If you’re asking, is coconut oil healthy for your heart, the answer depends on what you compare it with. Short-term trials suggest coconut oil affects LDL cholesterol less unfavorably than butter, but it has not proved better than unsaturated oils such as olive, sunflower or canola oil. And cholesterol tests are not the same as evidence that an oil prevents heart attacks or strokes.
Is Coconut Oil Healthy For Your Heart?
Coconut oil is about 83% saturated fat by weight. That matters because, in controlled feeding trials, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats generally produces a more favorable LDL-cholesterol profile. LDL is an established heart-disease risk factor, but a change in a blood marker alone does not show how many heart attacks or strokes a food will prevent.
The comparison is important. A 2023 review by Lukas Schwingshackl and Sabrina Schlesinger, affiliated with the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf and the German Center for Diabetes Research, concluded that coconut oil had less unfavorable effects on total and LDL cholesterol than butter, but not than cis-unsaturated vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower or canola oil. In other words, coconut oil may be a better swap for butter on these markers, but that does not make it a better choice than liquid unsaturated oils.
What A Direct Coconut Oil Vs Butter Trial Found
In a randomized trial conducted in Cambridgeshire, UK, in June and July 2017, Kay-Tee Khaw and colleagues compared extra-virgin coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil and unsalted butter. The 91 adults who completed follow-up were aged 50 to 75 and used 50 grams of their assigned fat daily for four weeks. Researchers measured LDL and other blood lipids, along with body measurements and several metabolic markers.
LDL cholesterol rose more with butter than with coconut oil; the difference in change was 0.42 mmol/L. Coconut oil and olive oil did not differ significantly in LDL change. Coconut oil raised HDL cholesterol more than either comparator, but that result does not cancel out the LDL finding or establish protection from heart disease. The trial was short, involved a modest number of mostly European-ancestry volunteers without known cardiovascular disease, and measured blood markers—not heart attacks or strokes. Its results may not apply directly to other populations or long-term eating patterns.
A 2022 meta-analysis by Ana Cláudia Duarte and colleagues combined seven randomized trials involving 515 adults. It found no significant LDL reduction from coconut oil compared with other fats and a small increase in HDL. The authors rated the overall evidence very low certainty, noting small studies, varied methods and short or inconsistent follow-up. A 2025 analysis by Mary T. Newport and Fabian M. Dayrit interpreted data from 26 coconut-oil studies more favorably, emphasizing increases in HDL and reductions in triglycerides. But that analysis examined varied studies and lipid measures; it did not demonstrate fewer cardiovascular events. These differing interpretations don’t establish coconut oil as superior to unsaturated oils.
Why MCT Oil Claims Don’t Automatically Apply
Some claims about coconut oil draw on research into medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs. But MCT oil and ordinary coconut oil are not interchangeable. Coconut oil contains some caprylic and capric acids—often discussed as medium-chain fats—but much of its fat is lauric acid, alongside longer-chain saturated fats. MCT products may be concentrated or formulated differently. Results from studies of specific MCT products therefore cannot simply be attributed to regular coconut oil.
Virgin coconut oil and refined coconut oil may differ in processing and minor compounds, but both remain high in saturated fat. A “virgin” label does not, on its own, show that the oil lowers LDL or prevents cardiovascular disease.
Blood Lipids Aren’t Heart-Attack Data
The 2023 review reported no randomized trials or prospective cohort studies that directly tested coconut oil intake against cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke. Observational research on traditional diets containing coconut flesh or squeezed coconut may describe those foods within a broader dietary and lifestyle pattern; it cannot isolate the effect of coconut oil or be assumed to represent a typical diet elsewhere.
So, if you’re choosing a regular cooking fat for heart health, the available trial comparisons favor unsaturated oils over coconut oil for LDL-related markers. Coconut oil may compare more favorably with butter, but the studies do not show that it prevents heart attacks or strokes. If you have high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease, ask your clinician how dietary changes fit with your overall care rather than relying on one oil or a single blood-test result.