Coconut oil is ‘pure poison’, says professor
Sales are surging but the Kardashians’ ‘clean eating’ fad can send your cholesterol levels soaring
COCONUT oil, championed by clean eating advocates as a healthy alternative to butter, is “pure poison” that increases cholesterol, a Harvard professor has said.
Dr Karin Michels, an epidemiology specialist from the US institution’s school of public health, claimed the ingredient was “one of the worst foods you can eat”.
Sales of coconut oil have surged in the UK, with £23.5million spent on the trendy product in the last 12 months, up 454 per cent on five years ago, according to consumer analysts Kantar.
Celebrity endorsements helped fuel its popularity, with stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and the Kardashian sisters enthusing about coconut oil as both a dietary supplement and beauty product.
Its reputation as a superfood stems from claims it contains a “good” kind of saturated fat, which some believe boosts good cholesterol. But in her recent lecture, Coconut Oil and Other Nutritional Errors at the University of Freiburg in Germany, she said even lard was healthier.
Her scathing remarks were followed by a series of warnings from British health organisations about the fad’s damaging potential.
Heart UK, a charity that supports people with cholesterol issues, said callers to its hotline with unusually high cholesterol levels were often found to have recently introduced coconut oil to their diet. Companies that make the product were blamed for popularising the idea that it comes loaded with nutritional goodness.
Linda Main, Heart UK’S dietetic adviser, said: “Consumers are being led to believe that coconut oil is good for us.
“We talk about it being an oil but if you go into any shop in the UK and look, it is solid, it is saturated.
“I think it is just a very good marketing campaign by importers and producers of coconut oil. I don’t honestly know how it has got to this sort of stage.
“Having talked to one celebrity chef, he was approached by an importer of coconut oil and encouraged to use it in his recipes.”
Evidence indicates that the oil can help boost high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which clears the arteries of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), often known as “bad” cholesterol. But the high saturated fat levels – one-third higher than butter at approximately 86 per cent – means it also drives up LDL cholesterol, which increases coronary heart disease and stroke risk.
“This completely throws out the benefits of the effects on HDL,” Ms Main said. The British Heart Foundation agreed there was “not enough good-quality research” supporting any claim that coconut oil was superior to other saturated fats.
Unsaturated fats, such as vegetable oil, olive oil and sunflower oil and their equivalent spreads, were said to be a more effective way to lower cholesterol levels.
Victoria Taylor, the charity’s senior dietitian, said: “For the time being, if you like the taste of coconut oil, then, as with butter, it’s fine to use it every now and then. However, it’s best to restrict yourself to small amounts and use unsaturated oils as an everyday choice instead.”