Do you have coconut oil in the pantry? It’s not as healthy as you think.

Coconut oil was supposed to solve the eternal conundrum of how to make flavorful food and baked goods with the fat necessary for a tasty meal, without negatively impacting cholesterol. But a new report from the American Heart Association says not so fast.

Coconut oil, edible oil extracted from coconut meat, has become all the rage on food blogs and in healthy cookbooks that use it in recipes instead of traditional dairy fats and other oils high in cholesterol. But according to a new analysis released by the AHA, it is no better for you than butter. In seven controlled trials comparing coconut oil to other fats, the substance raised LDL, or bad cholesterol, in all seven.

“Because coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, a cause of [cardiovascular disease], and has no known offsetting favorable effects, we advise against the use of coconut oil,” AHA wrote in the report.

Coconut oil gained a reputation of being a “healthy fat,” allegedly providing the body the positive benefits of fat but not the negative ones. AHA blames marketing of coconut oil in the “popular press” for the false assumption that it is healthy. One study found 72 percent of Americans consider it healthy, but only 37 percent of nutritionists do.

In six of the seven AHA trials, LDL cholesterol went up significantly.

“A carefully controlled experiment compared the effects of coconut oil, butter, and safflower oil supplying polyunsaturated linoleic acid,” the AHA wrote in its report. “Both butter and coconut oil raised LDL cholesterol compared with safflower oil, butter more than coconut oil.”

Coconut oil is 82 percent saturated fat. Butter is 63 percent, beef fat is 50 percent and palm oil is 49 percent. Olive oil is only 14 percent saturated fat.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people should chose unsaturated fats over saturated fat, which can increase the risk of heart disease. Saturated fats are frequently found in animal products like beef and pork, while unsaturated fats are found in olives, nuts and seeds. According to the USDA, eating unsaturated fats can help improve HDL, which is “good” cholesterol. Oils provide necessary fatty acids and vitamin E.

This story was originally published June 16, 2017 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Do you have coconut oil in the pantry? It’s not as healthy as you think.."