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Can Coconut Oil Help With Weight Loss?

Can Coconut Oil Help With Weight Loss?

After I posted my last piece about burning off omental fat, I got a simple question from a reader named Rosemary that got me going over the hype about coconut oil. So rather than just give her my one liner:

“If you are asking whether coconut oil can help you lose weight, I can only say: Try it it might. It depends on what else is going on in your body.”

I realized the topic deserves a fuller discussion.

If Rosemary’s Fat Cells Could Talk, Here’s What They’d Tell Her

This article is continued below...(scroll down)
Kobe Bryant

It helped. I feel great.

"It’s helped. I feel great."

Kobe Bryant
NBA baskeball player
megyn kelly

This has been life changing

"Let me tell you this has been life-changing. I have all of her books, in audible and ebooks! I have gotten rid of all the hateful 8 oils. I have trained my body to eat its own previously toxic body fat. Download that pod it's a game changer!"

Megyn Kelly
Jesse Watters

Life changing

Deep Nutrition changed my life.

Jesse Watters
Fox News Primetime host

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. Prior to reading the book, it was almost impossible for me to lose weight as a diabetic. 

Leontyne Tompkins

I feel free

For the last month, I have really been reading all labels on everything. I have completely remove those 8 oils you talk about. I must tell you, I feel great! I have more energy and I am now 197 lbs (have always been around 205 to 210lbs). I eat potatoes with real butter, grass fed steak, pasta with the right toppings. I eat everything! I seem to crave less sugar. I love it! 

Robert Kirkendall

I feel so much better

I had terrible aches and pains everywhere in my body, my hands, shoulders and knees. I feel so much better and the way I feel is motivating me every day! Thank you

Mike Deb Wootan Burcin

Better than ever

I am an anesthesiologist in Orlando and a huge fan of both of your books! I have been incorporating your principles for the last 10 months and feel that my health is better than ever.

Marnie Robinson, MD

My allergies disappeared

The biggest difference for me (and a surprising one) is that my allergies have almost completely disappeared! This is a big deal for me, because I’ve had allergies most of my life and they have often affected what I do which is a teaching music in [a public school district].  In general, I feel much better and have more consistent energy throughout the day.

Erica Turrell

Heart Palpitations have Stopped

I’ve lost 20+ pounds (also fasting 16-24 hours daily) and haven’t had palpitations except for one occasion — I had a mini bag of Fritos for the first time in July. And, I feel better now on a daily basis than I ever did all through college.

Mike Wright
Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix reader
Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

I’ve lost over 50 pounds

I’ve lost over 50 pounds. I’m 56 years old. Cutting processed food and unhealthy fats from my diet was one of the first things I did on my health recovery journey...I went cold turkey off the bad oils. Emptied my pantry into the trash and just started eating real food

Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

Knowledge I didn’t know I needed

Your Fatburn Fix book is amazing, my friend. Thank you! I’m an Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and I know my stuff. This is the extra layer of knowledge I didn’t know I needed. Well done!

Jennifer Dillman
Fatburn Fix reader

Lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork is great

I have lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork (after 3 months of eating your way) was even better! I was metabolically healthy (per your book) before I read your book, but barely. Lowering my weight, sealed the deal! I have been talking about you and your book to anyone who will listen...Thank you for all you’ve done and what you continue to do! You are changing lives for the better!

Missy Cramer
FatBurn Fix reader

Lost 20 lbs I could never shed

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!

Lauren Smith

I feel great

My waist is four inches smaller. I feel great and many of the minor aches and pains that I had (knees and lower back) are gone. Also, my muscle tone is amazing, even though I have not increased my workout routine.

Richard Janelle
Completed Dr Cate's online course
Kent Matthes

The go-to for strength and conditioning coaches

Whenever I advise my clients about eating to perform I go straight to what I have learned from Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition has become the go-to for strength and conditioning coaches across the country.

Kent Matthes
Major League Baseball Agent with WME Sports
Ken D Berry

Dismantles the lie

Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.  

Ken D Berry, MD
Author of Lies My Doctor Told Me
Dr. Drew Pinsky

She knows the chemistry

Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.

Dr. Drew Pinskey, MD
Globally recognized internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist, media personality, LoveLine Host, and New York Times bestselling author
Kelly Starrett

No one is better at communicating nutritional truth

Dr. Cate has had the single greatest impact on how we talk to people about fueling for both performance or durability. While we all are a little unique, the foundational principles of human nutrition are immutable. If you are looking to create a more durable, resilient body, no one is better at communicating nutritional truth than Dr. Cate.

