C is for Coconut Oil! People swear by coconut oil for many reasons, one being for their cardiovascular health but the studies are conflicting and as of now, the science tells us that this is still a saturated fat and needs to be treated that way. Saturated fats raise your LDL (bad cholesterol). The interesting thing about coconut oil is that it also raises your HDL (good cholesterol). How you eat in general will decide if coconut oil will work with you or against you. If you have a diet that is high in processed foods, heavy with meat and butter, high in sugar and refined carbohydrates then chances are coconut oil is not going to benefit you because you have so many other factors playing against your cardiovascular health. However, if you eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, walnuts, flaxseeds, and fatty fish; a little bit of coconut oil on a daily basis may give you the extra boost your HDL needs. Be cautious though, more is not better in this situation. A little goes a long way here. Just 1 tablespoon of coconut oil contains about 11 grams of saturated fat. Say you are an average sized women who needs about 1400 calories per day, that translates into 7 grams of saturated fat per day and not leaving much wiggle room to just add coconut oil in all of your food, all day long. This RDN recommends that you enjoy no more than 1 tablespoon of coconut oil on most days of the week and to replace your unhealthy fats with healthy fats for example substituting butter for olive oil or mayonnaise for avocado. When choosing coconut oil, look for unrefined (virgin) varieties. There is no classification system between virgin and extra virgin coconut oil, it is just used for marketing purposes. There are no GMO varieties of coconut and they are naturally resilient to pests, so your coconut oil does not need to be organic. Enjoy! #wellnesswednesday #coconutoil #HDL #dontfearfat #lessismore #hearthealth

C is for Coconut Oil! People swear by coconut oil for many reasons, one being for their cardiovascular health but the studies are conflicting and as of now, the science tells us that this is still a saturated fat and needs to be treated that way. Saturated fats raise your LDL (bad cholesterol). The interesting thing about coconut oil is that it also raises your HDL (good cholesterol). How you eat in general will decide if coconut oil will work with you or against you. If you have a diet that is high in processed foods, heavy with meat and butter, high in sugar and refined carbohydrates then chances are coconut oil is not going to benefit you because you have so many other factors playing against your cardiovascular health. However, if you eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, walnuts, flaxseeds, and fatty fish; a little bit of coconut oil on a daily basis may give you the extra boost your HDL needs. Be cautious though, more is not better in this situation. A little goes a long way here. Just 1 tablespoon of coconut oil contains about 11 grams of saturated fat. Say you are an average sized women who needs about 1400 calories per day, that translates into 7 grams of saturated fat per day and not leaving much wiggle room to just add coconut oil in all of your food, all day long. This RDN recommends that you enjoy no more than 1 tablespoon of coconut oil on most days of the week and to replace your unhealthy fats with healthy fats for example substituting butter for olive oil or mayonnaise for avocado. When choosing coconut oil, look for unrefined (virgin) varieties. There is no classification system between virgin and extra virgin coconut oil, it is just used for marketing purposes. There are no GMO varieties of coconut and they are naturally resilient to pests, so your coconut oil does not need to be organic. Enjoy! #wellnesswednesday #coconutoil #HDL #dontfearfat #lessismore #hearthealth

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