Is coconut oil healthy?

If your social media feed is filled with food and recipes, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered someone cooking with coconut oil. Often used as a fat in baked goods or as a substitute for butter in cooking, many social media users promote coconut oil as a healthier alternative to seed oils (which have been inaccurately labeled as ‘poisonous‘) or animal fats. Some even claim that eating straight coconut oil every day can help you lose weight.

But if you look at the nutritional content of coconut oil, you might get confused about its reputation as a health food. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, and eating a diet high in saturated fat which can raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

“That’s one of the most misunderstood foods. It is not a good-for-you fat,” says registered dietitian and NYU professor of nutrition Lisa Young. “Typically it’s about 90% saturated fat—that’s high.”

Is coconut oil healthy?

The evidence on coconut oil reflects that it’s not the healthiest fat you could choose. One study indicated that coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol less than butter, but researchers still suggested swapping butter for unsaturated fats like olive and canola oil.

Some people on social media have encouraged eating spoonfuls of coconut oil claiming that it helps you burn fat and lose weight, but Young asserts that the research behind that has been misinterpreted. Studies have indicated that medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), found in coconut oil, could lead to weight loss; however, the research does not support coconut oil’s role in burning fat, Young says, as those studies looked at pure MCTs, not coconut oil itself.

If you enjoy coconut oil for its flavor—like Young, who is a self-proclaimed coconut-lover—consider the high saturated fat content. As with any food high in saturated fat, like butter or red meat, coconut oil is best eaten in moderation, Young says.

“If you want to have it in moderation, that’s fine,” she says. “Nothing is wrong with a small portion, but you’ve got to stick with the moderation.”

The American Heart Association advises that people eat no more than 13 grams of saturated fat per day, or get less than 6% of their daily calories from saturated fat sources (the AHA lists coconut as one of these sources). For someone eating 2,000 calories, that’s 120 calories from saturated fat or less.

There are certain people who Young advises to avoid coconut oil: those who have a diet higher in saturated fat, and those who have—or have a family history of—high cholesterol, diabetes, or heart disease.

“If heart health is an issue for you, you should switch to something like olive oil immediately,” she says.

For more on heart health and diet: