Coconut oil is high in saturated fat and may, therefore, raise serum cholesterol concentrations, but beneficial effects on other cardiovascular risk factors have also been suggested.
Myth: Coconut oil is a heart-healthy cooking alternative.
The reality: Coconut oil has been shown to raise cholesterol levels — the good and the bad kinds — more than other plant-based oils like olive or canola.
Coconut oil and butter both affect your cholesterol levels. However, while coconut oil increases HDL or high-density lipoprotein, the good kind, butter, on the other hand, increases LDL or low-density lipoprotein, the bad kind.
In a meta-analysis of 16 clinical trials, coconut oil was found to increase both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels in participants, compared with nontropical vegetable oils (e.g., sunflower, canola, olive). [3] Coconut oil increased total cholesterol by about 15 points, LDL by 10 points, and HDL by 4 points.
Eating foods that contain coconut oil can increase your risk for heart problems. Fatty plaque buildup causes the artery walls to harden and narrow, making it difficult for blood to deliver the oxygen and nutrients your organs need.
There are no quick fixes for melting away plaque, but people can make key lifestyle changes to stop more of it accumulating and to improve their heart health. In serious cases, medical procedures or surgery can help to remove blockages from within the arteries.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
It's also important to consider the saturated fats in oils since they can cause cholesterol build-up. For example, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil contain saturated fat that can increase so-called “bad” cholesterol.
Avocados. Avocados are a potent source of nutrients as well as monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). Research suggests that adding an avocado a day to a heart-healthy diet can help improve LDL cholesterol levels in people who are overweight or obese.
Consuming coconut oil increases the level of low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol. Due to the presence of saturated fatty acids, excess consumption can be unhealthy and can increase the risk of stroke and cardiac diseases.
Olive oil is packed full of beneficial antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol while leaving your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.
The worst foods for high cholesterol, given their high saturated fat content, include: Red meat, like beef, pork, and lamb, as well as processed meats like sausage. Full-fat dairy, like cream, whole milk, and butter. Baked goods and sweets.
Chicken eggs are an affordable source of protein and other nutrients. They're also naturally high in cholesterol. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn't seem to raise cholesterol levels the way some other foods, such as those high in trans fats and saturated fats, do.
This is why it is important to eat foods to help lower your cholesterol, such as those high in soluble fiber. Fruits like avocados and apples, and citrus fruits like oranges and bananas are foods that can help lower cholesterol.
Keep cheese portions small and weigh them to reduce temptation. Using lower-fat cheeses – such as mozzarella, feta, cottage cheese or reduced-fat cheeses – will provide less saturated fat.
Optimal Vitamin K2 intake is crucial to avoid the calcium plaque buildup of atherosclerosis, thus keeping the risk and rate of calcification as low as possible.