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could someone explain why coconut oils so good for cooking in simple terms. I know sat fat is good but the amounts in it seem very high and surely that amount is not healthy. I’m just trying to learn about nutrition so don’t understand why heating oil makes it bad.
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what oil would you recomend for use with peanuts to make my own peanut butter. I tried it with just peanuts but it’s to dry, is peanut oil the healthiest for this?
Coconut oil doesn’t break down when heated.
Why don’t I want fat to break down?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Lazy 2009ers want everything on a plate. There are whole books dedicated to the health benifits of coconut oil.
Jonny Bowden:
Saturated fat comes in lots of “flavors.” It’s a whole family of fatty acids, and some of them, like the medium-chain triglycerides in coconut, are downright healthy for you. Coconut oil has been a terribly misunderstood food because people think that because it has saturated fat it’s not good for you. Not so.
Saturated fat can come in the form of the crap that’s in McDonald’s fries or it can come in the form of some of the fat in an egg yolk. These are not the same animal, so to speak. They’re very different in terms of their effects on the body. The saturated fat in coconut and yolks is extremely healthy, good for the heart and the brain. An egg-white omelet is one of the dumbest things in the world.
[quote]Needforspeed wrote:
- could someone explain why coconut oils so good for cooking in simple terms. I know sat fat is good but the amounts in it seem very high and surely that amount is not healthy. I’m just trying to learn about nutrition so don’t understand why heating oil makes it bad.[/quote]
It’s a saturated fat, which means that it’s more stable when heated.
Besides, it’s an generalization to say that all saturated fats are unhealthy. Look up lauric acid.
[quote]Needforspeed wrote:
2) what oil would you recomend for use with peanuts to make my own peanut butter. I tried it with just peanuts but it’s to dry, is peanut oil the healthiest for this?[/quote]
You must be doing it wrong 'cause I have PB made from just peanuts all of the time.
However, if I had to choice an oil to add to peanut butter it would be EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).
Saturated fats are not all the same. A fat is a hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group. In a saturated fat there are no double bonds between the carbon atoms in the chain. So the difference between saturated fats is the length of the hydrocarbon chain.
Now i think the relevence to coconut oil is that the saturated fat in it has very short chains, allowing the body to digest it faster, as a primary source of fuel. A position normally reserved for carbohydrates.
Somebody may correct me a bit on the 2nd paragraph. Ima go look that up.
As for breaking down, olive oil probably won’t break down at the temperatures you cook with, so don’t worry about that.
Thanks a lot, I’m not really being lazy (although i hadn’t found that link) it’s just anytime I look it up it’s really complicated but you’ve simplified it a lot, much appreciated. What’s all this breakdown stuff?
So the fats in the coconut oil is better than other say peanut, olive or vegetable be helpful to know the real difference.
Too slow :s
I 2nd the above EVOO reduces cholesterol in your arteries by increasing High Density Lipids. These essentially dump cholesterol into your liver. Which is fine, and means you probably won’t end up with atherosclorosis. This is because it has plenty of monounsaturated fats.
Edit: You bastards, stop posting, made my “above” comment look stupid.
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Coconut oil has high MCT content. Medium-chain fatty acids even better suited to being burned for energy than are long chain fatty acids.
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If skin is not already outstanding, coconut oil will likely improve it.
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Coconut oil may have benefits with regards to glucose sensitivity.
So are digested quicker.
Lastly, it would be helpful to avoid the errors so many fall into in lumping things together according to number of double bonds and acting as if everything thus falling in the same category is the same.
It is as valid as grouping all mammals together and insisting that mammals cannot be good house pets, pointing to unfortunate examples of tigers eating the family, as the supposed proof.
It’s just mistaken reasoning.
Thinking and discussion should be about specific fats or fatty acids, not about supposed group behavior that in fact does not carry across the group. E.g., saturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids. For that matter, not even “Omega-3 fatty acids.”
Long but interesting.
Coconut oil is in many ways a unique gift of nature. It contains 92% saturated fatty acids, giving coconut oil important properties often lost under the dusty political cloud of the cholesterol debate. Quasi immune to light oxidation and highly resistant to rancidity the oil is functional as a safe nutritional source in most climates without the need for refrigeration or special storage conditions.
