Coconut cholesterol: a few facts

Information on Coconut

Coconuts grow on coconut palms which come from the family ofpalms, botanically referred to as arecaceae. The botanical name of the coconutpalm itself is cocos nucifera. It is the only species in the genus of cocos.The palm is a large one, and it can grow up to 98ft in height and its leavescan be up to 20ft long. Old leaves always break away rather easily so the trunkalways remains smooth afterwards. The term coconut can actually refer to thefruit, the seed or the entire palm.

Information on Cholesterol

Choresterol is a steroid metabolite which is located in thecell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all species of animals.It is a waxy component of all mammalian cell membranes and it is one of themost important ones because its main purpose is to maintain proper fluidity andpermeability of the cells. It is also one of the main components in theproduction of vitamin D, steroid hormones and bile acids. It is a type ofsterol mostly synthesized in animals, but fungi and plants may also synthesizeit in significantly smaller amounts. It is almost completely absent indifferent sorts of bacteria. Even though cholesterol is highly beneficial forthe lives of all animals, abundant amounts may be an indication of heartdisease and several other serious medical conditions. The name cholesterol originates from theGreek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for analcohol. Cholesterol was first identidied in 1769 by a French chemist FrançoisPoulletier de la Salle. It was first named cholesterine by Eugène Chevreul acouple of years later.

Coconut Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not yet fully understood by the scientificworld. There are actually two main types. The HDL or the high densitylipoprotein is the type of cholesterol which is considered to be good. LDL orthe low-density lipoprotein is the bad type of cholesterol because it has atendency to stick to the walls of the arteries and raise the risk of heart attacks.It is not yet fully determined whether coconut cholesterol can be consideredgood or bad. Unsaturated fats miss some hydrogen atoms and are liquid at roomtemperature. Monounsaturated fats miss only one pair of hydrogen atoms. Thesecan be found in peanut oil, olive oil and canola oil. Polyunsaturated fats missone or more pairs of hydrogen and they can be found in soybean oil, saffloweroil and corn oil. Saturated fats, like coconut oil are usually sourced fromanimals. Coconut oil is very efficient in balancing the cholesterol levels andpreventing numerous different types of severe medical conditions.