Is coconut oil good for you? Is it bad for cholesterol?

Coconut oil is a popular oil for cooking which is made from pressing the white flesh found inside coconuts. It's solid at room temperature, but turns into a liquid when heated.

However, despite widespread health claims, current research does not support the idea that coconut oil is a heart-healthy fat.

Is coconut oil bad for cholesterol?

Coconut oil is about 86 per cent saturated fat, about one-third more saturated fat than butter (52 per cent).

We know that diets high in saturated fat can raise bad (LDL) cholesterol in the blood, and high cholesterol is a risk factor for having a heart attack or stroke.

You might come across claims that some of the saturated fat in coconut oil, especially lauric acid, does not raise cholesterol in the same way as the saturated fats in butter or fatty meats.

This idea partly comes from comes from research using pure MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil, which is made up of 100 per cent medium-chain fats.

These MCTs are absorbed quickly by the body and are used for energy rather than being stored as fat. Because they’re processed differently in the body, they also do not raise blood cholesterol.

However, the MCTs used in these studies do not include lauric acid.

It’s important to know that while lauric acid is technically a medium-chain fat based on its chemical structure, it behaves more like a long-chain saturated fat in the body, requiring digestion rather than providing rapid energy.

Coconut oil is mostly made up of lauric acid, which is sometimes labelled as an MCT, but its effects on cholesterol are more similar to those of the longer-chain fats found in butter and fatty meat.

Studies comparing coconut oil with other oils consistently show that:

• The saturated fat in coconut oil, including lauric acid, raises ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol.
• Coconut oil can also raise ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, but this does not cancel the increase in LDL.

When it comes to keeping cholesterol levels healthy, the advice remains the same: replacing saturated fats like those found in coconut oil with unsaturated fats like rapeseed, olive and sunflower oil, is still the most effective way to help reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol levels.

Coconut oil can still be used, but like all oils, in moderation.

Can you use coconut oil for weight loss?

You may have also heard that coconut oil can help with weight loss because it contains MCTs, which are sometimes linked to more calories being burned or a reduced appetite. But again, most of these studies used purified MCT oil, not coconut oil.

A large analysis published in 2025 looked specifically at coconut oil and body weight. It included 15 trials involving more than 600 people and looked at a wide range of daily coconut intakes – from 10 to 50g a day, around 1 to 3½ tablespoons – to see whether it affected body weight, body mass index (BMI) or waist size.

Across all these intakes, there was no evidence that coconut oil helped with weight loss, reduced BMI or waist size.

Taking higher amounts did not make any difference either.

To put the amounts into context, 10 to 50g of coconut oil a day provides around 90 to 450 calories – a significant number of calories in 1 go.

Those extra calories can build up quickly.

The researchers concluded that using coconut oil to manage your weight is not recommended.

The takeaway on coconut oil

You do not need to avoid coconut oil altogether. If you enjoy the flavour in a curry or stir-fry, using it occasionally is fine.

But for everyday cooking, using moderate amounts of unsaturated oils like olive, rapeseed, or sunflower oil are the healthier choice for your heart and waistline.

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