Randomised trial of coconut oil, olive oil or butter on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in healthy men and women

Study answer

What this study found

Butter increased LDL-C more than coconut oil and olive oil over 4 weeks (approx +0.38–0.42 mmol/L); coconut oil did not differ from olive oil for LDL-C and slightly lowered LDL-C vs baseline. Coconut oil significantly increased HDL-C compared with butter or olive oil. Butter increased TC/HDL-C ratio and non-HDL-C versus coconut oil. No significant differences between groups for weight, BMI, central adiposity, fasting glucose or blood pressure; coconut oil reduced C-reactive protein vs olive oil. In practical terms, olive oil remains favorable for LDL-C; coconut oil behaves more like olive…

Study & population

Randomised parallel-group clinical trial conducted in the general community in Cambridgeshire, UK (June–July 2017).

Intervention

Consume 50 g daily for 4 weeks of one of: extra virgin coconut oil, unsalted butter, or extra virgin olive oil; may be substituted for other fats or taken as a supplement within usual diet.

Key limitation

Short 4-week duration; not blinded to the intervention; pragmatic design with no control of total energy intake; no objective biomarker of fat adherence (no blood fatty acid profiling); highly selected BBC-recruited volunteers which may limit generalisability; results address intermediate lipid markers rather than…

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Original abstract