Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, Lard: Good or Bad? The link to Obesity

Authors: Ayodeji Ojo Oteyola, Thais de Merici Domingues e Paula, Helio Chiarini Garcia and Fernanda Radicchi Campos Lobato de Almeida*

DOI: 10.23880/doij-16000253

Volume 7, Issue 1

Abstract

Obesity is a worldwide public health problem. Obesity and adiposity are caused by different factors but many cases are as a result of overconsumption of high-fat diets. Fat and oil in the diets are made available to the body in form of fatty acids. Considering the degree of saturation, fatty acids can be classified into saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). There have been controversies as regards the consumption of different fats and oils, which is essential for the establishment of public health policies to control the prevalence of metabolic disorders in the global population. The purpose of this review is to examine data from different studies and dietary intervention performed in animal models, as well as humans with the consumption of coconut oil, soybean oil, lard and their link to obesity. In addition, it sheds light on the intracellular metabolism and the changes in gene expression caused by the different dietary fat, elucidating the sex differences in obesity. It also emphasizes the public health policies and the different nutritional recommendations associated to the consumption of dietary fats. Taken together, the different studies showed evidence that high intake of coconut oil, soybean oil or lard promotes obesity, adiposity and insulin resistance through changes in the expression of inflammatory genes in a sex-dependent manner. However, it was revealed that soybean oil is more obesogenic than coconut oil and lard.

Keywords: Metabolic disorders; Lipids; High-fat diet; Adiposity; Cholesterol

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