Last year, I significantly increased my intake of coconut products, including coconut oil, nuts and avocado. I did the Sarah Wilson I Quit Sugar diet (you can read about it here). I loved the program, but I did in fact put on weight. The diet recommends avoiding sugar (specifically fructose), and increasing your intake of ‘healthy’ fats as a result. It’s quite possible that I overdid the sugar-free desserts – plus, I love coconuts!
Last week, I went for a general health check up and found to my surprise, I have high cholesterol. Like, 20% higher than it should be! I’ve not had many cholesterol checks in my life, as I’m young, eat really well and exercise a lot. However, it’s NEVER been high before.
Considering that I eat quite well, apart from quite a lot of these ‘healthy’ fats, plus a small lick of butter on a piece of toast every now and then, I figure that my cholesterol may very well be a result of a lot of the coconut products that I’m eating (which I thought were GOOD fats!). My GP was adamant that coconut is bad for cholesterol. The Heart Foundation supports this view.
According to The Heart Foundation, foods high in saturated (bad) fat include the following products:
- Hard and full fat soft cheeses
- Full fat dairy products
- Cream
- Crème fraiche
- Chicken skin
- Fat on meats
- Processed meat such as sausages, burgers and salami
- Pastry
- Coconut oil
- Coconut milk
- Palm oil
- Fatty or fried take-away foods
- Packaged cakes and biscuits
Despite coconut products being on this ‘bad’ list, other authorities have suggested that coconut products are good for you. Studies have shown that it can reduce Alzheimers, that it has amazing healing powers, and that it protects against disease by increasing good cholesterol
Who could blame us for being confused? All I know is that over the past year, I have significantly increased my intake of coconut products and my cholesterol is high, despite the fact that I eat well on a regular basis and exercise daily. Perhaps it is due to the fact that high cholesterol has a tendency to run in my family, so I’m already prone to it – no matter what I’m eating.
The test will be: I will change my diet, removing coconut products and reducing other fats including raw nuts and avocado, over the next three months and will get tested again. Watch this space!
How do you feel about coconut products? Have you suffered from high cholesterol as a result?
