- We've been talking a lot on
the show about coconut oil.
A lot of circles, they
call it a super food.
A lot of recipes out there.
Celebrities, nutritionists saying add more
and more and more coconut oil.
I'll start with you this time, Dr. Miller.
- So I have again a moderate
view on coconut oil.
We know it's a saturated fat.
But I think the best evidence
is to look, it's a tropical oil,
and if you go to islands
where there's a lot of tropical oil use,
coconuts are eaten every day
and yet the risk of heart disease is low.
It's not high.
Now there processed foods
are not being consumed
but there's a lot of fruits and vegetables
and people are active.
By and large, if coconuts
were that much of a problem,
then people eating it on a daily basis,
how come we're not seeing
the risk of heart disease skyrocket?
- And you're saying not so fast.
- So I want to point that first,
coconut has the most saturated fat.
So it has more saturated
fat than butter and lard
in most cases.
And most of us, and most
cardiologists would agree,
that saturated fat is really not a friend
of the cardiovascular
system, so that's one.
- Do you think it varies though
versus a plant source of saturated fat
versus and animal source of saturated fat?
- It may, just we don't have enough data
to make that conclusion.
And so, in fact, and these
are much more current
when we talk about guidelines,
the American College of Cardiology,
American Heart Association
guidelines specifically say
to not use tropical oils.
And to his point,
if you go to an island nation
where there's no fast food
and people aren't eating meat
regularly and cheese regularly
there's no cheese at all
in many of these places,
then there's probably going
to be lower disease, period.
And so the coconut, it's a little bit hard
to do a perfect study that way.
There's a little bit
of a confounder there.
- That's exactly so.
The show just sent me to Tahiti
to look at the health situation in Tahiti
and they cook everything
in their coconut oil.
They use it, it's ubiquitous.
They're very healthy people.
- But I also think, Drew, it highlights
something that is very important.
Very quickly a food can go,
either we think it's terrible for us,
and we don't touch it,
to super food status.
And coconut oil, I use it now,
but what I do not like is when people say,
okay, olive oil, which a
lot of really good studies
on olive oil, and they'll say,
"I never touch olive oil anymore,
all I use is coconut oil."
You gotta be very careful there.
- That's the health halo effect.
Once something has some good data for it,
you just think it's great for everything.
- And if one tablespoon of coconut oil.
- More is better, right?
- The other point about
some types of coconut oil,
the refined coconut oil
has a high smoke point.
And it turns out, a lot of oils that,
may not be as good for you if
you get up to the smoke point,
that is much lower than
the refined coconut oil.
And if it gets to that smoke point,
then you're at risk of
toxins being produced.
- Well that's, olive oil's a good example
of an oil like that.
- I do want to point out one other thing
that most of us have forgotten,
but back when animal experiments
were much more common,
we would feed hamsters
and rats coconut oil
to induce atherosclerosis,
heart disease, for studies.
So you know, I think, and
it's still done today.
So I think we really need
to be careful with it.
And I would say, don't get me wrong,
it's absolutely decadent,
but that doesn't mean
we should be eating it
in unbelievable quantities.
- I think moderation in both points,
right, for eggs as well as coconut oil.
- They were pouring the coconut oil
down those hamsters' mouths, so,
it really is how much you're
feeding those animals.
- So is the lesson here,
and I think I would rather
the lesson be a positive one,
which is there is a lot of confusion,
and the studies often come out
and they force us to change course.
And that's why if you practice
balance and moderation,
at least you'll never look back and say,
"Oh gosh, I wish I hadn't eaten
ten pounds of coconut oil every week."
You just have to be very careful
and I do want to mention,
Dr. Miller has a book
called Heal Your Heart
that is available
everywhere books are sold.
And gentlemen, I'm very happy
that you can both be friends
and great cardiologists yet also disagree.
(applause)
Thank you for joining us.
More to come, folks.
