VERIFY: Is coconut oil really 'pure poison'?
In just a few years, coconut oil has been hailed by some as a super food. Those health claims have received backlash from nutritionists recently, but is it fair to now consider it a poison?
Author: Kent Erdahl
Published: 10:39 PM CDT August 22, 2018
Updated: 9:21 AM CDT August 23, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS - A Harvard professor's presentation on nutrition errors has gone viral after her repeated claims that coconut oil is 'pure poison' and among the worst things you can eat.
The YouTube video features Karin Michels, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, giving a talk in German titled "Coconut oil and other nutritional errors." Michels is also the director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg.
In the video, Michels points out that coconut oil has much more saturated fat than butter and even lard, and she points to advertising and online diet fads that have encouraged consumption based on little to no evidence.
A 2017 New York Times survey found that 72 percent of the American public rated coconut oil as a 'healthy food' compared with just 37 percent of nutritionists. Now, as Michels video surpasses 1 million views, some are wondering if it's really the poison she is making it out to be.
KARE 11 went to the University of Minnesota Department of Food Science and Nutrition to verify the claims made about coconut oil. Professor Kumar Mallikarjunan said it's clear coconut oil is not as healthy as the online ads and fads would have people believe, but he says that doesn't mean it's poison. "Poison is too much of a stretch," he said. "There is a truth in it, but at the same time that is not the whole truth."
Professor Mallikarjunan shared a similar when KARE 11 spoke to him last summer. At the time The American Heart Association had also taken a strong stance, advising against the use of coconut oil altogether.
But he says coconut oil has more antioxidants than butter and lard and he says it contains high levels of Lauric Acid which can increase good cholesterol or "HDL". For those reasons, he calls for moderation, not poison control.
"Don't throw the jar away," Mallikarjunan said. "It has its value, it has its merits but that doesn't mean you just go indulge on it."
Poster Comment:
All things in moderation.