Coconut oil and blood pressure in stage 1 hypertension
What it found
In people with stage 1 hypertension, taking coconut oil for 30 days did not lower blood pressure or affect blood pressure variability or oxidative stress.
The authors say it did not work as a blood pressure treatment.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood pressure
Coconut oil, alone or with exercise training, did not lower blood pressure in these patients. The authors found no antihypertensive effect.
Blood pressure variability
Coconut oil supplementation did not change blood pressure variability, measured as standard deviation and average real variability.
Oxidative stress
Coconut oil did not affect serum malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress. A small interaction was seen in the group that took coconut oil and exercised, but it started from a higher baseline value.
Side effects and calories
No adverse effects such as diarrhea, constipation, nausea, colic or migraine were reported with 10 mL per day of coconut oil for 30 days. Calorie intake did not increase compared with placebo.
Saturated fat intake
People taking coconut oil had higher intake of saturated fats and lauric acid than those on placebo, as expected from the supplement.
What the authors conclude
“Thus, despite the results observed in pre-clinical studies, the current clinical study did not provide evidence to support the use of coconut oil as an adjuvant in the management of hypertension in humans.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that supplementation with extra-virgin coconut oil did not have an antihypertensive effect in patients with stage 1 hypertension.
- They also say it showed no effectiveness on blood pressure variability and oxidative stress levels in humans.
- They state that coconut oil supplementation (10 mL/day) was shown to be safe as a nutritional approach and without significant impacts on caloric intake, but it was not able to reproduce the effects obtained in an experimental model of hypertension when translated to hypertensive patients.
- They advise that complementary studies are necessary to determine if doses different from the current trial can evoke additional or diverse effects.
How it was done
The authors wanted to test whether coconut oil, alone or with aerobic exercise, could lower blood pressure in people with stage 1 hypertension, because animal studies had shown such an effect.
They studied 45 adults with stage 1 hypertension, aged 20 to 64, in a placebo-controlled trial. Participants took 10 mL of extra-virgin coconut oil or a placebo daily for 30 days, with some also doing aerobic training three times a week. Blood pressure was measured over 24 hours before and after.
What it can’t tell you
- This trial tested only one dose of coconut oil (10 mL per day) for 30 days in people with stage 1 hypertension. It cannot show what other doses or longer use might do.
- The study did not include people with higher blood pressure or those taking blood pressure medication, so the results may not apply to them.
- The trial cannot show whether coconut oil affects blood pressure in people without hypertension or in other groups.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Paraiba State Research Foudation (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Federal University of Paraiba, Brazil
The paper
- Title
- Coconut Oil Supplementation Does Not Affect Blood Pressure Variability and Oxidative Stress: A Placebo-Controlled Clinical Study in Stage-1 Hypertensive Patients
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Júnior FAO, Ruiz CR, de Oliveira Y, et al (2021). Coconut Oil Supplementation Does Not Affect Blood Pressure Variability and Oxidative Stress: A Placebo-Controlled Clinical Study in Stage-1 Hypertensive Patients. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu13030798Free full textPubMed 33670999DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error