美国国家公共电台 NPR Is Coconut Oil All It's Cracked Up To Be? Get The Facts On This Faddish Fat

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Is coconut¹ oil a healthy food? - certainly is promoted as one. Survey a broad group of Americans and 72 percent say, yes, coconut oil is healthy. Talk with some nutritionists, and they say, no, it's not. NPR's April Fulton reports.

APRIL FULTON, BYLINE²: Let's get one thing out of the way. Fat is not the enemy. Fat helps us feel fuller longer and stay satisfied. Eating some fat can actually help us snack less and potentially lose weight. But there's something pretty important about fat to consider - what kind of fat we're eating and how much.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOD SIZZLING)

MARY DONKERSLOOT: I'm going to saute my onions in extra virgin³ olive oil here.

FULTON: I'm in the kitchen with Mary Donkersloot.

DONKERSLOOT: It's my favorite oil for sauteeing.

FULTON: Donkersloot is a nutritionist in Beverly Hills. She's using olive oil because it's high in monounsaturated fat.

DONKERSLOOT: In terms of calories, all fats are the same. Butter, coconut oil, olive oil, they all have the same number of calories. But they're different when it comes to your health.

FULTON: And when it comes to health, Donkersloot is no fan of coconut oil because it has lots of saturated⁴ fat, which is associated with an increase in the risk of heart attack and stroke.

DONKERSLOOT: You know, a tablespoon of coconut oil has about 12 grams of saturated fat, whereas olive oil has two. Butter comes in the middle there around 7.

FULTON: So just one tablespoon of coconut oil contains most of the saturated fat many Americans are supposed to have in one day. That's not leaving any room for yogurt or meat. And forget dessert. Still, a lot of people think coconut oil is different.

DONKERSLOOT: Adding fat to your diet in this idea that it's going to bust⁵ your belly⁶ fat - no, not going to happen.

FULTON: Studies just haven't borne it out. While some preliminary research shows that coconut oil raises the levels of good cholesterol⁷, it also raises the levels of bad cholesterol. Dankersloot says there are many options.

All right. Let's go check out the oils at the store.

DONKERSLOOT: OK.

FULTON: We drive to Jayde's, a local gourmet⁸ market near her house. Here the oil aisle⁹ looks a lot like the cereal aisle with tons of choices.

DONKERSLOOT: Wow. This is quite a beautiful array of oils. Here's grapeseed, walnut¹⁰, almond oil.

FULTON: And bottles and bottles of olive oil.

DONKERSLOOT: How about this pumpkin¹¹ seed oil? Never heard of it.

FULTON: So how do you choose? First, look for the oils with the lowest amount of saturated fat. Alice Lichtenstein directs the cardiovascular nutrition lab at Tufts University. She basically looks at how our diets affect our hearts. Since the 1960s, Lichtenstein says, well-controlled clinical trials have shown that too much saturated fat can be a problem.

ALICE LICHTENSTEIN: So that would be things like coconut oil, palm oil or palm kernel¹² oil and then animal fat. So that would either be meat fat or dairy fat.

FULTON: Those studies also show that if we replace those types of fat with unsaturated fats like corn oil, sunflower oil or olive oil, we'll reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease and be healthier. Lichtenstein has seen a lot of fad¹³ diets come and go.

LICHTENSTEIN: Why things like coconut oil somehow slipped under the radar¹⁴ is a little bit unclear. But it's not consistent with any of the recommendations that have occurred over the past 30, 40, 50 years.

FULTON: So it's OK to use coconut oil, just don't use it all the time. What you want to do is shift the ratio more towards unsaturated fat and away from saturated fat. And that means more olive, flax and canola oil and less coconut oil and bacon. When it comes to your diet, it's all about the balance. April Fulton, NPR News, Los Angeles.

1 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

5 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

6 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

7 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

8 gourmet   

n.食物品尝家；adj.出于美食家之手的

参考例句：

• What does a gourmet writer do? 美食评论家做什么？
• A gourmet like him always eats in expensive restaurants.像他这样的美食家总是到豪华的餐馆用餐。

9 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

10 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

11 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

12 kernel   

n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心

参考例句：

• The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
• The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。

13 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

14 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。