Coconut Oil: The Fat-Burning Fat

What if there were an amazing fat source that tasted, well, like fat, but also helped you burn other fat? There is. It’s virgin coconut oil, a rising star in the nutritional world.

by Brad Chase, BodyBuilding.com

What comes to mind when you see the word “thermogenic?” Heat, probably, since the word itself means “heat generating.” Or maybe you think of a stimulant supplement like caffeine which is known to speed up your metabolism and increase energy expenditure. Maybe you’re taking one of these right now, in the hopes of slimming down. One thing you probably don’t think of is a coconut €”and especially the oil extracted from its flesh. Not that long ago, coconut oil ruled alongside partially hydrogenated soybean oil as the worst of the “bad fats.” Maybe you know them by their other name: trans fatty acids. These were the fats that were shown in repeated studies to increase the risk for heart disease and obesity, in addition to being linked to everything from depression to infertility. They’re the reason you stopped buying movie-theater popcorn!

Given that reputation, it’s OK if you’re skeptical about what I’m going to say next: Coconut oil is shaping up to be one of the world’s premier natural thermogenic agents. But before you go running to the Cineplex, there’s a catch: The processed coconut oil of the past has about as much in common with the healthy virgin coconut oil as Chief Wiggum does with Robocop.

Intrigued? You should be. Let’s crack open the coconut for a closer look.