Coconut oil is as unhealthy as beef dripping and butter, say US heart experts.
It is packed with saturated fat which can raise "bad" cholesterol, says the American Heart Association in updated advice.
Coconut oil is commonly sold as a health food and some claim the fat in it may be better for us than other saturated fats.
The AHA, however, says there are no good studies to support this.
Healthy myth?
The advice around which fats to eat can be very confusing.
Animal
fats, such as lard, are generally seen as bad, while plant oils, such
as olive and sunflower, are seen as healthier options.
That theory is based on how much of one particular type of fat - saturated fat or "sat fat" - these products contain.
Sat fat
Saturated fat is said to be bad for our health, although not everyone agrees.
Eating a diet high in saturated fat can raise the
level of "bad" (LDL) cholesterol in the blood, which, in turn, may clog
the arteries and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
According
to the AHA, 82% of the fat in coconut oil is saturated. That's more
than in butter (63%), beef fat (50%) and pork lard (39%). And, like
other saturated fats, studies show it can increase "bad" cholesterol.
Some
claim that the mixture of fats in coconut oil still make it a healthy
option, but the AHA says there is no good-quality evidence for this.
It
says people should limit how much saturated fat they eat, replacing
some of it with unsaturated vegetable oils - olive oil and sunflower
oil, and their spreads.
Healthy swaps
According
to the AHA, studies show swaps such as this can lower cholesterol by
the same magnitude as cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Dr Frank Sacks,
lead author of the AHA advice, said: "We want to set the record
straight on why well-conducted scientific research overwhelmingly
supports limiting saturated fat in the diet to prevent diseases of the
heart and blood vessels."
In the UK, Public Health England advises people to cut down on saturated fat:
- the average man should eat no more than 30g of saturated fat a day
- the average woman should eat no more than 20g of saturated fat a day
Nutritional labels on food display how much saturated fat is in products.
But
experts stress that fat is still an essential part of a healthy,
balanced diet. We shouldn't cut out too much. Fat is a source of
essential fatty acids and helps the body absorb vitamins, such as A, D
and E.
Victoria Taylor from the British Heart Foundation said: "To
eat well for your heart health it is not just about reducing fat but
reducing specific types of fat and taking care over what these are
replaced with - unsaturated fats and wholegrains, rather than sugars and
refined carbohydrates.
"Any change should be viewed in the
context of a whole diet approach. The traditional Mediterranean diet has
benefits for a range of risk factors for heart disease, not just
cholesterol levels.
"We recommend replacing the saturated fats in
the diet with unsaturated fats - using oils instead of butter and
choosing foods like avocado, oily fish, nuts and seeds instead of foods
high in saturated fats like cakes, biscuits, chocolate and fatty meat."
Low fat tips
- Grill, bake, poach or steam food rather than deep frying or roasting
- Trim visible fat and take skin off meat before cooking
- Spoon off fats and oils from roasts, casseroles, stews and curries
- When making sandwiches, try leaving out the butter or spread: you might not need it if you're using a moist filling
Good fat vs bad fat
- Cholesterol is a fatty substance that can be found in some foods
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is said to be 'bad' because it can be deposited in the walls of arteries and cause hard plaques to build up that can cause blockages, resulting in heart attacks and stroke
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is 'good' because it carries LDL cholesterol to your liver where it is disposed of. A high ratio of good to bad cholesterol is healthiest
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