Essentially known for its beauty benefits, coconut oil is also often praised for its nutritional virtues. This 100% vegetable fat would have slimming properties since it would not be stored by the body – unlike butter, for example.
But is coconut oil really good for your health? Not sure, according to a new study carried out by the University of Campinas (in Brazil): researchers have discovered that daily consumption of coconut oil could promote the onset of type 2 diabetes and/or of obesity.
Coconut oil, potentially responsible for hormonal disruption
To reach this (worrying) conclusion, Brazilian researchers conducted an experiment with 60 mice: for 8 weeks, the rodents received 0.1 mL or 0.3 mL of coconut oil every day. For equal calories, these doses correspond to (approximately) 13 g of saturated fatty acids for a human being.
Verdict? At the end of the experiment (and after comparison with a control group), the Brazilian researchers discovered that the mice whose diet had been enriched with coconut oil responded less well to two particular hormones: leptin and insulin. . These are particularly involved in managing the feeling of hunger and in the production of energy by the body.
“Certain components of coconut oil seem to disrupt nerve signals allowing the proper use of leptin and insulin throughout the body, which, ultimately, could promote the emergence of chronic pathologies such as obesity and type 2 diabetes” underline the scientists. In short: coconut oil to lose weight (and vary your diet), why not… but not every day!
Source :Journal of Functional Foods
