Coconut oil vs Butter. Which one is best? - - Let's briefly describe the entities of both before I begin. Both are essentially a saturated fat source. One from coconut and the other from dairy. 82% of coconut oil is saturated fat, whilst 63% of butter is saturated fat. Coconut oil is seen as the 'savior oil', whilst butter is a washed up old foost which was big in the 50s, but apparently not now. - - Is saturated fat bad? Well, the scientists cannot make their mind up, but from the meta analysis that I've seen, particularly from the association of dietary circulating and supplement fatty acids with coronary risks, in 76 studies containing 643,226 participants, they found no link between saturated fat and heart disease. Furthermore, that saturated fat had been shown to raise HDL cholesterol (the good one), and change LDL cholesterol from small (the bad one), to large (which is mostly benign). Interesting. - - With this in mind, neither of the above are bad for you as much as neither are good for you. Does coconut oil carry overwhelming health/fat loss benefits compared to butter or lard? I think it's maybe a better idea to look at the bigger picture. What does your energy balance look like? How many nutrients do you consume from main food sources? Sometimes getting caught up in the small details is not necessary. - - As you can see, the simple facts are that both are very similar in terms of calorie density, whilst coconut oil contains more saturated fat. Therefore in terms of body composition, both will be fairly equal based on equal consumption. - - What about olive oil you say? In terms of energy balance, olive oil is slightly higher in calories than coconut oil and butter. In terms of fat breakdown it's mostly monounsaturated, contains a small amount of omega 3 and a good whack of omega 6 - which supports heart health. Maybe the benefits of olive oil has cast a shadow on the likes of butter, which seem to be pretty benign in terms of affecting heart health ????. Enjoy them all, but be aware. - - - #thefitnesschef #coconutoil #butter #saturatedfat #healthychoices #oilfacts

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