However, the fact most lost in the furor over cholesterol is the differentiation of the different sub-groups of fatty acids and in particular the importance in particular of Medium Chain Fatty Acids. Modern researchers have discovered important health benefits and critical bodily functions that are supported by the pool of MCFAs available to the human body. The high concentration of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) of 62% is the critical aspect of why this tropical oil not only behaves differently to any other saturated fat, but is also deemed healthier than most unsaturated oils, the latter often having a much higher concentration of long chain fatty acids… Generally MCFAs are of a smaller particle size thus requiring less energy and fewer enzymes for absorption, placing less strain on the digestive system.
This is further enhanced by the fact that short and medium chain fatty acids are made soluble and absorbed in the aqueous phase of the intestinal contents and transported directly via the portal vein to the liver where they are consumed as an energy source similar to carbohydrates. MCFA have also been shown to assist the absorption and retention of calcium, magnesium and some amino acids as well supporting the healthy functioning of the thyroid. Notwithstanding all the bodily functions that may be enhanced by the consumption of MCFAs the most outstanding finding of modern research has been the capacity of certain MCFA to enhance the human immune system and actively participate in the capacity of the human body to fight virus, bacteria and fungi.
The most important of these MCFAs that enhance and boost the bodies immune system are Caproic Acid, Caprylic Acid, Capric Acid and Lauric Acid and Myristic Acid It is however the powerful capacity of Lauric acid to immobilise harmful invaders of our body, which has excited researchers the most. Although Dr Jon Kabara had already noted the antimicrobial activity of lauric acid in 1966, it has been only in the last 10 years that the potential of all MCFA in fighting bacterial and viral infections has been realised. Furthermore, in addition to their capacity to inactivate pathogenic organisms, the use of MCFAs has shown no negative toxicological or pharmacological side effects. If anything MCFA have shown to weaken viruses or bacteria that show antibiotic resistance to such an extent that these drugs can actually function against these organisms, while the use of MCFAs over time has not shown any build-up of resistance by microbial organisms to these fatty acids.
In practical terms, the consumption of MCFAs would not only boost the human immune system without fear of negative side effects, but also that they could be consumed to compliment the functions of general antibiotic treatments when their effectiveness is decreased by built up resistance found in bacteria. MCFAs are effective mostly in their digested form or in the case of lauric acid: monolaurin. The effectiveness of monolaurin is based on the small size of the particle and the similarity in substance to the lipid (fat) membranes coating harmful microorganisms. Monolaurin is attracted to the virus and is then easily absorbed into its quasi fluid membrane weakening it to such a degree that it literally splits open, killing the organism and allowing the bodies own white blood cells to effectively clean and dispose of the remnants. These research results have lead to the incorporation of especially Caprylic, Capric and Lauric Acid into many accepted anti-viral/anti-bacterial pharmaceutical treatments today.
The fact is that over 63% of coconut oil is made up of these three major fatty acids. In addition the majority, around 48%, is Lauric acid, the fundamental building block of our bodies immune system and the most effective anti-pathogenic of all MCFAs. At these concentrations it is only found in one other of natures products: Mothers Milk.
I’m sold. Now off to look for some recipes
So to conclude its the best oil to buy for all uses, in health and bodybuilding terms?
There is no one best oil. E.g. coconut oil has low oleic acid content.
If being asked to pick the two best oils, however, assuming that EFA’s are being taken care of, then I would pick coconut and olive.
Or if one really hates olive oil, high-oleic safflower.
While I cannot prove that it is so, to name the three or four best fats for bodybuilding as personal opinion I would add in egg fat and milk fat.
Not only that, but coconut oil is an awesome way to increase calories when already eating a bit. I add a tablespoon to my morning breakfast shake. It adds a slight touch of sweetness and about 150 extra cals.
If you’re looking for healthy oils with high smoke points for use in cooking, rice bran oil and avocado oil are also good bets.
Rice bran oil is rich in vitamin E, γ-oryzanol (an antioxidant that may help prevent heart attacks), and phytosterols (compounds believed to help lower cholesterol absorption)
Fatty acid Percentage
Palmitic 15.0%
Stearic 1.9%
Oleic 42.5%
Linoleic 39.1%
Linolenic 1.1%
Arachidic 0.5%
Behenic 0.2%
As you can see it has an unbalanced omega 6 to 3 ratio though and shouldn’t be guzzeled down indiscriminately.
Avocado oil is extremely similar to olive oil in makeup and health benefits but has an unusually high smoke point of 491°F (255°C)–unlike olive oil which you should never haet too high.