Healthy fat?

[Back2zero]

Hi everyone! Was wondering what's your take on coconut oil? My trainer swears by its organic version but I'm not too familiar with the oil to begin with.

[Ms. Highside]

I've heard nothing but good things about coconut oil. I have a jar in my fridge right now. I love the taste of it, and it works well at high tempretures.... even though all oils are healthier for you without added heat.

There's lot of claims about pro-biotic types of healing powers of coconut oil A google search will come up with some amazing information about it. I don't personally know how much of it to believe, but I've never heard anything bad about it.

[txssweetie]

I love coconut! :) What are some ways to use this oil, like which foods? I'm interested in buying some.

[Ms. Highside]

Use it like you would use butter. Melt it over veggies. Cook your eggs in it. Eat it out of the jar (wierd, but i like it that way). Stir fry veggies with it.

I hear that it's good in coffee and shakes... but I haven't tried it. I would assume that it would solidify in a shake because it's solid under about 70 degrees.

My house is too warm, so I keep mine in the fridge to keep it solid. I prefer it that way, but it does not have to be refrigerated.

[Emma-Leigh]

Hi everyone! Was wondering what's your take on coconut oil? My trainer swears by its organic version but I'm not too familiar with the oil to begin with.
I stay clear of it.

A lot of people like it because of the MCT content - thinking that it will 'boost their metabolism and burn fat'... But the claims are really very much exagerrated. Sure, in the first 2-3 weeks of a lower carb diet MCT can help - they are processed slightly differently in the liver and thus aid in calorie burning. However, after 2-3 weeks your liver adjusts and the benefits are no longer seen....

After this point, it just becomes a fat source that is high in saturated fats...

Personally, you are much better off sticking to your fish oils as a fat supplement (6-10g a day) and then getting the rest of your fats from real foods (olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, fatty fish... etc).

[wildriver7]

Emma-Leigh, I've studied Coconut Oil quite a bit and am very happy with the way it has helped my diet and my health. Can you provide a link to substantiate what you are saying? The part where you say "after 2-3 weeks your liver *adjusts* and the benefits are no longer seen"? A link to a research paper or report would be helpful. Thanks


I stay clear of it.

A lot of people like it because of the MCT content - thinking that it will 'boost their metabolism and burn fat'... But the claims are really very much exagerrated. Sure, in the first 2-3 weeks of a lower carb diet MCT can help - they are processed slightly differently in the liver and thus aid in calorie burning. However, after 2-3 weeks your liver adjusts and the benefits are no longer seen....

After this point, it just becomes a fat source that is high in saturated fats...

Personally, you are much better off sticking to your fish oils as a fat supplement (6-10g a day) and then getting the rest of your fats from real foods (olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, fatty fish... etc).

[Emma-Leigh]

Emma-Leigh, I've studied Coconut Oil quite a bit and am very happy with the way it has helped my diet and my health. Can you provide a link to substantiate what you are saying? The part where you say "after 2-3 weeks your liver *adjusts* and the benefits are no longer seen"? A link to a research paper or report would be helpful. Thanks

Sure - here are a few:
Value of VLCD supplementation with medium chain triglycerides (http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v25/n9/abs/0801682a.html;jsessionid=CAEF5A7915F6E340907D70330 1366227) - M Krotkiewski

BACKGROUND: Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) are energetically less dense, highly ketogenic, and more easily oxidised than long chain triglycerides (LCT). MCT also differ from LCT in their digestive and metabolic pathways.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of MCT supplementation during a very low calorie diet (VLCD).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three groups of tightly matched obese women with body mass index (BMI)>30 kg/m2 received an isoenergetic (578.5 kcal) VLCD (AdinaxÒ, Novo Vital, Sweden) enriched with MCT or LCT (8.0 and 9.9 g/100 g AdinaxÒ respectively) or a low-fat (3 g/100 g) and high-carbohydrate regimen. The diets were administered over 4 weeks. Body composition was measured with DEXA and appetite/satiety-according to Blundell. Beta hydroxybutyric acid concentration in plasma and nitrogen excretion in urine was measured during consecutive days of VLCD. The study was performed in a randomised double-blind manner.

RESULTS: The MCT group showed a significantly greater decrease in body weight during the first 2 weeks. The contribution of body fat to the total weight loss was higher while the contribution of fat-free mass (FFM) was lower. The MCT group had a higher concentration of ketone bodies in plasma and a lower nitrogen excretion in urine. Hunger feelings were less intense while satiety was higher. These differences were observed during the first 2 weeks of treatment and gradually declined during the third and fourth weeks.

CONCLUSIONS: Replacement of LCT by MCT in the VLCD increased the rate of decrease of body fat and body weight and has a sparing effect on FFM. The intensity of hunger feelings was lower and paralleled the higher increase of ketone bodies. These effects gradually declined, indicating subsequent metabolic adaptation. Further studies are required to confirm the protein-sparing and appetite-suppressing effects of MCT supplementation during the first 2 weeks of VLCD treatment.

International Journal of Obesity (2001) 25, 1393-1400


Enhanced postprandial energy expenditure with medium-chain fatty acid feeding is attenuated after 14 d in premenopausal women (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/5/883?ijkey=2c198f290deae9db9c02726b7a4dbaa6dbf0ef2d&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha)- Matthew D White, Andrea A Papamandjaris and Peter JH Jones

Background: Medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) are reported to enhance human energy expenditure (EE), although few studies have involved women and the duration of such effects is only known for periods of 7 d.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine whether women consuming mixed, MCT-enriched or long-chain triacylglycerol (LCT)–enriched diets showed changes in EE or substrate oxidation after 7 and 14 d.

Design: Twelve nonobese, premenopausal women were fed isoenergetic mixed diets enriched in either MCTs or LCTs during separate, 14-d feeding periods. Each meal contained 40% of energy as fat (80% of which was the treatment fat), 45% as carbohydrate, and 15% as protein. On days 7 and 14 of each trial, basal metabolic rate (BMR, kJ/min), total energy expenditure (TEE, kJ/min), and thermic effect of feeding (kJ/min) after a standardized breakfast were measured by respiratory gas exchange.

Results: On day 7, the mean (±SEM) BMR (3.58 ± 0.11 kJ/min) with the MCT diet was greater (P = 0.0003) than that with the LCT diet (3.43 ± 0.11 kJ/min). The mean postprandial TEE on day 7 was significantly greater (P = 0.04) with the MCT diet (4.36 ± 0.04 kJ/min) than with the LCT diet (4.23 ± 0.04 kJ/min); by day 14, postprandial TEE was still greater with the MCT diet, but not significantly so. No significant differences in the thermic effect of feeding were evident between diets.

Conclusions: Results from this longest controlled MCT feeding study to date suggest that short-term feeding of MCT-enriched diets increases TEE, but this effect could be transient with continued feeding.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 69, No. 5, 883-889, May 1999