconut oil.

Years ago I profiled this study that found that cholesterol levels were significantly lowered during a coconut oil diet, but only when compared to a butter diet. You know you've got a problem when the only way you can make your product look good is to compare it to diets rich in butter. Yes, it made bad cholesterol go up, but not as bad as butter, but how much is that really saying? Now that was all the science we had for ten years, but four new studies have recently come out: a population study and three clinical studies. The population was of Filipino women, and although those that ate the most coconut oil had the worst levels of bad cholesterol, those that ate the most coconut oil were also more over weight which alone can raise your cholesterol.

When the fact that the coconut oil eaters were eating more calories were more over weight when that was kind of factored out, the rise in cholesterol lost statistical significance. To really control for factors, though, you've gotta put it to the test. The first clinical trial involved giving people two tablespoons of coconut oil a day for three months, and their bad cholesterol went up a bit, but not significantly. During this time, though, they were all forced to lose weight by being placed on a calorie restricted diet. When you lose weight, your LDL should drop naturally. The fact that it didn't on the coconut oil, suggests an adverse effect.

The most encouraging study was this one: An open-label (meaning not blinded, no control group) pilot study in which two tablespoons of coconut oil a day for a month added to their regular diet did not worsen their cholesterol; though when tested in a better designed study (randomized, cross-over trial), coconut oil did significantly worsen bad cholesterol.

Hence the recommendation from Harvard "If you're going to use it, use it sparingly". Now look, if you're eating so healthy that your LDL cholesterol is under 60 or 70, then it may not be a problem. Unlike saturated animal fats, coconut oil doesn't cause that spike in inflammation immediately after consumption of animal foods which makes sense because, as you'll remember, maybe the dead bacterial endotoxins in animal products ferried into the body by saturated fat that are to blame.

In this study, for example, they compared the effects of chocolate cake made out of coconut oil, flax seed oil or cod liver oil on the effects on inflammatory markers not much change in the inflammatory gene expression for the coconut or flax cakes, but cod liver oil cake may indeed be worse.