Coconut is the new quinoa — with one big difference: Coconut is bad for you.
The trendy superfood — which is about to make the jump into the Mainstream American Diet thanks to Starbucks, Walmart and Costco — is loaded with heart-damaging saturated fat, sugar and calories that hide behind its healthy, food co-op image.
“People are going to see coconut more and more and decide that it’s a really healthy choice. And it’s not,” says Keri Gans, a New York nutritionist.
The coming coco craze is already being hyped by mega-selling coffee giant Starbucks, which is marketing a coconut milk latte as a vegan, nut-free alternative to dairy- or soy-based beverages.
The company says it conducted “careful research” and “numerous taste tests” to devise its recipe — but it left out the health costs: A venti Starbucks’ coconut milk latte has 10 grams of saturated fat — which is almost all you should have in an entire day. The skim milk version of the same beverage has no saturated fat.
And coconut milk has just 2 grams of protein. The skim milk version has 16 — about one-third of your recommended daily intake.
To add insult to health damage, Starbucks charges 60 cents more for the fatty coconut version. And to add injury to your diet, the coconut latte tastes much better than the skim latte. It’s richer, thicker and pleasantly sweet.
“Once you taste this, you’ll always order it,” said one member of the Daily News Taste Kitchen. “And that’s why everyone is going to gain 10 pounds this year.”
Starbucks isn’t the only offender: Walmart is touting its organic coconut sugar as a “pure, unrefined alternative to processed sugar.” Costco says its virgin coconut oil is “the perfect choice for your health, beauty, and energy.”
It’s an odd claim, given that the Center for Science in the Public Interest stigmatized exotic greases in a famous study 20 years ago that called movie theater popcorn “the Godzilla of snacks” because it was often cooked in coconut oil.
Then as now, coconuts are not all they’re cracked up to be — despite claims of raising levels of “good” cholesterol or even fighting Alzheimer’s, experts say.
“This is no miracle oil,” says cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, the director of the Women’s Heart Health Center at Lenox Hill Hospital. “Everyone is hoping for a magic something — but it’s not coconut oil.”
And coconut sugar isn’t the answer, either. The sweetener, which is made from coconut palm, was hyped on many “Food Trends for 2015” lists last year, thanks to its higher mineral content and better absorption by the body.
Problem is, it’s still sugar.
“The word ‘coconut’ creates a halo, and people envision something different,” says Gans. “I can’t say it doesn’t have any nutritional benefits, but it still has calories.”
Still, coconut products are poised for a tsunami — just as coconut water went from a $0 industry in 2003 to a $400 million business in a decade.
Most Starbucks customers in downtown Manhattan hadn’t heard of the coconut milk option, but that’s clearly only a matter of time.
“It was on sale and I tried it,” said Lydia Wong, a software developer from New Jersey who bought her first carton of coconut milk after hearing about the Starbucks move. “I liked it.”
Wong bought the healthier version of coconut milk, which is sold in a condensed from in cans and a lighter version in cartons. The canned product has 445 calories and 43 grams of saturated fat per cup — which explains why Thai curries are so delicious and deadly.
The lighter version still has 4 grams of saturated fat per cup — more than you’d find in a large order of McDonald’s fries, which is no one’s idea of health food.
Consuming coconut milk in moderation shouldn’t be a problem, experts said. But this is America, where no one consumes anything in moderation (see venti Starbucks latte, above).
And some people shouldn’t even toy with coconuts at all.
“I caution patients with high cholesterol or a history of heart disease,” says Kate Patton, a dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute.
You can’t beet this superfood for heart health
What to stay trendy, but actually be healthy? Raise a glass to (and of) beet juice.
The bloody beverage reduces high blood pressure, a new study shows, in addition to its already heralded anti-oxident, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer qualities.
“It’s so easy for patients to work this into their daily lives and see a positive benefit,” says Amrita Ahluwalia, the lead author of the study published in the February issue of Hypertension.
Problem is, beetroot’s earthy flavor makes it hard for some to swallow. So add lemon or homemade lemonade, says LuliTonix’s Lianna Sugarman.
“The sourness really complements and offsets the earthiness,” she says. “I like to grate some orange peel or lemon peel in as well.”
Using apple juice as a base can sweeten things up, says Ndoema, the vegan actress and model behind The Global Girl blog. She also suggests giving the juice a kick.
“Spicing up beet juice with fresh ginger or hot peppers, in savory juices, works wonders,” she adds.
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