Coconut Oil Is "Pure Poison", Says Harvard Professor

Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).  It has various applications. Because of its high saturated fat content, it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to six months at 24 °C (75 °F) without spoiling.Due to its high levels of saturated fat, the World Health Organization, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Food and Drug Administration, American Heart Association, American Dietetic Association, British National Health Service, British Nutrition Foundation, and Dietitians of Canada advise that coconut oil consumption should be limited or avoided.

A 50-minute German lecture becoming a viral hit on YouTube might sound unusual, but the title of the talk by Karin Michels, the director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg and a professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, has caused a bit of a stir online.

During the lecture, titled "Coconut Oil and other Nutritional Errors," Michels has made herself very clear with regard to dietary recommendations, and underlined that coconut oil is not healthy. Its superfood status had already come under scrutiny last year after the American Heart Association (AHA) updated its guidelines, which recommended that people avoid the saturated fatty acids found in coconut oil.