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Jennifer Aniston uses it and the England rugby squad swear by its metabolism-boosting qualities. Coconut oil is being touted as the health food of 2008 - but is this just more 'superfood' hype?
When Aniston was spotted with a shopping trolley full of coconut oil, the manufacturers of this little-used fat must have jumped for joy.
Coconut oil has had a bad press because of its high saturated-fat content, but devotees claim it is misunderstood. It is heart-healthy and fantastic for weight loss, they say, because it speeds up the metabolism. It is also cholesterol-free and, according to some of the wilder proponents, can cure anything from candida to cancer.
The coconut is being touted as the health food of 2008, but a closer look at the science behind the claims highlights the hyperbole that is rife in the 'superfoods' industry. Can the answer to all modern ills really be found up a palm tree?
At first glance, the so-called 'fat that makes you thin' argument looks distinctly suspect. Like butter, coconut oil is extremely high in saturated fat. However, it differs from fats such as butter because it contains a lot of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). "(These are) absorbed directly by the liver so they burn very much like carbohydrate," says Lovell. "This means they provide instant energy and are suitable for endurance-based events." Other fats, such as butter, contain long-chain fatty acids, which are deposited in fat cells and burn off more slowly.
Even though coconut oil is calorie-dense (about nine calories a gram), coconut enthusiasts maintain that because of the MCTs, the body burns off these calories far more quickly than it would calories from other fat sources. One 2003 study published in Obesity Research seemed to confirm this when it found that coconut oil could help overweight men to burn more calories and lose weight.
"This is interesting research," says Dr Toni Steer, nutrition scientist with the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research Unit in Cambridge. "But the study was of a small group over a short period of time so the results are not highly significant. If coconut oil has any effect, it possibly raises metabolic rate very temporarily and very marginally."
She is less convinced by the calorie claims. "Like any fat, it is calorie-dense. If you thought all you had to do was glug coconut oil and your excess kilos would melt away, you'd need to think again."
And, when it comes to the health-giving qualiities, the evidence is even sketchier. Many proponents claim that it can fight heart disease because it has antibacterial properties. There is, says the British Heart Foundation, no evidence for this. "We have yet to find conclusive evidence of any one food that in isolation will improve people's heart health," says a spokesman.
