In the nearly fifteen years that I’ve
been writing about health and fitness, I’ve seen a lot of nutrition trends come
and go (and occasionally come back again). There was the fat-free craze, which backfired
in a whole host of ways. (Hey! Licorice is a fat-free candy! These cookies
taste like cardboard but have no fat! That means they’re good for you…right?
Um, no.) Then there were the low-carb/high-protein diets, which were
discredited by a lot of experts but are now sort
of back in sleek new (or, really, incredibly old) Paleo packages.
There have also been countless super
foods, from chocolate to chia, kale to quinoa, touted for their health-boosting
benefits—and some of the evidence is certainly compelling. Coconut oil* is another recent
addition to this list, and a lot of people (including plenty of fans of The Whole Life Challenge)
have eagerly embraced it. However, it’s also been met with scrutiny, especially
because of its saturated fat content. So what’s the deal? Is it a miracle cure
for all that ails you, a sensationalized jar of snake oil or, even worse, a
heart attack waiting to happen? I’ll admit that I’ve been consuming a fair
amount of it myself since starting The Whole Life Challenge,
so I decided to take a look at the science behind the health claims. Here are some
key facts worth considering:
