Using Better Ingredients

Using Better Ingredients

The main topic of this post will be on the coconut oil controversy. As I mentioned in my introduction post, I’ve been trying to switch to using better ingredients when baking. It’s been a long process, and there’s a lot I still need to learn. Different ingredients react differently with each other at different temperatures. This is a main reason developing these recipes takes a long time.

I wouldn’t call my recipes “healthy”, but they are definitely reduced guilt. As of a couple months ago, I don’t use refined sugar. Instead, I use maple syrup or erythritol and a little bit of blackstrap molasses, which has a lot of health benefits^[1-9]. The eggs I use are farm fresh, which have higher nutritional content than store-bought eggs. Some of them also have a deeper orange yolk!

In addition, I use coconut oil instead of butter. I know that coconut oil in baking is a controversial topic, so here’s the science behind it. I’m going to use peer-reviewed primary research to present some of the claims. This contrasts with pseudoscience, which a lot of the media tend to use to stir up controversy.

Coconut Oil: Good or Bad?

Some of you may have read/heard Harvard adjunct professor Karin Michels claim coconut oil as “pure poison”. But that’s all it was: a claim. Where is the science to back it up? After looking into the scientific literature myself, I couldn’t find many studies to support Dr. Michels’ claim. I speculate that the origin of this claim is in the levels of saturated fats found in coconut oil. However, a meta-analysis published in 2015 showed that saturated fats do not necessarily correlate with mortality^[10].

In addition, some confusion might be due to the effects of coconut oil versus virgin coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil extracted directly from fresh coconut meat. In contrast, coconut oil is extracted from dried coconut meat and is further refined. Some articles in the scientific literature do not distinguish between these^[11], further adding to the confusion when trying to interpret the results. When buying coconut oil I always buy virgin and unrefined, as it contains more nutritional benefits.

Virgin coconut oil is linked to better lipid profiles and a reduction in abdominal obesity^[12-13]. In addition, it contains a plethora of antioxidants and plant sterols known to reduce cholesterol levels and improve control of blood sugar in diabetics^[14-15]. This article also notes that virgin coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglyercerides, which are readily burned by the body.

Conclusions

So there you have it: a quick note about the health benefits backed by research. Of course, there are a whole lot of other studies out there, but these are just a few that I found. Links are in the references section, in case you want to check them out! For those of you wanting to read primary research articles, I typically use PubMed or Google Scholar: two databases that house a multitude of peer-reviewed scientific research papers. Here are the PubMed and Google Scholar links you can use to do some research for yourself on virgin coconut oil.

As usual, comments, conversations, feedback, and messages are always welcome!

References

^[1]“5 Blackstrap Molasses Benefits”. Brian Krans: Healthline Media. Retrieved October 9th, 2018.
^[2]Apostolidis et al., 2011. In vitro evaluation of phenolic-enriched maple syrup extracts for inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes relevant to type 2 diabetes management. J Funct Foods. 3(2):100-106.
^[3]González-Sarrías et al., 2012. Anticancer effects of maple syrup phenolics and extracts on proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest of human colon cells. J Funct Foods. 4(1):185-196.
^[4]Guimarães et al., 2007. Antioxidant activity of sugar molasses, including protective effect against DNA oxidative damage. J Food Sci. 72(1):C039-43.
^[5]Payet et al., 2006. Comparison of the concentrations of phenolic constituents in cane sugar manufacturing products with their antioxidant activities. J Agric Food Chem. 20;54(19):7270-6.
^[6]Pietta, 2000. Flavonoids as antioxidants. J Nat Prod. 63(7):1035-42.
^[7]Scalbert et al., 2005. Dietary polyphenols and the prevention of diseases. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 45(4):287-306.
^[8]Valli et al., 2012. Sugar Cane and Sugar Beet Molasses, Antioxidant-rich Alternatives to Refined Sugar. J Agric Food Chem. 60:12508−12515.
^[9]Yao et al., 2004. Flavonoids in food and their health benefits. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 59(3):113-22.
^[10]de Souza et al., 2015. Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. BMJ. 351:h3978
^[11]Cox et al., 1995. Effects of coconut oil, butter, and safflower oil on lipids and lipoproteins in persons with moderately elevated cholesterol levels. J Lipid Res. 36:1787-1795
^[12]Nevin and Rajamohan, 2004. Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation. Clin Biochem. 37(9):830-5.
^[13]Assunção et al., 2009. Effects of dietary coconut oil on the biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting abdominal obesity. Lipids. 44(7):593-601.
^[14]Carandang, 2008. Health benefits of virgin coconut oil. PJCS (2).
^[15]Nevin and Rajamohan, 2006. Virgin coconut oil supplemented diet increases the antioxidant status in rats. Food Chem. 99(2):260-266.