Sunday, 16 July 2017

椰油:隱藏的秘密

椰油被提倡或者過度宣傳為【保健聖品】已經不是一兩天的事情了。
我聽得最多的莫過於”喝椰油“來保持口腔健康、
提高新陳代謝而達到減重的效果、保護心臟機能等等的推廣噱頭。

身爲一名營養師,我對這個推廣噱頭有所保留。
最近,讀到一篇挺中立又專業的解説 ,促成我也想分享一些看法。

首先,我贊成文中所説的“現階段並沒有人體研究可以直接證實初榨椰子油對心血管具有保護效果”。 
對於人們最在意的“提高新陳代謝而減重”、對失智症有預防性或者治療性作用等等言論,
也都沒有直接的人體實驗證明。

在瞭解我們是否應該攝取椰油(甚至喝椰油)的時候,請問自己以下問題:

1. 您瞭解這”椰油“裏面脂肪酸的結構嗎?對於飽和脂肪(saturated fat)、
單飽和脂肪(monounsaturated fat)、多不飽和脂肪(polysaturated fat),您瞭解多少?

2. 您有沒有參考各國營養師協會、政府衛生機構、甚至心臟醫學協會的指引?
這些指引都是由一衆專家和研究結果堆砌出來的成果,可信度絕對比廠商的噱頭要高。

3. 減重:喝油(1克9卡路里)真的可以減重嗎?
在您什麽都沒做的情況下,身體機構就能因此年輕化而提高新陳代謝?

4. 對心臟有益:在飽和脂肪高達90%以上的產品上,能有這個保證嗎?
(請先瞭解,飽和脂肪會讓低密度(LDL)膽固醇提高,
因此提高血管阻塞、心臟病的風險)

5. 比起椰油,可信賴度較高、經實驗證明的橄欖油等,何嘗不是更好的選擇?

6. 還有很多天然食物擁有好的脂肪(單飽和脂肪、多不飽和脂肪)和抗氧化物質(antioxidant properties),包括蔬果、堅果等等。您不是別無選擇的,對嗎?

7. 一天的脂肪攝取量有限,您真的要讓【仍具爭議性的脂肪】浪費自己的配額嗎?

我并不反對偶爾選用椰油,爲食物增添風味,攝取不一樣的營養素。
我想説,均衡飲食在於【適量】攝取,而不該把某種食物當作【聖品】或【仙丹】。
每一種食物都有與之抗衡、互相輔助的功效。
您若也用了至少4年專攻營養學,您就會發現身體與食物之間存在著微妙的關係。

最後,食物不是唯一鑒定【健康】的因素。
更甚的是個人的生活習慣、生活姿態。
健康的生活是一生的旅程,活躍的生活姿態加上均衡的飲食攝取等等,環環相扣。
若對您需要飲食攝取上的建議,建議您請教營養師或者飲食治療師。
他們絕對可以針對您的情況,給予最恰當的建議。
請不要讓【人云亦云】、【網路先生】來告訴您,您該怎麽吃哦!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I happened to come across your article from FB, and it strikes my interest about this contradictory issue as well as I had a small research working on coconut oil and virgin coconut oil (VCO).

Going through the report of AHA which criticising the consumption of coconut oil and some other related articles, there are some latest explanations about the issue.

1. LDL does not equal to bad cholesterol, there are actually two types of LDL. Yes the bad one does harmful to heatlh, but the good one is essential to life for hormone and bile synthesis etc. Eating coconut oil increases both HDL and the "good" LDL, thus lowering the risk of heart disease.

2. Saturated fat-cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis is still an unproven say. In facts, saturated fats are very much needed by our body, even our brain is made up of saturated fats. Thus avoiding saturated fats is not a wise move.

There are still a lot more of interesting articles to review about the flawed dietary guidelines from AHA. For more you can simply get them from Google.

The world experts still suggest that 1-2 spoon of coconut oil per day, especially VCO would be good for health, but still it depends on people as we're all different.

BTW It's really good for your intention to educate the public with your knowledge, keep it up though! :)

Cheers!

Justbejess said...

Hi,
Thanks for reading my article and appreciate your comments. I believed you have got the main point here, it’s a “contradictory” issue. In other words, it has yet to gain sufficient scientific (especially clinical) evidence to proof its benefits. Under this circumstances, I am convinced that the market has other healthier oils that came with stronger evidence, for example olive oil and canola oil. Of course, if you could share with me your research findings with relevant journal articles, I would be more than happy for further discussion.
The information shared are not only based on AHA, but a few reliable government or professional organizations (such as ADA, DAA, Eatright, HPB SG and etc). Based on the latest explanations that you have pointed out, I would like to make a clarification.
1. LDL and HDL are lipoprotein transporters for cholesterol in the body, with different directions. (I believe you are aware of this). No doubt, cholesterol does have some important functions in the body, that is why our body is producing about 80% of our total cholesterol level. As I came across some information, it says small dense and large fluffy reacts differently towards heart disease. Unfortunately, there is insufficient evidence to support this theory, yet.
2. The hypothesis of high saturated fat raises cholesterol level have been strongly supported by various studies and medical professionals. Meanwhile, the relationship of high LDL cholesterol and risk of heart disease is also being proven by the numerous studies in the past. Talking about brain, the most abundant component is cholesterol, not saturated fatty acids. The fatty acids found in brain contains one or more double bonds, which are unsaturated fatty acids. That is why omega-3 fatty acids is essential for brain development. Also, we never advise people to omit saturated fatty acids from their diet, but keep it to minimal and obtain from natural sources like lean meat, fish and dairy products.
I believed there is always new updates from journal articles and peer reviews from medical professionals are very crucial before any updates published by reliable organizations like AHA, ADA, Eatright, DAA and etc. No doubt, Google provides a lot of information, which often is overwhelmed with a lot of myths, too. Would prefer you to communicate with your medical doctor or dietitians if you have more questions on the above.
Lastly, most dietitians and nutritionists including me, don’t recommend public to drink oil. In general, we believed it would be a wiser move to mix or cook it with our food for more palatable and nutritious food intake. Food intake is always good with balanced and variety options at moderation.
I appreciate your effort and time spent to discuss over this topic and hope the above could provide essential information to enhance your future research in health-related topics.
Nice day to you!

Jennifer Skelton said...

nice

Jennifer Skelton said...

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