Coconut Oil Benefits: Truth or Fiction? by Medical Daily For a while, coconut oil enjoyed widespread popularity in the west, often listed as a "superfood" and being recommended by every other wellness blogger. The supposed benefits included everything from weight loss to better skin to lowered cholesterol. But the oil has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. In a 2016 survey from the New York Times, 72 percent of Americans perceived coconut oil as healthy compared to only 37 percent of nutritionists. Indeed, there had been a disparity between the consumers and the experts. You may remember the viral video from last year which featured Dr. Karin Michels. The Harvard professor referred to coconut oil as "pure poison" and "one of the worst things you can eat" during a lecture at the University of Freiburg. For others, the oil seems to sit on the fence as opposed to being comparable to poison. It is "probably not quite as bad as butt...