However, it's actually unclear how bad the saturated fat in coconut oil, specifically, is for the heart.For starters, all saturated fats are not created equal ; the kind of saturated fat in meat, for example, is different (and might have different effects) than the saturated fat found in plant-based oils. About half of the saturated fat in coconut oil , for example, comes from lauric acid, which has been linked to raising your levels of HDL cholesterol , which is generally considered to be a good thing. But the studies on coconut oil's influence on cholesterol levels have their issues . Most of them aren't looking at humans, and those that are tend to be short-term studies, so it's hard to say what effect coconut oil has on long-term heart health, good or bad.There are researchers who argue that saturated fat, in general, might be less of the nutritional bogeyman its reputation would suggest, because even if it does raise your total cholesterol levels, the research isn't clear yet whether that actually leads to heart disease in the long run. The bottom line is that, at this point, the science is far from settled.In the meantime, Dr. Andersen suggests sticking to a mantra of moderation: Although it's fine to swap out the usual butter or olive oil for coconut every once in a while, that should probably be done sparingly.