Can Coconut Oil Really Help Me Lose Weight? I want to start cooking with coconut oil since I read that women who did so dropped two jean sizes in a month. But my sister says that, because it’s a saturated fat, coconut oil would actually make me gain weight. Who’s right?
You are. Even thought coconut oil is a saturated fat, it’s a “specialized” fat comprised of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which have been proven to help women lose up to 40 pounds in a year. That’s because MCFAs stimulate thermogenesis, the process by which the body generates energy by increasing its metabolic fat-burning rate. For the fastest slim down, opt for a non-copra oil (virgin oil made from fresh coconut meat), not copra (one made from dried meat). Since copra isn’t fit to eat, it must first be refined, bleached and deodorized (labels will read “RBD”), a process that depletes health-enhancing nutrients and replaces slimming MCFAs with weight-sabotaging trans fats. Simply use coconut oil in place of cooking oil, butter, margarine or shortening, or mix it into warm beverages.
