Is coconut oil a miracle and cure?

How much wonder is really in coconut oil?

Just a few years ago, coconut oil was only good enough to be heated as a tasteless slab fat in the pan or deep fryer. In addition, there were still coconut flakes for the domestic bakery and coconut milk, which was occasionally used for Asian dishes. Today coconut water, chips, flour, coconut, coconut blossom syrup, sugar and coconut blossom vinegar are available. One or the other also in organic quality. Available in well-stocked retail stores, drugstores and of course in online stores. Extra virgin coconut oil - abbreviated to VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil) - is in high demand. Some food blogs even put it in the Olympus Superfoods and give it all-round protective functions.

Coconut oil is very versatile and is also used in nail therapy for the treatment of nail fungus. (Image: xuanhuongho / fotolia.com)

First: Native coconut oil is nutritionally higher in quality than the fat intended for frying / frying. But coconut oil contains more than 80 percent saturated fat, so just those fatty acids, which should be avoided according to official dietary recommendations. They are suspected of raising cholesterol and harming the heart and blood vessels. Cardiological guidelines therefore recommend consuming less than ten percent of the absorbed energy from saturated fats, preferring unsaturated fats from vegetable oils instead.

However, coconut oil also contains medium-chain fatty acids, so-called MCT (medium chain triglycerides), mainly lauric acid. About 45 percent to 50 percent can be included. In contrast to the predominantly occurring in the diet long-chain fatty acids, they are easier digested. The body can digest them without bile acids and lipid-splitting enzymes. It is thought to increase the concentration of blood vessel protective HDL cholesterol. However, whether lauric acid only increases the desired HDL cholesterol or the less favorable LDL cholesterol has not yet been conclusively clarified. However, this significantly influences the risk of heart attack. For regular use in the kitchen, high-quality vegetable oils such as olive, canola and walnut oil are still the better alternative. They reduce the risk of heart attacks by their high content of unsaturated fatty acids and provide the body with essential fatty acids.

However, there is nothing against the occasional use of coconut oil in the kitchen, for example for the preparation of delicious exotic food.Rüdiger Lobitz, www.bzfe.de