The Dangers of Saturated Fat: Fact or Fiction?

I bought this jar of coconut oil the other day, because it was on sale and prominently displayed at my local supermarket.

1. I had my first experience with coconut oil several years ago when I was catering a monthly dinner for the Vegetarians of Washington, with Debra Daniels-Zeller. She wanted to use coconut oil in a number of recipes and I objected because of the expense, but she offered to pay for it herself because she felt so strongly about it.

We used it in both a sweet dish and a savory one, and it was lovely in both. She let me keep what was left of the jar and I made some nice cookies with it, but I haven't thought of buying it since then, until it caught my eye in the supermarket the other day.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat, and mainstream dietary advice warns us to stay clear of saturated fats because they contribute to risk for heart disease. But some studies have actually linked coconut oil with a decreased incidence of coronary ailments, in fact, the connection between saturated fat and heart disease--and even weight gain and levels of HDL cholesterol--is far from certain.

I do know that my own cholesterol level decreases when I stop eating cheese. (And I really do love cheese.) I couldn't find any information studying the difference in health effects between consuming plant-based and animal based saturated fat.

All in all, I think we tend to be much too quick to accept oversimplified dietary advice, and also too quick to reject it when we hear oversimplified evidence to the contrary.