The document discusses the health claims surrounding coconut oil, asserting that it is not composed of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) and the supposed health benefits are largely unsupported by clinical evidence. It concludes that while coconut oil raises cholesterol levels, substituting it for unsaturated oils may lead to adverse health outcomes, particularly for populations on Westernized diets. Recommendations include limiting coconut oil consumption and blending it with healthier unsaturated oils.

1. COCONUT OIL – ARE ITS HEALTH
CLAIMS JUSTIFIED?
Dr.Laurence Eyres ECG Ltd
Chairman NZIC Oils and Fats Group
November 2014

2. Is coconut oil healthy?

3. WHAT IS COCONUT OIL?
 Edible oil industry production of commodity crude to
RBD- Own experience in 1974 Newmarket
 Niche production of Extra virgin oil-definition
 What’s all the fuss about? Market rapid growth
 Confusion with MCT oil (Medium chain
triglycerides)
 Conclusion as to the claimed health benefits

4. COCONUTS
 Tropical fruit grown year round
 Oil within the meat of the coconut
 Contained within cells
Composition
Percentage of Fresh Coconut
Meat by Weight
Moisture 50
Oil 34
Ash 2.2
Fibre 3
Protein 3.5
Carbohydrates 7.3

5. COPRA EXPELLING TO FORM OIL
 Typical screw presses for oil from copra

7. VANUATU 2014

8. BATCH REFINERY IN VANUATU

9. TRADITIONAL USES OF CNO AND HCNO
 Most of the oil has been used as HCNO( the fully
hydrogenated oil -no trans!) termed a confectionery
fat. (same use as fully hardened palm kernel
oil).Increase in melt point from 26 to 35 degrees C
 CF 92-kremelta-home made chocolate rice krispies,
biscuit fillings, caramels etc.
 Unhydrogenated oil resurrected by marketers as
the answer to all human ills!

10. WEBSITE AND CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT OF
CNO
 Mercola and Oz-dubious credentials-apart from their
media training
 Both investigated by FDA for false claims
 No evidence to back up their statements-only
anecdotal hype
 Erroneous classification of coconut oil triglyceride
structure-claims based on the sound work done on
genuine MCT oil

11. EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL
 Colourless when liquid
 Characteristic mild aroma of coconut
 Oil quality
 Acid Value-low
 <4mg KOH/g oil
 Measures hydrolysis of oil
 Peroxide Value-low
 <10 meq peroxide/g oil
 Measures oxidation of oil
 WONG, M., EYRES, L., RAVETTI, L. 2012. Modern
aqueous oil extraction: Centrifugation systems for olive
and avocado oils. In: Green Vegetable Oil Processing.
Editors: Proctor, A. & Farr, W. The American Oil
Chemists Society, AOCS

13. COMPOSITION OF COCONUT OIL
 Predominantly triacylglycerols
 Made up of the following fatty acids
 C6, 8 and 10 saturated fatty acids 17%
 C12 saturated fatty acid (lauric) 47-48%
 Myristic and palmitic saturated fatty acids 24%
 Unsaturates 7-8%
 Healthy?

14. IS COCONUT OIL COMPOSED OF
MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES?
NO

15. MEDIUM CHAIN FATTY ACIDS AND
TRIGLYCERIDES
 Explanation of terms
 Medium chain fatty acids 8, 10 and 12 carbon fatty acids
 MCT’s are comprised C8 and C10 only not C12
 Coconut oil is 47-48% C12 contains virtually no MCT’s
 MCT studied for their carbohydrate-like dietary
mechanism( They contain about 70% C8 and 30%C10)
 Coconut oil and MCT’s are miles apart
Bach, A. C., & Babayan, V. K. (1982). Medium-chain triglycerides: an update. Am J Clin
Nutr, 36(5), 950-962.

16. MANUFACTURE OF MCT OIL-FROM THE 60’S
 CNO or palm kernel oil are hydrolysed to their fatty
acids
 These are distilled the prize is C12 fatty acid
(48%)used to make surfactants and other
chemicals-such as sodium lauryl sulphate
 The residual C6,8 and 10 fatty acids are separated
(lower boiling)
 They are then re-esterified back into triglycerides
 Bleached and deodorised
 Product is fully saturated, bland,colourless,stable
and has unique properties in nutrition

17. CONDENSATION – GLYCEROL
AND FATTY ACIDS-SYNTHESIS MCT
OIL-USING C8 AND C10 FA

18. COMPARING COCONUT OIL WITH MCT OIL
Fatty acids Coconut Medium chain triglycerides
Butyric 4:00 0 0
Caproic 6:0 1 <2
Caprylic 8:00 9 50-80
Capric 10:00 7 20-50
Lauric 12:00 47 <3
Myristic14:00 16.5 <1
Palmitic16:00 7.5 0
Stearic18:00 3 0
Oleic18:1 cis 6.4 0

19. Triglyceride carbon number analysis of
CNO vs. MCT oil MCT oil (Croda) Coconut oil Mol Weight
Tricaproin C24 24 zero 471
TricaprylinC26 25 zero 499
Tricaprin C28 28 0.5 527
Tricaprin C30 10-10-10 10 3 555
C32 <3 14 583
C34 <1 17.5 611
C36 Trilaurin LaLaLa plus others 0 20 639
C38 0 16 667
C40 0 10 695
C42 0 7 723

20. OLD CHROMATOGRAM SHOWING TRIGLYCERIDE
ANALYSIS BY CARBON NUMBER(MOLECULAR
WEIGHT)-1985 VINTAGE LE

21. PHYSICAL DIFFERENCE MCT AND CNO AT
AMBIENT

22. LAURIC ACID TWELVE CARBON SATURATED
FATTY ACID
 Whilst chemically Lauric acid (C 12:0) could
possibly be described as a medium chain fatty acid-biologically
it behaves as a typical saturated fatty
acid like myristic and palmitic.

