This idea is so persuasive that many people adopt a raw food diet, where food that is normally cooked is eaten 100% raw, or minimally heat treated through a process of dehydration.

So, it's no surprise that people, perhaps spurred on by some manufacturers looking for an edge to market their products, began to think that raw coconut oil was the most superior in terms of its' health benefits. Unfortunately, it seems in many ways they have been had. That's not to say that coconut oil products advertised as being raw are not good for you. They probably are. But those products are not any different in quality to a good quality virgin coconut oil with a decent lauric acid content (as most have).

Lauric Acid And Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCT) in Coconut Oil

Lauric acid is a fatty acid that is the single largest constituent in coconut oil - generally about 47%. Coconut oil itself is largely made up of saturated fats, which was the main reason it got such a bad rap for so many years. However, not all saturated fat is created equal. Coconut oil is actually predominantly made up of medium chain triglycerides like lauric acid. Most fats, whether they are saturated or unsaturated, are actually made up of long-chain fatty acids. So, most fats, even the fat of olive oil, is composed of long-chain triglycerides. (A triglyceride is actually an ester of glycerol bound to 3 fatty acids - depending on the type of fatty acid in the ester, you can have medium-chain triglycerides, long-chain triglycerides, and short-chain triglycerides).

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) differ from long-chain triglycerides (LCT) in how they are metabolized in the body, and their health effects. They are metabolized much more quickly, first being broken down to medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) in our digestive system, then diffusing directly into the liver via the hepatic portal vein. There, the liver makes them available to the rest of the body for energy. It doesn't tend to store them like it does other fatty acids. In many ways, medium-chain fatty acids are treated more like a carbohydrate than a fat when it comes to how the body uses them.

For a more detailed look at medium-chain fatty acids, and the differences between them and LCT, this is a great article. It aptly makes the point that as we age, our bodies make less pancreatic enzymes. Given that LCT are dependant on pancreatic enzymes to be metabolized, this may mean our ability to metabolize LCT declines as we age. The many people who suddenly find they can tolerate fatty food less as they get older, will probably testify to this. This may make MCT an increasingly important source of fat as we age. Certainly, it is MCT not LCT that are used in hospitals formulas for those who are seriously ill, and for babies.

MCT also:

* give the body an energy boost

* help regulate blood sugar level

* are anti-viral

* anti-parasitic

* anti-fungal

* anti-bacterial

* can improve human breast milk when taken by the mother

Coconut oil is made of approximately 66% medium-chain triglycerides. They are lauric acid (approx 48%), caprylic acid (approx 7.8%), capric acid (approx 6.7%), and caproic acid (approx 0.5%). (The exact % of each will vary depending on the source of coconut oil. These numbers were taken from two different sources - Wikipedia and Answers.com, hence there is a 3% difference. The coconut oil you buy will probably be different again - there is a natural variation).

Does 'raw coconut oil' offer any advantages with the medium chain fatty acids? No, none at all. As long as your coconut oil is virgin coconut oil, you will get the health benefits of the medium chain fatty acids. And there is no such thing as 'extra virgin' coconut oil, not in real terms. It is a marketing label that denotes no real difference in quality. The studies that have been done on coconut oil that show its' health benefits have used virgin coconut oil - not extra virgin coconut oil, and not 'raw coconut oil'

Enzymes

One of the supposed benefits of 'raw coconut oil' is that it contains enzymes. At least, that is what some people believe. Unfortunately, that's a flat out lie. Or, if your coconut oil does have enzymes in it, then its not a very good quality coconut oil.

A quick recap about the role of enzymes. To quote Wikipedia "Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e., increase the rates of) chemical reactions." So, they break down food - they increase the rate at which a food is broken down. Any coconut oil (or any other oil for that matter) that had enzymes in significant quantities would have a very short shelf life. The quality of it would deteriorate very quickly. Yet a good quality, virgin coconut oil should have a long shelf life, naturally. It is essentially a very stable fat - it withstands high heat compared to other vegetable oils, meaning that it is naturally trans fat free if it is virgin coconut oil.

To quote some experts on coconut oil (and nutrition):

"There are no enzymes in coconut oil, nor any other edible oil for that matter." - Mary Enig, Ph.D, a nutritionist/biochemist and the author of Know Your Fats.

