Back in the 1930’s tropical oils were being widely used around the world. People
were happy and healthy using coconut oil for its many health benefits. For
almost 4000 years the news about coconut oil had been all good.
Coconut oil was then one of the leading and most consumed plant based vegetable oils. The American Soy Bean Association then decided to scuttle and destroy its reputation. For economic and political reasons, they set out to take over the market with their own hydrogenated and heavily processed vegetable oils and margarine. Sadly, at the great expense of our health, they succeeded.
In a very clever single swoop approach that tarnished the reputation of the good oils along with the bad - all saturated fats were labeled as bad.
The tests published at this time were done using hydrogenated coconut oils. These studies have no relevance to the non-hydrogenated coconut milk or virgin coconut oil that you eat today.
This scuttle is what has created the widespread misconception that coconut oil is bad for you, raises cholesterol levels and causes heart disease. Coconut oil was clumped in the ‘saturated fat is bad’ category, along side saturated animal fats.
Saturated fats in the form of animal fat do carry foreign cholesterol that tends to ‘clump’ together in the arteries, leading to raised cholesterol levels and heart disease. Coconut oil is a plant based, medium chain saturated fat that does not carry any foreign cholesterol. In fact it is the medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) of coconut oil that makes it so incredibly healthy.
Virgin coconut oil is now being rediscovered as the healthiest and most versatile oil on earth.
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