23. CONCLUSION 1
 Coconut oil is NOT composed of medium chain
triglycerides
 Any referring to CNO and its similarity in the
metabolism of MCT oil is erroneous and misleading
 Coconut oil does not behave the same as MCT’s
and it is totally erroneous and scientifically wrong to
call coconut oil an MCT and thus any analogies
comparing coconut oil with clinical work on MCT’s
are void.

24. PEER REVIEWED CLINICAL EVIDENCE
ON CNO ROLE IN CVD
 We found no evidence to suggest that CNO is
beneficial other than as a source of energy
 Replacement of some CNO with PUFA resulted in
more favourable lipid profiles
 Coconut flesh, cream and milk when consumed
with fish, vegetables and fruit can be considered a
healthy diet

25. NORDIC REVIEW
 There was convincing evidence that partial
replacement of SFA with PUFA decreases the risk
of CVD, especially in men. This finding was
supported by an association with biomarkers of
PUFA intake; the evidence of a beneficial effect of
dietary total PUFA, n-6 PUFA, and linoleic acid (LA)
on CVD mortality was limited suggestive. Evidence
for a direct association between total fat intake and
risk of T2DM was inconclusive, whereas there was
limited-suggestive evidence from biomarker studies
that LA is inversely associated with the risk of
T2DM.

26. LITERATURE SEARCH
 Searches were conducted in the Scopus and
Medline databases and bibliographies in published
literature and on websites promoting coconut oil
were examined. The few papers and studies (n=23)
identified for inclusion in this review demonstrates
the paucity of quality studies, reviews or meta-analyses
that examine the effects of coconut in its
own right. Even fewer have studied the effects of
consumption of coconut or coconut products on
cardiovascular disease outcomes.

27. CONCLUSION 2
 No evidence from human clinical trials to suggest
that CNO can be classified as a healthy oil

28. SUMMARY CLINICAL PAPERS REVIEW
 In summary, while the level of evidence on coconut
itself and risk factors for heart disease is mostly
poor quality, the evidence suggests that
consumption of coconut oil raises total cholesterol,
HDL and LDL, although in clinical trials this did not
raise them as much as butter.
 In the clinical trials included in this review, the
effects of coconut oil on triglyceride levels versus
unsaturated oils were generally not significant.
Cox, C., Sutherland, W., Mann, J., de Jong, S., Chisholm, A., & Skeaff,
M. (1998). Effects of dietary coconut oil, butter and safflower oil on
plasma lipids, lipoproteins and lanosterol levels. Eur J Clin Nutr, 52(9),
650-654.

29. CONCLUSION 3
 For consumers living in New Zealand who are on a
Western style diet, based on current evidence it
would be inadvisable to switch from unsaturated
oils to coconut oil. It is likely that this would lead to
less favourable lipid profiles and so a potential
increased risk from CHD.

30. RECOMMENDATION
 Consumers who are using a lot of coconut oil due
to the current fad would be well advised to either
limit its use, or to blend in some unsaturated cold
pressed monounsaturated oils such as olive,
avocado or canola oil. Although it may be a better
choice than butter, coconut oil cannot be
recommended as a suitable alternative to non-hydrogenated
vegetable oils.
 http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/uploads/Evidenc
e_paper_coconut_August_2014.pdf

31. POPULATION STUDIES
 Indigenous populations who consume traditional
diets with coconut products along with fish and
vegetables (unsaturated fats and fibre) combined
with a physically active lifestyle are unlikely to be at
risk of cardiovascular disease from the
consumption of coconut products. The situation for
indigenous populations who eat a traditional diet is
vastly different to that of people consuming a typical
“Western” diet.
 For other populations, coconut oil is 92% saturated
and nothing in the literature disputes the fact that it
acts as a saturated fat and raises total cholesterol,
LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol.

32. CONCLUSION 4
 Pacific island populations have not normally consumed
coconut oil per.se., instead coconut oil is consumed as a
component of coconut flesh or coconut milk.
 The Pacific Island communities have had their traditional
diets modified enormously and high fat and high sugar
processed foods have been incorporated into their local
culinary culture with adverse effects on obesity and
health. Making changes in the food supply to improve
access and availability of locally produced traditional
foods may allow taste preferences to be met and may
be a better option than encouraging behaviour change
alone.

33. HOW TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK

34. WRITTEN REVIEWS
 NZ Heart Foundation website
 Food New Zealand-October and December issues
 Oils and fats website
 http://www.oilsfats.org.nz/ For Oils and Fats Group