Coconut oil and heart health: what trials show
What it found
In people, coconut oil did not improve cholesterol, blood sugar, weight or inflammation compared with other oils.
Some trials found it worsened LDL cholesterol.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol in people
Coconut oil intake is linked to worse lipid profiles and higher LDL cholesterol, a known risk factor for heart disease. In one updated analysis, it did not change LDL levels compared with other oils.
Weight and blood sugar
Trials found no improvement in body weight, blood sugar control or inflammatory markers from coconut oil compared with other non-tropical oils.
Two-year trial
An Indian trial followed 198 people with heart disease for 2 years, comparing 15% of daily calories from coconut oil versus sunflower oil. No differences were found in cholesterol, weight, waist size, body fat or long-term blood sugar.
Studies in people and animals
Inflammation in lab tests
Lauric acid, the main fat in coconut oil, can activate inflammatory pathways in lab studies with cells. But trials in people found no difference in C-reactive protein or other inflammatory markers.
Other findings
Fatty acid makeup
About 91% of coconut oil's fatty acids are saturated. Nearly half of those are lauric acid, with smaller amounts of myristic, palmitic, caprylic and capric acids.
Consumption and misinformation
Coconut oil use rose sharply in the 2010s, with 640,000 tons consumed in the Philippines, 449,000 tons in India and 468,000 tons in the US in 2016. The authors say this was driven partly by health professionals and social media spreading unproven claims.
What the authors conclude
“The combination of the established knowledge on the negative effects of saturated fats on cardiovascular health and the lack of evidence from clinical trials showing a benefit from coconut oil intake in cardiovascular and metabolic disease advise against the consumption of this oil as a preferential source of dietary fat.”
Also in their conclusions
- They advise against using coconut oil as a preferred source of dietary fat.
- They say its use as a healthy part of the western diet is based on widespread misconceptions.
- They call for fat recommendations to be based on strong cardiovascular outcome studies, which they say is not the case for coconut oil.
How it was done
The authors wanted to explain why coconut oil became popular despite little evidence that it helps heart or metabolic health. They also wanted to look at how online misinformation may have driven its rise in use.
They reviewed nutritional details of coconut oil, its effects on heart and metabolic markers in human trials, and patterns of consumption and online misinformation. They looked at meta-analyses of randomized trials, one 2-year trial in 198 people with heart disease, and surveys of how much coconut oil people eat.
What it can’t tell you
- The trials included in the review were mostly short, lasting 1 to 12 weeks, so they cannot show long-term effects on heart disease or diabetes.
- No studies have tested whether coconut oil prevents diabetes or hard cardiovascular outcomes like heart attacks.
- The review cannot prove that misinformation directly caused the rise in coconut oil consumption.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Disclosure: no potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
- Authors work at
- Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brasil
The paper
- Title
- Coconut oil: an overview of cardiometabolic effects and the public health burden of misinformation
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Spiazzi BF, Duarte AC, Zingano CP, et al (2023). Coconut oil: an overview of cardiometabolic effects and the public health burden of misinformation. Archives of endocrinology and metabolism. doi:10.20945/2359-3997000000641Free full textPubMed 37364144DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error