How Did Coconut Oil Get Such a Bad Reputation?
Beginning in the 1950s, public opinion towards saturated fats in general, and then later towards coconut oil in particular, began to turn negative. This history of the edible oil industry in the US has been well documented by Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D., and can be read at www.coconutoil.com or at the Weston Price Foundation website (www.westonaprice.org). Her articles “The Oiling of American” and “Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century” provide in depth analysis of the saturated fat research, and the negative campaigns that have been waged against coconut oil. The anti saturated fat theory apparently began in the 1950s, with the steep rise of heart disease. While heart disease probably caused no more than 10% of all deaths in the U.S. prior to the 1920s, by the 1950s it had risen to more than 30% of all deaths. Researchers were looking for the cause of this new threat to the nation’s health. Some researchers suggested that cholesterol levels were the problem, and that saturat
