Coconut Diet: the facts from Schmeg.com

   

I read about a new diet called the "Coconut Diet". I investigated....

The coconut diet suggests replacing all fats in your diet with coconut oil. This, the theory goes, is meant to boost your metabolism because coconut oil is made up of medium chain triglycerides (rather than the long chain triglycerides of other fats), which burn more quickly in the body as well as improving the condition of your skin. Coconut oil has been consumed for thousands of years by people in the South Pacific and they are generally thin and have low rates of heart disease, so the proponents of the diet state.

The obvious problem with this diet is that coconut oil is very high in saturated fats and thus, according to conventional wisdom, should be avoided. The proponents of the diet counter this with their belief that it's the consumption of polyunsaturated oils, like those in regular vegetable oils, not saturated oils that is the real problem. Their studies concluded that these modern, supposedly "heart friendly" polyunsaturated oils actually contained an undesirable ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which readily contributes to health problems.

There have been no studies on the effectiveness of this diet and I haven't tried it myself. Your feelings on this diet would obviously depend on whether you buy the argument that saturated fats are actually better for you than polyunsaturated fats.

I am not sold on the benefits of coconut oil and find it's "science" of dubious quality and the idea of ingesting large amounts of saturated fats quite unappealing

Related Articles: Noni Jucie Benefits, Mangosteen Juice, Dieting Basics, Fish and Good Health, Topical Coq10 Gums, Home DNA Test, 1918 Flu Outbreak, Sonoma Diet Review, Back Pain and Rib Cage Pain, Yoga Workouts Explained, Hoodia,