You may be confused about coconut oil for cholesterol and its benefits. You probably read that a heart-healthy diet that aims to lower your cholesterol should be low in saturated fats. Your doctor told you that coconut oil is saturated fat.
So common sense would say that you should avoid coconut oil if you want a healthy heart. Right!?
Let’s see what evidence shows about coconut oil and cholesterol.
What is Coconut Oil?
Coconut oil is extracted from the heart or kernel of a coconut and comes from a coconut palm. It provides fat in the diet of millions of people and is used in various recipes and has applications in medicine and industry
Coconut Oil and Cholesterol – The Health Connection
If your doctor told you that you have high cholesterol, government guidelines recommend that you eat a diet low in saturated fats to lower your cholesterol. And coconut oil is saturated fat.
Saturated fats come from animal sources such as meats and full-fat dairy products such as cheese and milk. However, saturated fats can also come from certain plant oils such as palm oil, cocoa butter, and coconut oil.
Coconut oil is unusual for a plant oil because researchers have found that it contains heart-healthy polyphenols and medium-chain fats.
Understanding Coconut Oil and Cholesterol Profile Changes
Your body accumulates cholesterol in two ways: you acquire it from your diet and your liver manufactures cholesterol. Your body benefits from the presence of a certain amount of cholesterol. It is used to make vitamins, hormones, and digestive enzymes, and it is an important component of your cell membranes.
You can run into health problems if you have too much cholesterol or you’re LDL “bad” cholesterol is high and HDL “good” cholesterol is low. Your diet plays a big role in shaping your total cholesterol profile.
LDL cholesterol contributes to heart disease because it carries fats into your bloodstream where they can accumulate or cause plaque on the inner surface of your arteries.
HDL cholesterol works oppositely. It carries fats away from the arteries and back to the liver to be broken down. Your doctor wants your cholesterol profile to show high levels of HDL cholesterol and low levels of LDL cholesterol.
Researchers finally have found the connection between coconut oil and cholesterol profile changes to be a positive relationship.
Chemicals in Coconut Oil and Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits
Most researchers agree that saturated fats are bad for cardiovascular health. They also agree that boosting HDL cholesterol and lowering LDL cholesterol is beneficial to heart health. Coconut oil is unusual because it is a saturated fat that raises HDL and lowers LDL.
The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil can increase your body’s ability to burn fat. Your cholesterol profile shifts because of this benefit. When you consume coconut oil, your body creates more HDL and less LDL. You improve your overall cholesterol profile.
You are also getting polyphenols from coconut oil and cholesterol oxidation is prevented by the polyphenol content. Your body is at a lower risk of developing atherosclerosis when cholesterol oxidation is prevented. Atherosclerosis is the accumulation of plaque in the arteries and is a major contributing factor in heart disease.
You can also improve your cholesterol profile and lower your total cholesterol level through simple lifestyle changes.
Find out other cholesterol foods apart from coconut oil and cholesterol
And remember to check out the homepage of All About Lowering Cholesterol to find out 5 important facts about cholesterol.
