ReviewNutrients2025
Analysis of 26 Studies of the Impact of Coconut Oil on Lipid Parameters: Beyond Total and LDL Cholesterol.
Review in Nutrients, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Foods to Prevent Cardiometabolic Disease: Moving from "Saturated Fat" to "Whole Foods".Current developments in nutrition · 2026Review
- Plant Oils in Sport Nutrition: A Narrative Literature Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Article
- Serum uric acid-to-HDL cholesterol ratio and stroke prevalence: NHANES 1999-2018 with external support from an imaging-confirmed hemorrhagic stroke dataset.Frontiers in neurologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Coconut oil (CNO) is often characterized as an "artery-clogging fat" because it is a predominantly saturated fat that ostensibly raises total cholesterol (TChol) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C). Whereas previous analyses assessed CNO based on the relative effects on lipid parameters against other fats and oils, this analysis focuses on the effects of CNO itself. Here, we review the literature on CNO and analyze 984 lipid profile data sets from 26 CNO studies conducted over the past 40 years. This analysis shows considerable heterogeneity among CNO studies regarding participant selection, the amount consumed, and the study duration. The analysis reveals that, overall, CNO consumption gives variable TChol and LDL-C values, but that the HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) values increase and triglycerides (TG) decrease. This holistic lipid assessment, together with the consideration of lipid ratios, shows that CNO does not pose a health risk for heart disease. Because the predominantly medium-chain fatty acid profile of CNO is significantly different from that of lard and palm oil, studies using these as reference materials do not apply to CNO. This paper concludes that the recommendation to avoid consuming coconut oil due to the risk of heart disease is not justified.
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Registered trials
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