Coconut oil is widely marketed as a superfood.
The unique combination of fatty acids in coconut oil may have positive effects on your health, such as boosting fat loss, heart health, and brain function.
Here are 10 evidence-based health benefits of coconut oil.
1. Contains healthy fatty acids
Coconut oil is high in certain saturated fats. These fats have different effects in the body compared with most other dietary fats.
The fatty acids in coconut oil can encourage your body to burn fat, and they provide quick energy to your body and brain. They also raise HDL (good) cholesterol in your blood, which may help reduce heart disease risk
Most dietary fats are categorized as long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), while coconut oil contains some (MCTs), which are shorter fatty acid chains
When you eat MCTs, they tend to go straight to your liver. Your body uses them as a quick source of energy or turns them into ketones.
Ketones can have powerful benefits for your brain, and researchers are studying ketones as a treatment for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions.
Coconut oil is high in MCTs, a type of fat that your body metabolizes differently than most other fats. MCTs are responsible for many of the health benefits of coconut oil.
- May boost heart health
Coconut is an uncommon food in the Western world, with health-conscious people being the main consumers.
However, in some parts of the world, coconut — which is loaded with coconut oil — is a dietary staple that people have thrived on for generations.
For example, a 1981 study noted that the population of Tokelau, an island chain in the South Pacific, obtained over 60% of their calories from coconuts. Researchers reported not only good overall health but also very low rates of heart disease .
Kitavan people in Papua New Guinea also eat a lot of coconut, alongside tubers, fruit, and fish, and have little stroke or heart disease .
Several populations around the world have thrived for generations eating a substantial amount of coconut, and studies show they have good heart health.
- May encourage fat burning
Obesity is one of the biggest health conditions affecting the Western world today.
While some people think obesity is just a matter of how many calories someone eats, the source of those calories is important, too. Different foods affect your body and hormones in different ways.
The MCTs in coconut oil can increase the number of calories your body burns compared with longer-chain fatty acids .
One study found that eating 15–30 grams of MCTs per day increased 24-hour energy expenditure by 5% .
However, these studies didn’t specifically look at the effects of coconut oil. They examined the health effects of MCTs, excluding lauric acid, which make up only about 14% of coconut oil.
There’s currently no good evidence to say that eating coconut oil itself will increase the number of calories you expend.
Keep in mind that coconut oil is very high in calories and can easily lead to weight gain if eaten it in large amounts.
Research notes that MCTs can increase the number of calories burned over 24 hours by as much as 5%. However, coconut oil itself may not have the same effect.
4. May have antimicrobial effects
Lauric acid makes up about 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil.
When your body digests lauric acid, it forms a substance called .
Both lauric acid and monolaurin can kill harmful pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
For example, test-tube studies show that these substances help kill the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which causes staph infections, and the yeast Candida albicans, a common source of yeast infections in humans.
There’s also some evidence that using coconut oil as a mouthwash — a process called oil pulling benefits oral hygiene, though researchers consider the evidence weak
There’s no evidence that coconut oil reduces your risk of the common cold or other internal infections.
Using coconut oil as a mouthwash may prevent mouth infections, but more evidence is needed.
5. May reduce hunger
One interesting feature of MCTs is that they may reduce hunger.
This may be related to the way your body metabolizes fats, because ketones can reduce a person’s appetite.
In one study, 6 healthy men ate varying amounts of MCTs and LCTs. Those who ate the most MCTs ate fewer calories per day.
Another study in 14 healthy men reported that those who ate the most MCTs at breakfast ate fewer calories at lunch.
These studies were small and had a very short timescale. If this effect were to persist over the long term, it could lead to reduced body weight over several years.
Although coconut oil is one of the richest natural sources of MCTs, there’s no evidence that coconut oil intake reduces appetite more than other oils.
In fact, one study reports that coconut oil is less filling than MCT oil.
MCTs can significantly reduce appetite, which may lead to reduced body weight over the long term.
