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Surarong Chinwong [1] and Dujrudee Chinwong [1] and Ampica Mangklabruks [2]

Academic Editor: Norman Temple

1, Department of Pharmaceutical Care, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, cmu.ac.th

2, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, cmu.ac.th

Received Jul 20, 2017; Revised Oct 31, 2017; Accepted Nov 16, 2017

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Consumption of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in rich diets has been attributed to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1]. In populations consuming a Western diet, the replacement of 1% of energy from SFAs with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can lower LDL-cholesterol and subsequently reduce the incidence of CVD by 2-3% [2]. Indeed, several guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease recommend decreasing the intake of SFAs to reduce the risk of developing CVD [1, 3–6]. Coconut oil contains a high amount of SFAs and for this reason its consumption should be reduced to a maximum of 10% of total energy intake [1]. Coconut products (coconut meat, milk, and oil) have been consumed as part of traditional food in Thailand, but its consumption has declined over the last 20 years as people have been informed they should avoid consuming foods high in SFAs. Nevertheless, the prevalence of CVD and risk factors for CVD in the Thai population have increased over this period of time [7, 8]. A review of population studies by Kaunitz and Dayrit in 1992 found that consumption of dietary coconut oil did not lead to higher serum cholesterol levels nor to a higher rate of mortality or morbidity related to CVD [9]. Coconut oil is now receiving attention as a functional food oil [10] and its consumption has dramatically risen in recent years. Coconut oil, especially virgin coconut oil (VCO), has been claimed to have beneficial effects on health [11, 12] and there are multiple product literature sources, magazine articles, web sites, and books promoting its use [13]. Unfortunately, the claims made for VCO are not supported by robust scientific evidence [14] and as yet there has been no published study...
 
       

  

     

  

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