Everybody knows that saturated fat is bad for you, right?  Think again. 

These days everybody wants information fast.  No time for details, just the bottom line please!  Especially when it comes to nutrition our culture has become inundated with a whole host of memes which are rarely checked for accuracy while they are passed along from one person to the next. 

Some months ago a friend of mine went to his general practitioner for a regular checkup during which he completed a blood test for cholesterol.  The blood test came back borderline high at 220.  After the expected pitch from his doctor to take a cholesterol-lowering drug, my friend was sent home with a two-sided handout of nutritional recommendations.  Among the list of no-no's: coconut.

Let there be no doubt about it, coconut is very high in fat.  A 2 by 2 inch square contains about 15 grams of fat and a whopping 160 calories.  Yet while avoiding coconut may sound like a no-brainer to your average healthy eater, a closer look at the fat profile of a coconut reveals something that may not be apparent to the casual observer.  This is due to the fact that majority of fat present in a coconut is of a special class called medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs, which have recently been implicated in a number of health benefits, including nerve protection, immune support, and improved fat metabolism.

Though common wisdom informs us that saturated fats are bad for our health, scientists are now coming to understand that the reality isn't so cut and dry.  Saturated fats are essentially chains of carbon molecules with single bonds between each of the carbon atoms.  This new understanding comes from the observation that the length of the chain has a large impact on how the fat is processed by the body.  While most of the saturated fats found in animal products are classified as long-chain triglycerides, coconut is unique in being the only food with a high concentration of medium-chain triglycerides.

This week, a randomized, double-blind, clinical trial of 40 obese women was published showing that daily supplementation of 30 mL (about 1 oz.) of coconut oil, along with exercise and a reduced-calorie diet, resulted in a slimmer waistline and an improved cholesterol profile when compared to women taking soybean oil.  Looks like it's time for my friend's physician to update his patient handouts.

On the path to a healthy lifestyle, it is easy for us to become lulled into a false sense of direction when we rely too heavily on little quips and taglines.  It can be helpful to take a pause every now and again to evaluate whether or not the road signs are actually pointing us in the direction we want to go.  "Lowfat" is one of those signs that has become synonymous with healthy in the minds of many, though this is not always the case.

Coconut, along with avocado, nuts, and seeds, serve as great examples of foods that are high in fat, but are not fatten-ing.  In fact, many foods labeled "lowfat" are actually much more fattening than these due to the sugars that are present within them.  Just remember to look twice before crossing Dieter's Lane, and don't be afraid to stop and ask for directions if you get lost along the way.