The coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera, produces large fruits containing thick, white flesh. This flesh is the source of coconut oil, also called palm oil. Popular for skin and hair care, the oil also has culinary uses. Because of the low rates of heart disease among people in the Polynesian islands, where coconut oil is a common food, the oil has gained a reputation for promoting health.
Fats
Coconut oil is pure fat, containing no protein or carbohydrates. A 100 g serving of coconut oil contains over 86 g of saturated fat, according to the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory. Of the remaining fat, 5.8 g is monounsaturated fat and 1.8 g is polyunsaturated fat. Among the saturated fats in coconut oil are lauric acid and stearic acid. These act differently than most saturated fats and may have health benefits.
Vitamins and Minerals
Only small amounts of vitamins and minerals are present in coconut oil. Choline is one of the most abundant nutrients in this oil, with 100 g of oil providing 0.3 mg of choline. The same serving size contains 0.09 mg vitamin E and 0.5 mcg vitamin K. Both these vitamins are important for cardiovascular health. The only significant mineral in coconut oil is iron, found at a rate of 0.04 mg per 100 g of oil.
Types of Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is available in unrefined and refined forms. Commercially available refined coconut oils may have been bleached and deodorized and may contain chemicals used in this process, warns Certified Nutritional Counselor Brian Shilhavy at the NaturoDoc website. Similarly, hydrogenated coconut oils contain trans-fatty acids that can raise cholesterol levels. If you want to include coconut oil in your diet, opt for an unrefined, unaltered version such as virgin coconut oil, Shilhavy recommends.
Health Benefits
Butter and some meats contain palmitic acid and myristic acids, saturated fats that have been known to raise risk of cardiovascular disease. The saturated fats in coconut oil, however, appear not to raise this risk, notes David L. Katz, MD, at the Oprah website. Even so, coconut oil isn't an appropriate substitute for oils with proven benefits, like olive, flax and fish oil. The oil has shown some potential benefits, though. Women who consumed 30 ml coconut oil daily for 12 weeks saw a reduction in abdominal fat, found a study published in the journal "Lipids" in July 2009.
Dosage
No established therapeutic dosage exists for coconut oil, but the traditional diet of Pacific Islanders appears to provide at least 1 tbsp. of this oil daily, according to experts from the University of Michigan. Between 3 to 4 tbsp. daily is an acceptable dosage, suggests Brian Shilhavy. If you supplement your diet with coconut oil, have your cholesterol levels checked regularly to monitor for potential cardiovascular problems.
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