"If you don't heat the oil high enough to destroy the enzymes and then filter them off, plus filter the oil, that oil becomes unstable and tastes terrible." Ray Peat, Ph.D, author of several articles on fats and oils, and coconut oil in particular.

"The good thing about coconut oil is that it isn't damaged by heat. That's why it's so good for cooking. It's the saturation that makes it stable. If coconut oil contains enzymes it would become very perishable - just like all raw foods containing enzymes." Lita Lee, Ph.D. - Lita is a chemist, enzyme nutritionist, nutritional counselor, and has written on coconut oil.

"Coconut oil does not contain enzymes. Many in the raw food movement are misinformed about this." Dr. Adiel Tel-Oren, M.D., medical doctor, doctor of chiropractic, licensed nutritionist, certified clinical nutritionist, frequent lecturer on the health benefits of coconut oil, and owner of the Ecopolitan, the largest organic raw food restaurant in Minneapolis. (These quotes are all taken from the Tropical Traditions website tropicaltraditions.com/enzymes_and_coconut_oil.htm)

As you can see from the above quotes, coconut oil doesn't need to have enzymes to be healthy! So the very idea of 'raw coconut oil', in the way we tend to think about needing a raw food to gain its' benefits, becomes a moot point.

But what about the heat? Isn't 'raw coconut oil' better because it is made with a lower (or no) heat? Is that true even compared with virgin coconut oil?

The answer is - No!

Raw Coconut Oil, Virgin Coconut Oil & The Issue Of Heat

All coconut oils are exposed to some level of heat - even the ones marketed as 'raw coconut oil'. Coconuts grow in the tropics, where it is very hot on a day to day basis. I live in the tropics - I can tell you, standing in the sun on a typical hot summers day, it is damn hot. Even in winter, it is very warm. And winter in the tropics doesn't last for very long - maybe a few weeks. The tropics tend to be differentiated by 'wet' and 'dry' seasons, rather than the traditional 'winter and summer'. It is hot for most of the year. Coconuts growing on the tree are exposed to this, and they do just fine.

Coconut oil tends to be shipped to North America in bulk, and then repackaged under different brands. The shipping containers that transport the coconut oil get very hot - they can go over 130 degrees. And if coconut oil is transported by truck anywhere in America in summer, those trucks can reach 125 degrees. Because it is a heat stable product, not a perishable, they are not shipped in refrigerated trucks - they don't need to be.

Coconut oil solidifies when the weather gets cooler. So, any bulk drums that need to be decanted into retail sizes in winter have to be heated to do this - even so-called raw coconut oil.

So, all coconut oil is exposed to some heat, even if it isn't in the manufacturing process. Fortunately, this doesn't spoil the product. It doesn't become hydrogenated (your cooking is very unlikely to turn it into hydrogenated oil either), it doesn't reduce the effect of the beneficial lauric acid. It doesn't even reduce coconut oils' antioxidant qualities, as studies on virgin coconut oil have measured. The only thing it does is erode the false marketing of so-called raw coconut oil.

Virgin Coconut Oil

There are no industry standards for making virgin coconut oil. However, most virgin coconut oil should

* be made from fresh coconut, not the dried out copra that refined, bleached and deodorized coconut oil is made from

* chemicals and high heat should not be used in its' processing

* can be wet milled and then either fermented, centrifugally separated, boiled, refrigerated, or processed with enzymes (which are then all removed) OR

* can be quickly dried (not at high heat) and pressed out mechanically

These different processes will all product a coconut oil that has a slightly different taste. But they all produce a good quality coconut oil product. In many ways, short of testing each batch for its' lauric acid content, it comes down to what taste you prefer. They will all smell like fresh coconut. Some smell stronger, and have a stronger coconut taste, others are much milder. But if its a virgin coconut oil that matches those qualities, you can be assured you're getting a good product. No need to fall for the 'raw coconut oil' hype.

To summarize all this - the medium-chain fatty acids are what make coconut oil special, not any enzyme activity. And all coconut oil is exposed to some heat. But as long as you choose virgin coconut oil, you can be assured you are getting all the benefits of coconut oil.