Coconut Oil (Virgin)

Coconut Oil Main

What is Coconut Oil?

Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of mature coconuts.  There are 2 main types of coconut oil: virgin and refined (or RBD).  Virgin coconut oil is less refined and what we recommend for smoothies.  Refined coconut oil strips away some of the nutrients and antioxidants and has a higher level of tolerance to heat.  So refined coconut oil is better when cooking, but for smoothies – we can stick with the virgin coconut oil.

Nutrition Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is high in saturated fats.  New research has shown that not all fats are created equal.  There are a few different types of fats, including short chain, medium chain, and long chain.  Long chain fats can be broken into 2 categories – saturated and unsaturated where the unsaturated long chain fats can be either omega-3 or omega-6 fats.

Coconut oil is very high in medium chain fatty acids (~60%).  The other ~40% is long chain fatty acids (most of which is saturated).  Medium chain fatty acids are used for energy by the liver and are not stored in your body.

Some research has linked to reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) and increasing HDL (good cholesterol) as well as linked to immune system support, antibacterial/anti-fungal properties, hormone support for thyroid and blood-sugar, and brain health.  This is why we add coconut oil to a few of our recipes.

Nutrition Facts

Always discuss
with your doctor

This information is not meant to replace your doctor, but to work in tandem with your doctor’s advice. This website makes it easy for you and your doctor to select the best foods and the best smoothie recipes that you should be eating.

My Nutrition Advisor does not diagnose, cure, or treat disease.

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Recipe

Coconut Oil (Virgin) scores well for 9 health goals

This ingredient was scored for various health goals Learn more.

The Research

Fat Loss: Score 96

Summary:

Human: Coconut oil elevated HDL (good cholesterol) and reduces abdominal obesity. It is safe and effective in reducing visceral fat in obese men. Animal: Coconut oil increases conjugated linoleic acid induced body fat loss.

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Animal Studies:

Alzheimers: Score 96

Summary:

Higher intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids, monunsatured fatty acids and fish oil is associated with better memory and cognitive function. They reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Medium Chain Triglycerides from coconut increase cognitive performance in Alzheimer’s disease.

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Lab Studies:

Brain: Score 94

Summary:

Increases cognitive performance in Alzheimer’s.

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Human Studies:

Breast Cancer: Score 90

Summary:

Human: Coconut Oil reduced the side effects of chemotherapy and helped improve the functional status and the quality of life of breast cancer patients.

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Cancer: Score 90

Summary:

Human: Coconut oil reduced the side effects of chemotherapy and helped improve the functional status and the quality of life of breast cancer patients

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Human Studies:

Circulatory System (Cardiovascular): Score 88

Summary:

Coconut Oil has beneficial properties for cardiovascular health.

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Animal Studies:

Erectile Dysfunction: Score 88

Summary:

Coconut Oil has beneficial properties for cardiovascular health.

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Blood Pressure: Score 86

Summary:

Has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system

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Candida (Fungal Infections): Score 82

Summary:

In Vitro: It has antimicrobial activity on Candida.

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Lab Studies:

How Our Scoring System Works

For each health goal, we assigned a score to each recipe and each ingredient. This helps you better understand the correlation that medical research is suggesting between foods and benefits to various health goals. Our scoring system is based on REAL RESEARCH published on pubmed.gov. This is a website that curates over 25 million different biomedical journals.

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What we consider when creating your scores:

  • 1Type of Study (human, animal, lab, or academic review)
  • 2Amount of Research
  • 3What the Research Says
  • 4How much of the ingredient we use (for the recipes)
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