Coconut Oil

Description

Coconut oil is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of coconut palm fruit.
Coconut oil is a white solid fat, melting at warmer room temperatures of around 25° C (78° F), in warmer climates during the summer months it is a clear thin liquid oil.

Coconut Oil Is Rich in Lauric Acid

Coconut oil contains about 40% lauric acid.
In comparison, most other cooking oils contain only trace amounts of it. An exception is palm kernel oil, which provides 47% lauric acid.
Lauric acid is an intermediate between the long-chain and medium-chain fatty acids.

While often considered medium-chain, it is digested and metabolized differently from the true medium-chain fatty acids and has more in common with the long-chain fatty acids. Studies show that lauric acid increases the blood levels of cholesterol, but this is mostly due to an increase in cholesterol bound to high-density lipoproteins.

Nutrition

1 tbs of coconut oil contains trusted Source:

• 121 calories
• 0 g of protein
• 13.5 g of fat, of which 11.2 g is saturated
• 0 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol

Coconut oil contains vitamin E, but no fiber and little to no other vitamins or minerals.

Coconut oil is almost 100% fat, most of which is saturated fat. However, the structure of fat in coconut oil differs from that of many animal products, which mainly consist of long-chain fatty acids.