Dr. Kelly Starrett
Physiotherapist coach and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Brian Lenkzes

Highly recommend The Fatburn Fix

Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!

Dr. Brian Lenkzes, MD
CEO of LowCarbMD San Diego, co-host of Low Carb MD Podcast and host of Life's Best Medicine Podcast
Chris Kaman

Respected in the sports world

Dr. Cate reordered my diet when I was with the L.A. Lakers, and the benefits, for me personally, were felt immediately and have served me to this day. I’ve come to take real food so seriously I started a small family farm. I know of no M.D./nutritionist more respected in the sports world than Dr. Cate Shanahan.

Chris Kaman
NBA Player
Mark Sisson

Brought seed oil issue front and center

Cate brought the seed oil issue front and center. Healthy fats matter. So much so that I created an entire product line to swap out bad fats with good.

Mark Sisson
Founding Father of the Primal/Paleo Movement
Dallas Hartwig

Optimal health starts with food

If you want to understand how optimal health starts with food, start with Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition leaves you with an appreciation of the profound relationship between our genes and the planet, inspiring us to be good shepherds of both.

Dallas Hartwig
Attribution author of The Whole 30
Dwight Howard

Helped me with endurance

Deep Nutrition really helped me with endurance. I started to feel better as a player. I was able to run more, I was able to be more active …and I just decided to keep going with it to this day.

Dwight Howard
NBA Player
Paul Grewal

Silver bullet for me

Dr Cate’s teachings helped me lose 60 pounds like it was nothing. It was like a silver bullet for me.

Paul Grewal, MD 
Dr Grewal Internal Medicine, MD, author of Genius Foods
Joesph Mercola

Radically improve your health…

Dr. Shanahan has provided a solid reference that deserves a place in the library of anyone who is seriously interested in nutrition. Her perspective on the vital role that healthy fat has in our diet is novel and, if implemented, can radically improve your health.

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Author of Fat for Fuel and Founder of Mercola.com
Dave Aspery

Pull up a chair…

I have based my work on the idea that getting the right kinds of healthy fats into your body and avoiding the worst fats is essential to optimal health. I've interviewed dozens of the world's top experts about this, and I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on this topic than Dr Cate. If she’s talking fats, pull up a chair. Take notes.

Dave Asprey
Author of the Bulletproof Diet

The key to unlocking my fatburn

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  

Lauren Smith

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. 

Leontyne Tompkins

> Tears of joy

 I'm crying tears of joy and appreciation for all you've done for me and my health! Without Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix, I would literally still be in the vicious cycle I'd been fighting all my life! In a nutshell - I am no longer a compulsive overeating addict suffering under the crushing 'thumb' of all food and alcohol.     

Penni Wicks

 

“We fat cells are often depicted as balloons of lard, and our internal lipids visualized as a bland white paste. In reality, we are complex and biologically active warehouses for thousands of different kinds of molecules, each of which serves a valuable function in your body. Love us! Why won’t you love us??! [this is a Star Trek Next Generation reference, and it’s paraphrased]

All fats and oils you eat are important to us. Naturally occurring (ie before any processing) fats and oils that lie (lay?) under the skin of healthy animals or ooze from gently squeezed seeds contain dozens of different chain lengths and, depending on their source, potentially hundreds of other different kinds of nutrients, all of which we’d be pleased to see from time to time. Have a nice day!”

If you have belly flab from eating trans fat, lauric acid MIGHT unblock certain metabolic pathways

Coconut Oil–Healing Miracle or Hype?

So your question, Rosemary, which is an important one because people are talking about coconut like its some sort of miracle, is in my opinion inspired by distorted information and sensationalism–so no wonder health consumers are confused. It’s a little like asking: Which is better vitamin A or vitamin E. Both are not only good, but you also need them both. And a similarly mis-oriented question might be: Which is better for you broccoli or walnuts? Of course that is a silly one too, right? Both are good for you, and your cells must have access to the kinds of information contained in both.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

If your diet already contains something like the kind of chemical information in coconut oil, then coconut oil is of less value to you than if your body has been deprived. I personally don’t eat much coconut oil because I don’t happen to have easy access to it or recipes that require it.

Now if you have stubborn belly flab, that’s a different story. Here’s why:

Can coconut oil help you lose omental fat? MAYBE!

