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Coconut oil is ‘pure poison,’ Harvard professor says; internet disagrees

This isn't the first time coconut oil has come under fire. In 2017, the American Heart Association recommended people replace saturated fats, like coconut oil and butter, with healthier fats, like olive oil. Saturated fats can increase the risk of heart disease.

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Coconut oil, which has been widely touted for its health benefits, is back in the news this week after a Harvard professor equated the trendy fat with poison.

In a viral video on YouTube, Karin Michels, an epidemiologist at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, called coconut oil "one of the worst things you can eat" and as good for well-being as "pure poison," the Guardian reported.

Michels' lecture, delivered in German, has been viewed over one million times. Michels holds a second academic position as director of the Institute for Prevention and Cancer Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

This isn't the first time coconut oil has come under fire.

In June 2017, the American Heart Association recommended that people replace saturated fats, like those in coconut oil, butter, and beef fat, with healthier fats, like olive oil and canola oil. Saturated fats can raise LDL, or "bad," cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease.

One tablespoon of coconut oil contains 117 calories and 14 grams of fat, of which 12 grams are saturated fat, compared with one tablespoon of canola oil, which has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat, but only 1.1 grams of that is from saturated fats.

According to a 2016 New York Times survey, 72 percent of Americans thought of coconut oil as healthy, but only 37 percent of nutritionists who were polled shared that view.

Coconut oil is not only popular in cooking and baking but also is commonly used in skin and hair products.

"There are many claims being made about coconut oil being wonderful for lots of different things, but we really don't have any evidence of long-term health benefits," Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Chan School, told CNN.

Twitter, of course, had its own take on the subject.