You may have heard the American Heart Association’s report on how coconut oil is not healthy and never has been.
Mind you, this is the same organization that labeled Cocoa Puffs heart healthy.
The AHA also demonized fats in the 1970’s, including avocados and flaxseed, helping to push more processed food loaded with sugar and refined carbs into the American diet.
In a recent USA Today article, it claims that coconut oil, which is high in saturated fat, is dangerous to cardiovascular health.
Maybe because the AHA receives millions of dollars from large pharmaceutical companies, it has decided to ignore the overwhelming research from the last ten years showing there is no link between saturated fat and heart disease.
The AHA argues coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol, the “bad cholesterol” and should not be consumed.
But diagnosing someone with a high LDL level is only looking at part of the story.
LDL is actually broken down into two parts, large particles, which are good for you and small particles that are linked to health problems.
So your overall number doesn’t necessarily predict your heart health.
In fact, inflammation from sugar and refined carbs plays a much bigger role in deteriorating heart health than saturated fat.
Coconut oil actually reduces inflammation, improves digestion and brain function.
I almost fell off my chair when the author of the AHA research recommended using vegetable oil instead!
So now highly-processed, industrial vegetable oil like corn and soybean oil are healthy but unrefined coconut oil that was eaten by our ancestors is not?
For an organization built to protect people from heart disease, it spends a lot of time promoting foods that do the opposite.
In short, this was headline grabbing research that is out-dated and won’t help anyone get healthier.
Do your health a favor, continue to enjoy the benefits of saturated fat from organic butter, egg yolks and coconut oil.