COCONUT OIL & VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VCO)

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT COCONUT OIL AND VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VCO)

[Note: The following information was culled from the three sources listed at the end of this article.]

COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is oil extracted from the meat of a mature coconut (niyog); the young coconut (buko) does not have any oil.

There are two very different types of coconut oil in the market:

 1.         Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO)

-                extracted from fresh mature coconut meat (niyog);

-                is considered pure oil because it has no additives;

-                does not undergo chemical processing or intense heat;

-                this natural processing retains VCO’s high lauric acid content.

VCO is extracted without using extreme heat or chemicals, using either the Wet Method or the Dry Method (also called Cold-Pressed Method). In the wet method, fresh coconut milk is extracted from grated coconut meat either manually or by hydraulic press; the milk is then processed in several ways to separate the oil from the water (via fermentation, using food-derived enzymes, cooking over low heat; or using a mechanical centrifuge); the oil is then heated to further evaporate the water, then strained. In the dry method, the coconut meat is dried (using industrial dryers, solar dryers, or drying ovens) and the oil extracted; the oil is further dried (via heating or vacuum drying) until the moisture content is very, very low.

2.         Refined, Bleached, & Deodorized Oil (RBDO)

-                extracted from copra (which is coconut meat that is dried either under the sun or in mechanical dryers then pressed for its oil);

-                chemically processed using intense heat to extract RBDO, so it’s not free of additives;

-                this chemical processing lowers its lauric acid content (see below under "Lauric Acid").

RBDO is extracted from coconut meat (copra) that is often dried under the sun for days. The extracted oil undergoes intense heating and processing with chemicals to remove impurities and microorganisms, after which it is bleached and deodorized to make an oil that is tasteless, odorless and colorless.

FATTY ACIDS

There are two types of fatty acids found in fats and oils:  (1) medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs); and (2) long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). MCFAs are absorbed, distributed, and metabolized in our body differently from LCFAs, as explained below.

Note:  The fatty acids in coconut oil are MCFAs, while those in fats from meats and dairy (butter, margarine) are LCFAs.

MCFAs:

-                are small molecules (makes food easy to digest);

-                are water-soluble and rapidly absorbed in the digestive tract at a rate four times greater than LCFAs;

-                go straight to the liver where they are quickly converted to energy;

-                circulate as fatty acids and not as triglycerides so little or none are deposited in adipose tissue (which is body fat mostly located beneath the skin, but is also found around internal organs).

LCFAs:

-                are bigger molecules;

-                food takes longer to digest which delays the emptying time of the stomach;

-                enter the bloodstream before going to the liver so it takes longer to be converted to energy;

-                may be deposited in adipose tissue.

LAURIC ACID is the most important fatty acid. Lauric acid is also found in mother’s milk, and is medically and scientifically proven to be a potent agent against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Unlike other vegetable oils, more than 50% of coconut oil’s total volume is lauric acid, depending on how it is processed. In VCO, this lauric acid ratio is retained because of its natural processing, while much of RDBO’s lauric acid is lost because of its chemical processing.

FATS

Saturated fats – Fats from animal sources (meat, butter, dairy), and fats from coconut oil and palm kernel oil are saturated fats. However, even though they are both saturated fats, one important difference between the two is that fats from animal sources are LCFAs while the fats from coconut and palm kernel oils are MCFAs (see above characteristics of MCFAs and LCFAs).

Unsaturated fats – are either monounsaturated fats (olive, canola, peanut oils) or polyunsaturated fats (corn, soya, safflower, cottonseed, sunflower oils). All unsaturated fats are LCFAs. Polyunsaturated fats are unstable and susceptible to oxidation (the oil turns rancid and nutritional quality is reduced), so to prolong their shelf life, manufacturers resort to partial hydrogenation (adding hydrogen to the oil to make them more stable), which can lead to the production of transfats or transfatty acids.

Transfats or transfatty acids are also known as “partially hydrogenated oils." Companies use transfats in their food products because they’re easy to use, inexpensive to produce, last a long time, and give foods a desirable taste and texture. Transfats are commonly used by many restaurants and fast-food outlets to deep-fry foods. Transfats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels; they increase your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. They’re also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Transfats can be found in many foods, but especially in fried foods like French fries, doughnuts, and baked goods including pastries, pie crusts, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings. Always check the ingredients list of packaged foods, and look for the ingredients referred to as “partially hydrogenated oils.

CALORIES

Coconut oil is lower in calories than any other oil because its fatty acids are MCFAs. Its effective energy value is 6.8 calories per gram, compared to 9 calories per gram of other oils.

A calorie is a unit of energy. We ingest calories from the food that we eat. Our bodies “burn” the calories through metabolism, by which enzymes break down the carbohydrates into glucose and other sugars, the fats into glycerol and fatty acids, and the proteins into amino acids. These molecules are then transported through the bloodstream to the cells. The amount of calories our body burns depends on your metabolism rate. If you consume more calories than your body is able to burn, you gain fat.

CHOLESTEROL

All edible vegetable oils contain very little cholesterol, BUT COCONUT OIL HAS THE LEAST AMOUNT.

Cholesterol is a fat (lipid) produced by the liver; it is crucial for normal body functioning, but becomes harmful in excessive quantities. Lipoproteins are molecules that carry cholesterol in the bloodstream; they contain both lipid (fat) and protein, and are classified into three types: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), also known as “bad” cholesterol; high-density lipoproteins (HDL), also known as “good” cholesterol; and triglycerides (the fat/lipid in our blood). LDLs carry cholesterol from the liver to the cells, while HDLs carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver, to be broken down or expelled from the body as waste. Triglycerides are the fats found in our blood. A high buildup of LDLs increases the risk of arterial disease, while HDLs have been known to prevent it. Calories that you don’t burn are converted into triglycerides, and having a high level of triglyceride can increase your risk of heart disease.

Sources:

Dr. Conrado S., Dayrit, “The Truth About Coconut Oil,” Anvil Publishing, 2005. 

Cris C. Abiva, “The Coconut Facts Book,” Anvil Publishing, 2011.

Bruce Fife, “Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut,” Piccadilly Books, Ltd., 2005.