I like coconut oil...BUT only use it for my skin and hair...(FANTASTIC!!!) On a rare occasion I may use a little in popcorn machine (1 tbs or 2 a couple times a year) There is just TOO many conflicting info about coconut oil and for the time being I'll just stick to it for hair and body...

Saturated fat does clog arteries and raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, not as extreme as the trans fat found in hydrogenated oils but they still do. Comparatively, I'd favor butter over margarine too due to the trans fat, but I try to avoid saturated fats whenever possible too, unless I'm indulging in a nice piece 'o meat/dairy --

There are a few books out that promote the use of coconut and coconut oil. Do they have any real reason or are they just a new twist on the same thing? Who knows.

I'm also almost amazed at how new fads are being twisted into looking at different cultures. "Look! This culture has a lot of skinny people, they seem to live long, they <eat or drink this> so maybe we should too!"

My one example would be when I went to China, I didn't see anyone fat in the outlying cities, not even chubby. They ate smaller portions of food, they didn't eat much meat and they exercised a lot! Of course you see green tea emphasized everywhere with such promotions as "they are skinny, you will be too using this".

Sure you see visions of beautiful young tahitian girls and think coconut oil must be their secret, right? Well, Polynesians in general come in a mix of body sizes, so you may see the incredibly fit ones in pictures but that isn't the entire story. It really is a mix of different lifestyle characteristics as well as genetics. This came to mind after reading the link where the guy mentioned someone who looked good at an older age and used coconut oil. Those stories are pretty laughable considering it is a single aspect in a lifestyle. A single aspect won't make you fat or skinny, it is multiple put together.

Anyway, if you like coconut oil, use it but I'd still use it sparingly. Honestly, I use most oils sparingly. I think I get quite a bit of fats from just my daily eating, I don't really need to add much extra fat into my diet. I too prefer butter over margarine but I eat something with butter in it about once a month. I like olive oil a lot but still that is pretty rare.

Forgive me for sounding pesimistic, but I don't particularly thing that what the American Heart Association has to say is pure truth. I have made several dietary changes over the last several months which include a LOT more fat (including saturated), a ton of veggies, a lot of free range, grass fed beef and free range poultry, eggs, etc. I've lost 10 pounds since the changes and dropped 10 points off my cholesterol. We are each our own science experiment, I suppose, and what I am doing is working for me and my health and my energy levels.

Pretend, for a minute, that all these scientific studies don't exist. All we have to go by is common sense and history. If that was the case, I think we'd all be a lot better off. I don't think many of you could argue that eating beef (which has saturated animal fats) is something that is "new" to our society. People have been eating animals for 100's and 100's of years. Our great grandparents ate more organ meats which are filled with higher amounts of fats. Yet, the first recorded heart attack in our country was in 1912. Coincidentally (or not), one year after Crisco (hydrogenated mainstream food) hit the market. Interesting.

I am not trying to attack anyone here but it kills me how people can so willingly forget history for a modern day study or two that was probably funded by the very folks who have a stake in the outcome of that study. I get really angry when people say "I don't believe coconut oil is good for you because everybody who says that is selling something." Give me a freaking break. EVERYONE is trying to sell you something. Do you think those who say Canola oil is good for you aren't trying to sell you canola oil???? I wonder how many studies they've funded that say canola oil is healthy. Follow the money. At least, in this case, with coconut oil I can follow history. People have been using it for WELL longer then canola oil. I'd rather have some organic, cold pressed SATURATED FAT coconut oil that's been around for hundreds of years over genetically modified, overheated (i.e. oxidized), pesticide filled rapeseed oil that we've only been consuming since the 1950's (and heart disease has only gotten worse since then). Now, I'm not "blaming" canola oil for heart disease by any means. I think there are a lot of factors that contribute.

Your body is your own. Do what you feel best doing with it. For many years I didn't listen to my body. Know where that got me? Fat. Now I'm listening and the weight is dropping and my energy is soaring. I'm not perfect. I have my moments. I eat "bad" things. I'm human. I make mistakes. I just really encourage everyone who is so ready to attack what I am doing (or what another poster is considering doing) to take a quick look outside of the box and you may be interested in what you find out there that you think is "healthy" because some big organization told you it was but really isn't so.

There is no disputing that our country's health (and others with westernized diets) is declining rapidly. Yes, heart disease and heart attacks weren't all that common before the 20th century. You have to also remember that we had a lot more manual labor, people walked everywhere or maybe used a bicycle and they didn't eat lots of processed foods. There was no soda to drink, there were no chips to be eaten, there was no McDonald's around the corner, etc.

Personally, since I've experienced it myself a bit, I think the lack of activity is one of our biggest downfalls followed secondly by our poor diet.

I read an article yesterday that said hydrogenated oils only became popular in response to the growing health problems that had been attributed to increased use of saturated fats from tropical oils. I remember back when we were advised to read the labels and avoid products with tropical oils. So the industry looked for an alternative and thought hydrogenated oils were the answer. It was later discovered that this was not the solution, of course.

What's wrong with using olive oil? There's no controversy there.

Suzanne - exactly! cooking without much added oil, and using a controversy-free oil when you do need a little bit of oil, works really well!

Whether or not you believe the AHA, or other big organizations, it seems prudent to try to avoid things that the jury is still out on, and embrace the things that have been shown via clinical study to have positive or neutral health effects.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about it, I think low fat diet are unhealthy your body needs fat for so many things.