Coconut oil is an unhealthy ingredient in food, just like beef and butter, said US heart disease experts.
The American Heart Association, in its latest medical guidelines, said coconut oil contains saturated fat, leading to high "harmful" cholesterol in the blood.
Coconut oil is sold as a healthy food and some people claim that the fat it contains is better than saturated fat.
However, the American Society said that so far there are no good studies to support its recent guidance.
A healthy myth
The instructions for the fat that should be contained in the food, which we eat may be somewhat confusing.
Some consider that animal fat, such as pig fat, we eat is harmful to health, while vegetable oils, such as olive oil and sunflowers, are considered healthier.
This theory depends on the type of fat we eat, whether it is saturated or not.
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is said to be harmful to health, but it is a controversial issue not agreed upon by everyone.
A diet that contains large amounts of saturated fat increases the harmful cholesterol in the blood, which can lead to clogged arteries, and increases the risk of heart problems.
The American Heart Association said 82 percent of the fat in coconut oil is saturated fat, which is higher than saturated fat in butter, beef fat, and pork fat, which is 63, 50 and 39 percent, respectively.
Like other saturated fats, studies have shown that coconut oil fat increases cholesterol in the blood.
But there are claims that coconut oil contains a mixture of fat that makes it a healthy option, but the American Heart Association said there was no scientific evidence.
She stressed the importance of controlling the amount of saturated fat we eat in our food, and replace it with unsaturated fats found in some vegetable oils, such as olive oil, and sunflower oil.
Healthy alternatives
The association also suggested that alternative foods could reduce cholesterol in the blood with the same strength as some drugs.
"We want to directly track the reasons for good research that strongly supports the need to reduce saturated fat in the diet to fight cardiovascular disease," said Frank Sachs, author of the recent American Heart Association guidelines.
The British Public Health Authority has advised reducing saturated fat as follows
• The amount of saturated fat in a man's diet should not exceed 30 grams per day.
• The amount of saturated fat in a woman's diet should not exceed 20 grams per day.
FDA issued nutrition bulletins showing the amounts of saturated fat contained in food products.
But a team of experts continues to stress that fat is an essential component of healthy food in a balanced diet and should not be greatly reduced.
Fat contains essential fatty acids that help the body absorb vitamins such as vitamins A, D, and E.
"Eating heart-healthy food is not just about reducing fat," said Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation. "But it's about reducing certain types of fat and taking care of what we're replacing - like using unsaturated fats and whole grains instead of sugars and carbohydrates."
"Any change should be seen in the context of the whole diet, and we have a traditional Mediterranean diet that has several benefits versus a few risk factors for heart disease, which are not limited to cholesterol levels," she said.
She recommended replacing unsaturated fats in the diet based on oils rather than butter, as well as foods such as avocados, oil-rich fish, nuts and grains instead of high-fat foods such as cakes, biscuits, chocolates and high-fat meats.
Guidelines to reduce fat
• Roasting, baking, and boiling for foods are better ways of cooking than frying and roasting.
• Remove visible fat and get rid of the skin layer that exists above the meat making it healthy.
• Liquidation of roast fat, cooking in thermal pots, slow maturation of traditional utensils, and curry-cooked foods is also a healthy process.
• When making sandwiches, it is recommended to remove butter, and other fat, and helps you to dispense with the use of moist contents in the work of sandwiches.
Fat versus harmful vs. harmful
• Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in food.
• Low-density lipoproteins of harmful nutrients because they are deposited on the walls of the arteries and blood vessels, which may cause blockage in the arteries and then crises and heart attacks.
• High-density lipoproteins are useful nutrients because they carry low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to the liver where the body gets rid of them. Therefore eating large amounts with beneficial cholesterol is a health practice.
Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40300145
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/