12 health benefits of coconut oil

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is one of the richest sources of saturated fat, a fat long considered to be unhealthy. Yet coconut oil is being touted as one of the healthiest oils you can consume. What’s wrong with this picture?

Unlike most other sources of saturated fat, including vegetable and seed oils and animal fat, which consist mainly of long-chain triglycerides, coconut oil is made up primarily of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). It turns out that chain size makes all the difference when it comes to your health.

Compared with long-chair triglycerides, the medium variety are absorbed and metabolized by the body differently. These differences are part of the reason coconut oil has been credited with a wide range of health benefits. Here are 12 of them.

Craig Cooper

By Craig Cooper

Craig Cooper is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and TV host of CNBC's "Adventure Capitalists". He is an “Ambassador” for both the global men’s health foundation “Movember” and 2XU, the performance sportswear company. He is the author of the Harper Collins book “Your New Prime: 30 Days to Better Sex, Eternal Strength, and a Kick-Ass Life After 40“. Follow Craig on Instagram @craigcooperrrr and Facebook.

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