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" The Healthy Geezer " answers doubt about wellness and aging in his weekly chromatography column .

head : I interpret on the internet thatcoconut oilis gravid for your cholesterol and has other health benefits . I thought coconut meat oil colour was very bad for you . What gives ?

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Coconut oil can be applied topically, or consumed.

Here ’s the advice of Dr. Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health , Department of Nutrition :

" I ’d use coconut oil sparingly . Most of the inquiry so far has comprise of short - full term studies to examine its effect oncholesterol levels . We do n’t really know how coconut oil affects centre disease . And I do n’t think coconut palm oil is as healthful as vegetable oils like olive rock oil and soybean oil , which are mainly unsaturated fat and therefore both low LDL [ low - compactness lipoprotein , or the " high-risk " cholesterol ] and increase HDL [ gamy - tightness lipoprotein , the " secure " cholesterin ] . Coconut oil ’s special HDL - boosting effect may make it " less bad " than the high saturated fat content would designate , but it ’s still probably not the just alternative among the many available crude oil to reduce the peril of heart disease . " [ Infographic : The 3 Types of Fats explain ]

Dr. Thomas Brenna , professor of nutritionary sciences at Cornell University , has done a thorough review of the lit on coconut oil . He explain why coconut crude oil was given a bad name .

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" Most of the survey involving coconut oil were done withpartially hydrogenate coconut palm oil , which research worker used because they needed to raise the cholesterin levels of their lapin in club to accumulate certain data . Virgin coconut oil , which has not been chemically treated , is a different thing in term of a wellness hazard perspective . And maybe it is n’t so high-risk for you after all . "

Most foods curb severaldifferent types of fat :

saturate fat

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Saturated fat is found mostly in food for thought from animals and some flora . Foods from beast include centre and dairy products . flora intellectual nourishment that contain saturated fat include coconut tree crude , ribbon petroleum and cocoa butter . pure fatness raises both the bad cholesterol and the goodcholesterol .

Unsaturated fat

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the two unsaturated fats . They ’re bump chiefly in many fish , nuts , seeds and crude from plants . Some examples of food for thought that contain these fat are Salmon River , trout , herring , aguacate , olives , walnut and fluent veggie oils such as soybean , corn , safflower , canola , olive and sunflower . study show that run through foods rich in unsaturated fatty tissue lower LDL ( bad ) cholesterin and call down HDL ( ripe ) cholesterin .

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Trans fat

Most trans fat is made by adding H to vegetable oil through a process foretell hydrogenation , which makes the petroleum less likely to cosset . Using trans avoirdupois in themanufacturing of foodshelps foods stay newly longer , have a longer shelf liveliness and have a less greasy feeling . Hydrogenation is common in margarin and shortening . Trans fat is a cholesterol incubus . Trans avoirdupois raise your LDL cholesterin and lowers your HDL cholesterol .

Why is coconut oil   fix internet tending and a lot of purchaser in wellness food memory ? As Dr. Willett point out , coconut oil seems specially effective in giving HDL a boost .

a close-up of fat cells under a microscope

There are several force creating this phenomenon . The coconut oil industry is working severely to win public favor . There are scientists who are bet on off from the damnation of coconut oil . And then there are vegans , who abstain from fauna product . Many vegans use coconut oil as a butter substitute . Coconut oil is solid at way temperature .

If you would like to ask a question , write tofred@healthygeezer.com .

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