During a lecture at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Karin Michels called coconut oil ‘pure poison’.
The video, recorded in German, has received more than 400 000 views since it was published and has added fuel to the already existing fiery debates over coconut oil.
Source: Pexels
According to the Daily Mail Dr. Karin Michels, who also heads up the tumor research center at the University of Freiburg, made the statement in a 50-minute talk in German last month.
The American Heart Association has also cautioned coconut oil users to restrict their usage.
Coconut oil had a very peculiar rise to popularity as more and more people started using it not just to prepare their food but also on their hair and skin.
Cardiologists are aware that coconut oil may be tasty and sumptuous, but those velvety qualities are no friend to your arteries.
Source: Pexels
Dr. Michels said it is worse than lard (fat from the abdomen of a pig which was a hit in the 50’s and is now only seen in our grandmothers’ pantries).
Yet, a nationwide poll in 2016 found at least 70% of Americans believed coconut oil to be healthy – with many seeing it as one of the healthiest oils available.
The ascent of coconut oil sales began in the early 2000s, on the heels of two studies by Columbia University which looked at medium-chain fatty acids, a type of fat present in coconuts.
The study participants who ate the medium-chain fatty acid diet burned fat quicker than the controls.
Once the findings emerged, coconut oil was gobbled up by people asking could this product that is so easy to incorporate into daily life, be the Holy Grail of fat burning?
Thus leading to the rise of sales.
The medical industry, however, was not converted – not even the author of the study, nutrition professor Marie-Pierre St-Onge, who explained in her study that, coconuts are only 14% medium-chain fatty acids. The study participants were fed 100%.
Daily Mail
