Health effect of Coconut Oil

Health effects debate
Historically, many populations within the tropics have used coconut medicinally as a treatment for a wide variety of ailments.
A study into the effects of a "diet rich in.." medium-chain fatty acids (such as in coconut oil and butter), concluded that "MCFAs in the form of MCTs significantly increased plasma triacylglycerol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations and the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol and thereby resulted in a less beneficial lipid profile overall."
However, research done by nutritionist Mary Enig has found that non-hydrogenated coconut oil (ie. extra-virgin) consumed in moderate amounts "is at worst neutral with respect to atherogenicity of fats and oils and, in fact, is likely to be a beneficial oil for prevention and treatment of some heart disease."

Food Uses
Cooking
Coconut oil is commonly used in cooking, especially when frying. In communities where coconut oil is widely used in cooking, the unrefined oil is the one most commonly used. Coconut oil is commonly used to flavor many South Asian curries.
Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated coconut oil is often used in non-dairy creamers, and snack foods.

Cosmetics and skin treatments
Coconut oil is excellent as a skin moisturizer and softener. A study shows that extra virgin coconut oil is effective and safe when used as a moisturizer, with absence of adverse reactions.
Fractionated coconut oil is also used in the manufacture of essences, massage oils and cosmetics.
In India and Sri Lanka, coconut oil is commonly used for styling hair, and cooling or soothing the head.

Soaps and detergents
Coconut oil is used as a base oils for soap, shampoo and detergent making.

Traditional use
Coconut oil is used in oil lamps.

In diesel engines
Coconut oil has been tested for use as a feedstock for biodiesel to be used as a diesel engine fuel. In this manner it can be applied to power generators and transport using diesel engines. Since straight coconut oil has a high gelling temperature (22-25°C), a high viscosity, and a minimum combustion chamber temperature of 500 °C (932 °F) (to avoid polymerization of the fuel), coconut oil is typically transesterified to make biodiesel. Use of B100 (100% biodiesel) is only possible in temperate climates as the gel point is approximately 10°C (50 degrees Fahrenheit). The oil needs to meet the Weihenstephan standard for pure vegetable oil used as a fuel otherwise moderate to severe damage from carbonisation and clogging will occur in an unmodified engine.
The Philippines, Vanuatu, Samoa, and several other tropical island countries are using coconut oil as an alternative fuel source to run automobiles, trucks, and buses, and to power generators. Coconut oil is currently used as a fuel for transport in the Philippines. Further research into the oil's potential as a fuel for electricity generation is being carried out in the islands of the Pacific. In the 1990s Bougainville conflict, islanders cut off from supplies due to a blockade used it to fuel their vehicles.

Engine lubricant
Coconut oil has been tested for use as an engine lubricant; the producer claims the oil reduces fuel consumption, smoke emissions and allows the engine to run at a cooler temperature.

Transformer oil
Transformer oil acts as an insulating and cooling medium in transformers. The insulating oil fills up pores in fibrous insulation and also the gaps between the coil conductors and the spacing between the siding and the tank, and thus increases the dielectric strength of the insulation. A transformer in operation generates heat in the winding, and that heat is transferred to the oil. Heated oil then flows to the radiators by convection. Oil supplied from the radiators, being cooler, cools the winding. There are several important properties such as dielectric strength, flash point, viscosity, specific gravity and pour point and all of them have to be considered when qualifying an oil for use in transformers. Normally mineral oil is used, but coconut oil has been shown to possess all the properties needed to function as an environmentally friendly and economic replacement to mineral oil for this purpose.