If you look at the history of coconut oil you'll learn that coconut oil was once a staple in our diets. It wasn't until some early studies came out showing a link between saturated fats and increased cholesterol levels. This sounded the death knell for all saturated fats, including coconut oil, and vegetable oils became the popular choice.

Unfortunately, these early studies did not use virgin coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil is a saturated fat, but it's completely free of dangerous hydrogenated, trans-fatty acids.

Studies of early tropical populations, where coconut oil formed a large portion of their diet, reveals healthy men and women with normal cholesterol levels and low rates of heart disease.

A study from the European Review of Nutrition and Dietetics showed a diet with virgin coconut oil resulted in either no change or a decrease of 26% in cholesterol levels. When researchers mixed virgin coconut oil with 5% olive oil and 5% sunflower oil, they saw further decreases in cholesterol levels.

Furthermore, researchers learned when virgin coconut oil is fed with another healthy fat, such as linolenic acid, it didn't cause atherosclerosis or increase the risk for heart disease; a study of 64 healthy volunteers on a diet of coconut oil found no changes in total serum cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol from baseline values.

How much virgin coconut oil to take to lower cholesterol? That's a good question. The above studies did not indicate the actual amount of virgin coconut oil test subjects ingested.

I've been taking 2 - 4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil a day for the past 3 years. My cholesterol levels were normal before adding coconut oil to my diet; I recently had my cholesterol levels checked again and they were normal.

You may want to get your cholesterol levels checked before beginning any new nutritional supplement. Here's more health benefits of coconut oil right here.