Adding Coconut Oil to Diet may Reduce Fat

A new study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney has found that a diet rich in coconut oil can fight fat and also reduce insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes.

Nigel Turner and Jiming Ye compared the fat metabolism and insulin resistance in lab mice fed on coconut oil or lard -based diets.

"The medium chain fatty acids like those found in coconut oil are interesting to us because they behave very differently to the fats normally found in our diets," said study leader Turner. "Unlike the long chain fatty acids contained in animal fats, medium chain fatty acids are small enough to enter mitochondria - the cells' energy burning powerhouses - directly where they can then be converted to energy."

However he cautioned that these medium chain fatty acids could prove harmful to liver. The details of the study are available online in the journal Diabetes.


Source-Medindia
RAS