We have already warned you about the dangers of sugar, but I’ll assume that because you’re an educated, high-class individual, you knew that already.

Now we’re here to tell you about the dangers of coconut oil.

Yep – coconut oil. The product you’ve been encouraged to cook with, put in your hair, on your skin and literally bath in is being described by Harvard professor Dr Karin Michels, in her speech “Coconut Oil and other Nutritional Errors”,  as “pure poison”.

Here’s the Telegraph with more details about why that bulk tub of coconut oil you are so proud of might not be such a great idea:

In the address (which was delivered in German and has been translated into English), Dr Michels described coconut oil as “pure poison” and said it was “one of the worst foods you can eat.”

Dr Michels also took aim at the entire health food industry, arguing that eating exotic super foods is “unnecessary” because we already get the same nutritional value from commonplace foods like carrots, cherries and apricots.

The speech will come as a blow to plenty in the health food community, who have advocated coconut oil as a substitute for vegetable or animal fats in cooking. The oil has also been used in lotions and moisturisers, in soaps, smoothies, coffee, and even in pet food.

It turns out this isn’t the first time that everyone’s favourite oil has been dragged:

Many health organisations around the world have queried the cult of coconut obsessives, including the World Health Organisation, NHS, British Nutrition Foundation, and British Heart Foundation. These organisations have all argued that saturated fats like those found in coconut oil are linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the British Heart Foundation, told the Telegraph: “Coconut oil is about 86 per cent saturated fat, about one-third more saturated fat than butter (52 per cent).” Diets high in saturated fat are associated with higher levels of LDL cholesterol – the bad kind of cholesterol, as opposed to HDL, the better kind – and high LDL cholesterol is a risk factor for coronary heart disease  and stroke.

OK, so maybe this stuff really can kill you.

Although, it’s not all doom and gloom for coconut lovers. Here are some folks who still think the oil is fab:

Lucy and Daisy Buckingham, the sisters behind lifestyle brand Lucy Bee, have authored books advocating use of the oil. The key, says Daisy, an associate nutritionist who has worked on the National Diabetes Prevention Programme, is to be sensible in your usage. “I’ve always said you can’t just focus on one food being good or bad.  You shouldn’t term anything good or bad because it doesn’t help people’s relationships with food. It’s not just one food that’ll hurt you, it’s a whole diet approach. Everything in relation to everything else you eat.

“We recommend having coconut oil alongside other healthy fats. When you label foods as just being ‘bad’ or ‘good’, it causes confusio. Recently it came out that drinking an extra glass of red wine will shorten your life by 30 minutes – but you also get reports saying the opposite. There’s always that back-and-forth around whether it’s good or bad, or good and bad.”

Basically, everything is going to kill you, so you might as well have a good time. Just cut back on the saturated fats while you’re at it.

For a sense of perspective, here’s Irish comedian Dylan Moran to take the edge off:

[source:telegraph]