Does coconut oil promote weight loss?

If you are experiencing trouble losing belly flab or a weight loss plateau, or other obvious health problems, a high dose of lauric acid just may be the key that unblocks certain metabolic pathways often blocked by trans fat or excessive carb consumption. (Notice the words might and maybe.) The only way to find out is to try it for a while. It’s food, after all, it is not going to hurt you. Then if you don’t see any results after a few weeks, it’s not a healing miracle for you. If you do see impressive weight loss or your belly starts getting thinner, then you had a blocked pathway and now it’s fixed. And, here’s another bit of good news, you probably don’t need to continue buying coconut oil. (Unless you like it.)

The Plop Not Heard ‘Round The World

So if now I’ve got you worrying over whether or not your diet contains something like the nutrients in coconut oil, before you invest time in tabulating each and every nutrient in everything you eat, I’d like to point something out. Coconuts fall from the trees in abundance in the tropics. New England? Not so much. The Bedford cemetery out here in New Hampshire has headstones showing people lived into their 80s and 90s in the 1600s and I’m pretty sure they did it without coconut oil.

So is coconut oil an essential part of a healthy diet? NO! Not essential at all because we can get the same kinds of nutrients from a diet rich in a wide variety of other healthy foods. (Healthy meaning considering source and tradition…see my response to a question reader Matt posted here.)

With over two decades of clinical experience and expertise in genetic and biochemical research, Dr. Cate can help you to reverse metabolic disease and reshape your body.

Please note: Please do not share personal medical information in a comment on our posts. It will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

This Post Has 21 Comments

  1. Caramel Truffle Tea with Coconut Oil

    ONE LARGE MUG
    2 BAGS OF LIPTON CARMEL TRUFFLE TEA
    ONE TBSP EVCO [Extra Virgin Coconut Oil]
    ONE TBPS BLACK STRAP MOLASSES
    ONE HALF TO ONE TBSP HONEY

    POUR BOILING WATER OVER THE INGREDIENTS IN MUG AND STIR GENTLY WHILE STEEPING TO MELT THE COCONUT OIL

    1. Hmmm. That’s just about too much sugar for a weight-loss drink. 1 Tbsp of Molasses has about 15gm carb, as does the honey, so 30 gm total carb. I recommend keeping total daily carbs between 30-70gm for weight loss or maintenance of weight loss.

  2. I love sweet potatoes cut thin and browned till slightly crisp in coconut oil. A sprinkling of kosher salt gives just enough salt to the sweet.

  3. I use coconut oil in many different recipes. One of my favorite ways is in a breakfast “shake”. I start with raw eggs in the blender. Turn it on low and slowly stream melted coconut oil in. This will emulsify the coconut oil- so you won’t end up with chips and chunks when it’s cold. Then add milk, cream, vanilla extract (and fruit if necessary), or even nut butters and a little ice. Crank it up for a second (not to long or you’ll end up with a huge foam from the egg whites on top) and ENJOY!

  4. That’s a great tip about coconut oil. You’re the second person this week to say they love it in their coffee. I tried it and because I drink my coffee cold it was lumpy, but I’m bet it’s yummy all warmed up.

  5. Hi Dr. Cate! I love you by the way! 🙂
    the other day you or Sean posted a photo of people you respect and I think you can also include Dee Maccaffrey. She has several books out and is a very big supporter of coconut oil and has several recipes using it. This is her website:

    http://www.processedfreeamerica.org/

    I have the simplest recipe using coconut oil: I put a teaspoon in my coffee and milk drink. I know it may sound gross, but I love the taste and it feel like having a treat as I am trying desperately to kick the sugar habit. Thanks for all you do to inform the world about true nutrition.

  6. I am in the process of ordering your book. To all of those Vegans out there,if you truly feel fantastic on your diet so be it! I have tried it soooo many times and I get really sick!
    What I want to know from Cate is where can I purchase raw milk and grass fed meat and chicken etc from a reputable source? I live in Florida.

    Thanks

  7. I like to put an eighth or quarter of a teaspoon of coconut oil in my tea which is usually a spiced type like what we call “chai” (either black or green tea works). It gives tea a creamy mouth feel and is especially delicious when cream or coconut milk is added to it. Really nice, warm, creamy drink and satisfying.

  8. We just made veggie ‘burger’ patties (black beans, onion, peppers, spices), sauteing the veggies, then the patties, in coconut oil; we only used about 2T total of the oil. We didn’t notice any coconut flavor, and I’m finding it spatters less than butter. I’ll be using it for sauteing more in the future.

