Study: Coconut Oil Better for Preventing Heart Disease and Diabetes in Asian Diets

In parts of Asia, both peanut oil and coconut oil are often used for cooking. A recent study in India compared cooking with peanut oil to cooking with coconut oil to determine the relative health benefits for weight management, heart disease, and diabetes. The researchers used nine healthy male volunteers with normal body mass index or BMI levels to undergo eight weeks of consuming a normally balanced diet cooked with coconut oil, followed by a six-week "washout" period, then another eight weeks of the same diet cooked with peanut oil. The study report is called Coconut oil consumption improves fat-free mass, plasma HDL-cholesterol and insulin sensitivity in healthy men with normal BMI compared to peanut oil. The researchers concluded: "… compared to peanut oil, the consumption of coconut oil in a balanced diet resulted in increased fat-free mass, plasma HDL-C, elicited favourable changes on insulin sensitivity and CVD risk-associated parameters in healthy men with normal BMI."