Source: CBSNews
One of today's most popular health foods, coconut oil, sits in the cross-hairs of the American Heart Association. For decades, the AHA has warned us about the dangers of eating saturated fat: things like butter, eggs, bacon, steak and yes, even coconut oil. True to form, a recent advisory once again discourages consumption of saturated fats, to include coconut oil.
But is that the right advice? No, according to a growing number of doctors, scientists and nutrition experts. It all boils down to the basic question: Is saturated fat bad for you?
There is deep division within the health community about whether saturated fat is harmful to our bodies. For decades, virtually all doctors and other health professionals told people to stop eating saturated fat based on the belief that it raised "bad" LDL cholesterol and that cholesterol caused heart disease.
Upon that advice, people stopped eating saturated fats and replaced them with trans fats, like the kinds in processed foods, refined Omega-6 fats such as vegetable, corn and soybean oil, sugar and other carbohydrates. The result was the exact opposite of what was predicted. The incidence of heart disease substantially increased as did obesity and related conditions like diabetes.