  9. This isn’t really a recipe, but I find coconut oil especially delicious when making a Thai curry-I just sauté meat and vegetables in it, and then add curry paste and coconut milk. It’s fast and easy, and so very good :o)

  10. The secret of coconut oil is in the quantity of oil required. For example, to fry two eggs I need about 5 grams of coco oil, 35 calories. If I use butter, 15 grams or 105 calories. It also cannot be stored in us humans, and will be burned, but that is more a mater of what is burned, not how much. coco oil could be dangerous if we were living on it with little else and gaining weight, but overdose would be difficult.

    1. Thank you for pointing out the amazing non-stick property of coconut oil.

      This may shock you, but I don’t worry about the calories in butter–high-quality grass fed butter especially. Such butter contains dozens of special fatty acids and scores of other valuable fat-soluble nutrients, all of which your body has a use for OTHER than burning for energy. Remember the caloric value is simply a measure of how much heat is produced by burning. If you eat fatty acids that can be used to build cell parts (phospholipids build cell membranes) or that can act as messengers (CLA activates fat cell apoptosis) these fats are unlikely to end up on your hips.

  11. Luna, thank you for pointing out more of the good science on coconut. Can you do me a favor and please post a recipe using coconut oil it that is low carb and not for a dessert?

    1. It is so easy to add it to the diet. You don’t really need recipes. Add a dolop to morning coffee or tea. Throw a dollop in yogurt, throw some in a pan for any sautee (add butter too if you like) It smells wonderful, but leaves little flavor when cooking w/ coco oil. I do taste it in my coffee, it almost tastes like flavoured coffee.
      I also throw a spoonful in my shakes.

      I buy mine at Trader Joes for half the price 5.99 for 16 oz. vs 12 or more at WF, etc.

  12. I found several testimonials gave positive feedback about coconut oil to reduce weight. Some said, by taking the coconut oil may reduce their appetite and cravings for fatty food, improve their energy levels are up and give a good complexion to their skin and not to mention, coconut oil is actually good for hair, skin, digestion and for healing as well. I personally don’t take coconut oil as an alternative to loss weight since I have regular body shape. But I would like to share some useful information that I’ve discovered from reliable sources on this article.

    As we all know that, coconut oil consists of more than ninety percent of saturated fats, with traces of few unsaturated fatty acids, such as monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Coconut oil is nature’s richest source of MCTs.  Not only do MCTs raise the body’s metabolism leading to weight loss, but they have special health-giving properties as well. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found patients lost weight when they included MCFA’s in their diet. In fact, they found patients lost more weight with a diet including MCFA’s compared to a diet with olive oil.

    Lipid researcher Dr. Jon Kabara states “Never before in the history of man is it so important to emphasize the value of Lauric Oils. Modern research has now found a common link between these two natural health products which is their fat or lipid content. The medium chain fatty acids and monoglycerides found primarily in coconut oil and mother’s milk have miraculous healing power. Coconut oil is nature’s most abundant source of lauric acid and medium chain fatty acids.

    If we are trying to lose weight with coconut oil, It is the best way by gradually introducing it into our daily diet. Playing a key role by eating nutritious diet and get plenty of physical activity such as exercise, will help in reaching our weight loss goals. I believe that coconut oil is not an instant cure for weight loss. It is healthy natural oil may help boost our metabolism and get us on the road to healthy manageable weight loss.

  13. Hi Cate: Thanks for your answer to my question. Actually, I did not ask it because I need or want to lose weight (I’m pretty lean), rather as some one perennially interested in health and always seeking to improve my own habits.

  14. Cate, there is no magic behind the coconut oil. but it gets magical when you discover it 🙂

    I know that being a saturated triglyceride has the super advantage of not oxidizing when not used. so, it wont go rancid easy. It’s fairly resistant to temperature so makes it a great candidate for cooking.

    I also know that medium chain triglyceride will get into ketone bodies very easy, providing mitochondrial fuel easier and faster than long chain triglycerides.

    I wont go in the Lauric fatty acid claims!

    Let me get to the fat-loss advantage now… One can get fat on coconut oil too. Quantity is the key. But a teaspoon of coconut oil straight on can create satiety and that’s something that will help to weight loss. So it will help, but indirectly!

    PS. I like the taste of it also. My wife was hesitant in the past but now learned to love it.

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