Does coconut oil raise LDL like butter?
In 96 healthy adults, 50 g/day butter for 4 weeks raised LDL-C by ~0.4 mmol/L versus coconut or olive oil; coconut oil did not differ from olive oil on LDL and raised HDL-C.
Source
Randomised trial of coconut oil, olive oil or butter on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in healthy men and women
Study at a glance
- Design
- RCT — Community RCT in Cambridgeshire (BBC-recruited) assigning extra virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or unsalted butter 50 g/day for 4 weeks
- N
- N=96 · 96 randomised; 94 attended baseline; 91 completed 4-week follow-up
- Population
- Healthy volunteers aged 50–75 years without cancer, CVD, diabetes, or lipid-lowering drugs
- Outcome
- Change in serum LDL-C (primary); other lipids, weight, BP, glucose, CRP
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Does coconut oil raise LDL like butter?
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
96 randomised; 91 completed follow-up.
Of 160 individuals initially expressing an interest and assessed for eligibility, 96 were randomised to one of three interventions; 2 individuals subsequently withdrew and 94 men and women attended a baseline assessment.
Butter vs coconut LDL-C +0.42 mmol/L (95% CI 0.19–0.65).
LDL-C concentrations were significantly increased on butter compared with coconut oil (+0.42, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.65 mmol/L, P<0.0001)
What they did
BBC-recruited Cambridgeshire volunteers aged 50–75 were randomised to extra virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or unsalted butter (50 g daily for 4 weeks) with LDL-C as the primary endpoint.
What they found
Butter increased LDL-C vs coconut (+0.42 mmol/L) and olive oil (+0.38 mmol/L); coconut vs olive LDL change was −0.04 mmol/L (P=0.74). Coconut raised HDL-C vs butter (+0.18) and olive oil (+0.16). Weight, BMI, adiposity, glucose, and BP did not differ.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Four weeks in healthy volunteers cannot prove coconut oil is heart-safe or that it should replace guideline advice to limit saturated fat; events were not measured.
Key terms
- LDL-C
- Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; primary outcome and coronary-disease risk marker.
- HDL-C
- High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; increased more on coconut oil than on butter or olive oil.
- Extra virgin coconut oil
- Predominantly saturated fat (lauric-rich) compared here with butter and olive oil.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Predominantly monounsaturated fat used as the unsaturated comparator.
- TC/HDL-C
- Total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio; worsened more on butter than coconut oil.
- Non-HDL-C
- Atherogenic cholesterol fraction; rose more on butter than coconut oil.
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Randomised N was:
Common questions
How many were randomised?
96; 91 completed 4-week follow-up.
What was the dose?
50 g daily of coconut oil, olive oil, or butter for 4 weeks.
Primary outcome?
Change in serum LDL-C.
Did coconut oil match butter on LDL?
No—butter raised LDL vs both oils; coconut ≈ olive oil.
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