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Is there cholesterol in coconut oil?
Coconut oil is a vegetable oil. Vegetable oils DO NOT HAVE cholesterol because cholesterol is an animal product.
Cholesterol is a sterol, a type of fat that appears in the blood and tissues of animals. Cholesterol forms the structure of cell membranes of vertebrates.
Plants have no cholesterol. Instead, have phytosterols, other sterols than play the same role that cholesterol in animals.
The usual claim that coconut oil is rich in cholesterol is not correct.
Does coconut oil increases cholesterol levels in the blood?
We must bear in mind that, although it has not cholesterol, it does not mean it can not raise it.
Coconut oil has a high content of saturated fatty acids that, after digestion, absorption and metabolism, produce cholesterol.
Therefore, we must consider that a high intake of this type of oil may end up promoting the development of dyslipidemia (disturbances in the metabolism of fats) with the appearance of cholesterol or triglycerides or both at once.
Coconut oil
Does coconut oil consumption may increase the risk of heart disease?
Coconut oil should be used sparingly because of its high content in saturated fat. It has been found that a number of factors that help to increase the level of “bad cholesterol in the blood ” (LDL). Among these we can mention the ingestion of saturated fats like coconut oil, lack of exercise and smoking.
Increasing cholesterol carries a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, especially heart diseases such as heart attacks or angina.
The reason for this is that excess of cholesterol is fixed on the walls of arteries causing atheroma plaques, which causes a clogging and hardening of the blood vessels. When these become narrower and less flexible, arteriosclerosis occurs, with the subsequent greater chance of suffering strokes.
* Related information: Coconut oil for the skin, Coconut oil for your hair, Coconut oil benefits
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