Is Coconut Oil Good For Your Heart? A new study finds

Previously, American Heart Association has advised against the use of coconut oil, stating that, it can increase LDL cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. Due to too much saturated fat in the diet is unhealthy as it raises “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease.

Now, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge have recently discovered eating coconut oil on a regular basis can reduce your chances of suffering a heart attack.

Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat, which is higher than butter. Yet, there is something very interesting about coconut oil. It gives “good” HDL cholesterol a boost. This may be due to its high content of a fatty acid known as lauric acid.

In BBC2 series of Trust Me I’m a Doctor, Professor Kay-Tee Khaw and Professor Nita Forouhi recruited 94 volunteers between the ages of 50 and 75, none of whom had a history of heart disease or diabetes.

They made three group of participants and asked to consume 50 gram of ither coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter every day for four weeks.

When result compared to see how eating these fats regularly would affect the volunteers’ cholesterol levels, scientists are suprised.

Participants who taken butter, saw an average rise of 10 per cent in their levels of LDL cholesterol, widely-known as the “bad cholesterol”, and those taken olive oil saw a slight reduction in LDL levels and a 5 per cent rise in HDL cholesterol levels, which is often referred to as the “good cholesterol” because it boasts protective properties.

Others, those who taken coconut oil saw the biggest rise in HDL levels with an average of 15 per cent, leading researchers to believe that the supposed superfood could be a little bit super after all as it may lower one’s chances of developing heart disease or stroke.

While the results are promising, Khaw was quick to stress that the study was only short-term that changing one’s dietary habits based on their findings would be “irresponsible”.