椰子油對健康有好處嗎？

"Every time I visit the Nutritional Functional Medicine Clinic, patients ask me which type of oil is best to use when cooking main dishes?" Dr. Liu Bo-ren, director of the Cobot Functional Medicine Clinic, mentioned this dietary problem that troubles many people in his book, "Liu Bo-ren's Unreserved New Way of Functional Medicine."

Liu Boren recalled a real case: Many years ago, a mother...Memory declineThe mother sought medical attention for issues such as knee arthritis and high cholesterol. After her initial consultation, she followed a prescription from a nutritional functional medicine clinic, and her cholesterol levels successfully decreased. However, at her follow-up appointment six months later, her total cholesterol had surged to 230 mg/dl, and her low-density lipoprotein (LDL, also known as "bad cholesterol") had reached 150 mg/dl. Faced with this rebound, the mother asked, puzzled, "I followed the doctor's instructions exactly, so why is my condition worsening?" At this point, her daughter, who had accompanied her to the clinic, asked Dr. Liu Bo-ren if this was related to her mother's switch to cooking with coconut oil over the past three months. The daughter further explained, "The TV said that coconut oil can reduce the risk of dementia and enhance memory, so Mom bought a lot of coconut oil from the TV and has been using it for all three meals every day."

This case has sparked a discussion about the link between coconut oil and cholesterol. Liu Boren points out that coconut oil is a vegetable oil rich in saturated fat. Some scholars believe that coconut oil helps improve cholesterol levels.Improve brain cognitive functionThe core reason for its ability to prevent dementia is that it contains abundant medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). These fatty acids are easily absorbed by the body and can be converted into ketone bodies in the liver, which can provide energy for brain cells.

Although some studies have shown that consuming coconut oil may increase high-density cholesterol (HDL, also known as "good cholesterol"), Liu Bo-ren cited a 2016 meta-analysis of 28 papers from New Zealand, which pointed out that long-term use of coconut oil may actually lead to an increase in total cholesterol and low-density cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and is not entirely without risk to blood lipid control.

In fact, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines White Paper (2015-2020) already clearly recommends dietary adjustments for patients with high cholesterol:People with high cholesterolReduce your intake of sugar, salt, saturated fat, and trans fat, while increasing your intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Moderate coffee consumption is also acceptable. It's worth noting that this guideline has removed direct restrictions on cholesterol intake, instead emphasizing the control of the proportion of saturated fat intake—which should not exceed 101 TP4T of total daily calories. Lard, butter, and coconut oil are all high in saturated fatty acids. Butter has a saturation level of approximately 521 TP4T, lard approximately 421 TP4T, and coconut oil a staggering 901 TP4T, far exceeding the former two.

Liu Boren further explained: "The advantages of coconut oil are often mentioned, namely that it contains more saturated fat and 12-carbon medium-chain fatty acids (lauric acid). However, people often overlook the fact that coconut oil also contains long-chain fatty acids (such as myristic acid). Long-chain saturated fatty acids are one of the key factors that may lead to elevated total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol."

Therefore, coconut oil is not a panacea for everyone. Liu Boren suggests that the effects of coconut oil on human metabolism need to be judged comprehensively based on individual constitution, dosage, and frequency of consumption. As for the question of whether coconut oil can reduce the risk of dementia, he believes that current research evidence is insufficient, and more long-term follow-up studies are needed to draw a clear conclusion.

Finally, Liu Boren offered practical advice on oil usage: "Never regard coconut oil as a panacea. The smart rule for using oils is to 'rotate' them. When cooking daily, prioritize oils high in monounsaturated fatty acids, such as olive oil and camellia oil, which are more beneficial to health." He also specifically reminded people with dyslipidemia or related conditions to have their cholesterol levels checked every three months—because everyone's genes are different, their ability to break down and metabolize food components varies, and regular testing is necessary to adjust diet and treatment plans in a timely manner.