At a time when all edible oils are being dumped by health conscious consumers, fearing cholesterol-related problems, experts have batted for coconut oil.

At a seminar on 'Coconut oil in human nutrition' held here recently, B M Hegde, former vice-chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, said coconut oil is the ideal fat next only to mother's milk, as the lauric acid in coconut oil gets converted inside the human system into monolaurins, the best fat that mother milk has.

Further he said: "Other than mother's milk, monolaurins are found only in coconut oil." New babies and infants depend on monolaurins for their immune system development and their capacity to withstand infection.

In addition, coconut oil can be digested by salivary lipase, which helps in it getting absorbed very fast to give energy like carbohydrates.
The seminar, organised by the Coconut Development Board, witnessed several experts pitching in for the coconut oil.

The best alternative food fat for the infant when mother's milk is not available is coconut oil. Other fats might be dangerous, experts said.

According to Prof Hegde, coconut oil got the boot in the west as newer polyunsaturated fats came in a big way and thousands of industry-funded scientific studies proclaimed that coconut oil was bad because it is a saturated fat.

He said all saturated fats were said to be the reason for the cholesterol-induced epidemic of coronary disease.

The polyunsaturated fats have been shown to be dangerous and a search for better fats has landed researchers in the backyard of coconut palms, the cholesterol myth notwithstanding.

Stating that coconut oil is a low-calorie fat, he said it helps control body weight. It also helps control blood fat levels in diabetics.

Because most of coconut oil is medium-chain fats, it gets absorbed and metabolised so fast that it rarely gets transported to fat deposits, unlike other fats.

According to Prof Hegde, coconut oil contains so many anti-oxidants that it resists oxidation even if preserved for as long as a year, whereas all other fats would have been already oxidised and have become trans-fatty acids by the time they come to the store shelves.

Coconut oil resists oxidation even on boiling at 76 degrees centigrade. So, there are no trans-fats in it.