The coconut comes full circle: The tree of life rediscovered

(Part 2 of 3)

Scientific questions

A number of developments further led to a fall in the status of coconut oil, particularly in the US. During the 1960s to the 1980s, a number of research studies suggested that saturated fats, such as those found in coconut oil, palm oil and animal fat, tended to raise serum cholesterol, and therefore were unhealthy. In 1986, Ansel Keys published a study which correlated higher death rates with saturated fats. However, they did not distinguish among the different sources of saturated fats. Although the populations which were included in this survey — US railroad men, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Japan — were not coconut consuming countries, they nevertheless generalized their conclusions to include coconut oil.

In fact, an earlier 1981 study by Ian Prior on the Pukapukans who obtain 63 percent of their diet from coconut showed that there is no link between the consumption of coconut oil and vascular disease. However, this did not stop the American Soybean Association (ASA) from launching their marketing campaign in 1987 against coconut oil and palm oil in order to “increase market share for soybean oil.” The ASA asked the US Food and Drug Administration “to require food manufacturers to stop calling tropical fats ‘vegetable oils.’” In a concerted effort, US congressman Daniel Glickman introduced the Tropical Oils Bill in 1987 in the US House of Representatives to require special labeling for coconut oil and palm oil. With barriers such as these, the US market for coconut oil fell.

Later studies by Rodolfo Florentino on Filipinos, in particular Bicolanos, S. Lindberg on the Melanesians, P. Kumar on South Indians, and Nur Lipoeto on Sumatrans showed that there is no link between consumption of coconut and vascular and heart disease. In fact, societies such as the South Pacific islanders which abandoned a traditional coconut diet in favor of a Western diet have seen the rise of obesity and diabetes.

Hiding the truth

However, one can’t keep the truth hidden under marketing campaigns and even legislation. Today, there is a dramatic resurgence in interest in coconut oil because of its healthy properties and because the high soybean oil-based diet in the US is suspected to be linked to the rise of obesity and the many metabolic disorders which Americans are suffering from today. Likewise, many societies that adopted the modern diet and abandoned the coconut have been experiencing similar problems.

Today, as people are rediscovering the health benefits of coconut oil, we find that our scientific knowledge has been lagging behind. We must redouble our research efforts so we can discover the science behind its many health benefits.

(To be concluded)

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Dr. Fabian M. Dayrit is an Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology and member of the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. Chemistry degree from Princeton University. He is Dean of the School of Science and Engineering of Ateneo de Manila University, and chairman of the Conrado S. Dayrit Foundation, which is committed to the promotion of the coconut.