advertisement

watch: the #coconutoil for nausea trend has dietitians raising their eyebrows

there are many ways to soothe queasiness that make more sense than eating coconut oil, say the experts.

one of the many “superfoods” of the 2000’s, coconut oil has been said to be beneficial for everything from hair health to weight loss to wound healing. while many of the claims about coconut oil have been debunked, there’s one that’s still hanging around the tiktok sphere — that eating a spoonful of coconut oil can help with nausea . and it has dietitians raising their eyebrows.

for amy yiu, a registered dietitian and president and founder of libra nutrition , the thought of eating an oil to help with nausea isn’t logical.

“coconut oil is a fatty food and usually eating fatty foods might not help or even make nausea worse,” yiu explains.

one review of the research available found that, in general, adding fat to a meal can increase symptoms of bloating and nausea in patients with indigestion. stomach sensitivity to distension (swelling) seem to be exacerbated by the ingestion of fat.

yiu says that a better plan of action is to find the root cause of the nausea — for example, migraines, headaches, or motion sickness — and treat it accordingly. if nausea persists, altering how much and when you eat can help keep the symptoms at bay.

“specifically for nausea there are more important strategies that can help with nausea include[ing] ensuring you have small, frequent mini meals and snacks rather than large meals and long gaps between eating,” andrea holwegner, a registered dietician and ceo of health stand nutrition consulting inc. , explained by email. “sipping on water and liquids between meals rather than at meals, as well as choosing bland, non-spicy, non-aromatic foods, can be helpful as is consuming ginger and lemon based foods.”

advertisement

advertisement

coconut oil not the best idea for morning sickness

some tiktokers are claiming that coconut oil is a great bet for morning sickness, but yiu also explains that it’s probably not going to help. instead, along with eating smaller meals and including ginger in your diet, she recommends drinking small amounts of water at a time (rather than chugging half the bottle when you get thirsty) and not eating and drinking at the same time — the goal here is to limit how much you’re giving your digestive system to handle at one time. eating some crackers when you wake up may also help with nausea symptoms.
working with a health care provider and a dietician trained in prenatal nutrition is key to making sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need while coping with morning sickness.
 

coconut oil: the fan favourite that is high in saturated fats

while coconut oil may have some beneficial properties, social media has overblown the positive health impacts and downplayed its risks.

the key compounds that give coconut oil its health properties are lauric acid , an antimicrobial fatty acid that has been shown to be beneficial against many types of bacteria. lauric acid may also increase levels of cholesterol in the body, but much of that is hdl – considered the “good” cholesterol.

powered by
canadian society for exercise physiology

advertisement

advertisement

“one positive note is that some of the saturated fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, a medium fatty acid that may have a more neutral role on heart health and blood cholesterol levels,” holwegner explains. “lauric acid can raise both the good (hdl) and bad (ldl) cholesterol levels while other saturated fats can raise ldl levels with no effect on hdl levels.”

plus, not all coconut oils are made the same. processed coconut oil, which is heated up to kill any bacteria and to make a more uniform product, has a much lower concentration of lauric acids. one study found virgin (non-processed) coconut oil contains approximately 54 per cent lauric acid, compared to processed coconut oil which only contained approximately 2.81 per cent.

regardless of its lauric acids content, both yiu and holwegner warn that coconut oil is high in saturated fats, so it’s not a great idea to have too much of it in your diet.
“coconut oil is very high in saturated fat,” explains yiu. “so if you’re watching your weight, or you are limiting your intake of saturated fat, you might not want to eat a tablespoon of coconut oil every day.”
emma jones is a multimedia editor with healthing. you can reach her at emjones@postmedia.com or on twitter @jonesyjourn

advertisement

advertisement

thank you for your support. if you liked this story, please send it to a friend. every share counts.

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.