Coconut oil (particularly the organic coconut butter) is great. It is absolutely the best fat for frying as it is very stable and won't go trans fatty until the temp gets quite high. Its better for frying than olive oil in this regard.

MCT Oil which is a fraction of Coconut Oil is the real energy and metabolism booster. It remains liquid untill it is cooled to minus 5 degrees Celsius. That's probably between 32 and 0 Fahrenheit. Anyway it stays liquid at all temperatures that you would want to be able to eat it.

I mix it 50-50 with virgin olive oil for salads. Once the MCT Oil is mixed with the olive you can store in the refrigerator and won't go all solid.

I also make MCT Butter by leaving regular butter and coconut butter out until it reaches room temperature. I use (by weight) 25% butter 25% coconut butter and 50% MCT Oil. I blend the mixture using a hand blender.

This "butter" will be liquid at room temperature but just a perfect spreading consistency when it is refrigerated.

Both- Coconut and MCT oil detract from overall fat-loss on a ketogenic diet. Hence, not making them worthy products to add to one's low carb repertoire.

So what should I do with the crap I bought?

You might first ask for a little scientific evidence to back up the claims that MCT and Coconut Oil are useless on a ketogenic diet before throwing them out.

Nat

Ok, so if it IS ok.....? I bought it when someone posted here (CKD) that it helped get you into ketosis faster. I tried putting it in my coffee and, oops, wait a minute - !

Any other ideas?

Ok, I've read bits of arguments from both sides.
Is coconut oil bad or good for ketogenic diet fat loss?

This is what I've gathered from what people have said here

-it raises your body temp and gives you energy, thus it must be raising your metabolism. And you get good workouts(good)

-the statement above is NOT good because your body is burning coconut fat preferentially to your own body fat for energy, the way it would carbs.(bad)

Does anyone know the answer? Does anyone know where I can look for the answer?

Nat

Based on the following quotes (non from commercial sources--most from keto diet pages around controlling epilepsy), it would appear that MCTs are helpful in inducing Ketosis.

Personally I take MCTs every morning and am in ketosis within an hour!

Perhaps each body is different.


From:
http://www.mynchen.demon.co.uk/The%...enic%20diet.htm

A much more significant variant is the MCT oil diet. MCT stand for medium chain triglycerides, which are a particular type of saturated fat found in coconut oil. MCT oil is one of the wonder ingredients of the nineties, being used by athletes to improve their performance. MCT oil is special because although it is a fat, it metabolises quickly, like carbohydrate. It does this because it can pass directly though the intestinal wall into the portal blood system and thence to the liver where it is metabolised, instead of having to go via the lymphatic system like longer chain fats. The advantage of using MCT oil is that the diet can achieve a similar energy production balance to a normal diet, but can still deliver the necessary ketones. In the typical MCT diet, the proportions will be 35% fat, 35% MCT oil, 20% carbohydrate and 10% protein (a 2.3:1 ratio). Also, the total calorie intake is set at the normal level, rather than three quarters of normal, so the MCT diet is far less rigorous than the classical diet. There does not seem to be any very clear rationale for these variations from the classical diet, except the pragmatic one that it is claimed they work, although this claim is hotly disputed.


Or from:
http://www.tricare.osd.mil/OCMO/tec...ogenic-Diet.doc

A more recent modification to the classic ketogenic diet was devised in the early 1970s in an effort to make the diet more palatable. Medium chain triglyceride oil (MCT) was employed as the primary fat product. This oil is more ketogenic per calorie than other fats, and, thus, allowed a greater flexibility in other food items, while still maintaining a ketotic state. The type of ketogenic diet is referred to as the MCT diet (Huttenlocher et al. 1971).

from:

http://www.efnj.com/ketogenic.shtml

Eighty to ninety percent of the total energy intake in the ketogenic diet is derived from fat. The energy ratio of fat to carbohydrate plus protein should be 3:1 to 4:1. If medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is used, the percentage of energy from fat can be reduced. This is because MCT oil is absorbed more rapidly than other fats, is transport- ed directly to the liver, and thus induces ketosis more rapidly

Elsewhere on this board I've posted a recipe for a white omlette that replaces the yolk with MCT Oil. That's how I get mine, I also make a butter mix with MCT Oil to use on low carb bread.

where did you get the info about the coconut oil being stable for cooking?
I'm asking because I would love to read it I have read, I forget where that it should only be used on very low heats ie: no frying

However, if it is actually stable and good for cooking I would use it all the time.

So far I've wiped some onto my hot beef broccoli (no starchy sauce), put it in my coffee, used it as a dip for bacon and spread it on protein pancakes/bread with some cinnamon. Oh yeah, and rubbed it on my skin.
The broccoli was the most palatable.. other than the pancakes which I generally don't eat.

Meg

All saturated and mono unsaturated fats are more stable for cooking - this is why it is suggested you fry with olive oil or butter or a combination of the two. Or coconut oil

Nat

When you fry with it, does it retain the coconut flavor? I don't mind the taste of coconut per se, however, there are certain things that shouldn't be combined (co and coffee, co and eggs....gack!)

Coconut oil is naturally saturated and is an excellent frying and baking medium for foods. Based on the following article by Jane Heimlich (1991)*, coconut oil has many health benefits of which you may not have been aware.

This is a commercial listing, but is a paraphrase of an expert opinion at:

http://www.omeganutrition.com/articles/coconutoil.htm

I got my information on the safety of Coconut from the book,
"KNOW YOUR FATS" The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol by

Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D.

Dr. Enig is is among ohter things a Consulting Editor of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Her book is well worth buying and reading; it replaces a good but less academically sound book that helped reverse some of the misconceptions about fats created by commercial interests.

You mean, other fats don't give you energy? How is coconut oil supposed to raise your metabolism? By how much? I'm rather skeptical of that.

I have, however, read that polyunsaturated fatty acids may be able to increase the "apparent" metabolic rate by increasing the permeability of the mitochondrial membranes. To make a long story short, this results in less energy produced per gram of food burnt. The real metabolic rate is not increased, you just have to eat more to get the same amount of energy or, if you eat the same amount of food, you'll create a greater energy deficit. The degree to which this happens is an open question. There are other benefits of PUFA's, however, such as cell membrane fluidity and insulin sensitivity.



Any fat you eat will be burnt in preference to your own body fat.

Also, how much coconut fat are we talking here?

Isn't it easier to just eat less of whichever other fat is widely available and more convenient to use? I don't see the point of going nuts over something so exotic.