You might have heard of this little thing called coconut oil. On the IG blogosphere the product is praised left and right, and superfoodies can’t get enough of this solid fat.
But just a few days ago the Harvard professor Karen Michels, slammed this often praised superfood– something often done by other institutes, but has only now gone viral.
Saturated vs Unsaturated
So, to give a small explanation, saturated fat has the consequence of heightening your cholesterol levels when consumed, while unsaturated fats simply don’t.
Research has shown that people do indeed need both fats, although more of the unsaturated kind than the saturated. The latter should in fact only take up 5 to 6 percent of your daily caloric intake.
But what about coconut oil?
Unfortunately, this seemingly chunk of hunk is actually the biggest bad boy on the block. It belongs to the saturated camp and is unhealthy in big amounts (like most things). If you consume large batches of these saturated fatty acids it may lead to your coronary arteries clogging up.
There’s still loads of people out of there however, who swear by this product. But after looking at most of them, they’re often based on opinions and unfounded evidence– not really scientifically backed, is it?
Best oil to cook with?
Well, the healthiest oil out there is still olive oil, used daily by the people of Sardinia in Italy. They must know their stuff as they are part of the 5 Blue Zones, which are the places where people live the longest and healthiest in comparison to the rest of us on this big globe.
Apparently, olive oil– and especially extra virgin olive oil which contains high amount of antioxidants and vitamin E, have been subjected to many tests using high temperatures. Unlike many other oils, such as sunflower oil, that oxidises and forms harmful components when cooked for a long time, extra virgin olive oil hardly does.
Psst! It’s been shown that it reduces heart diseases and developing type 2 Diabetes!
So, just to keep it on the safe side, stick to olive oil when cooking. Incase you’ve already invested some serious cash into jars of coconut oil, refer to our article on oil pulling here.
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