Is refined coconut oil nutritionally inferior to unrefined? page

[NoMoreGrains]

I've been using refined coconut oil for frying when I don't want the coconut taste, plus it's a lot cheaper. I still keep unrefined virgin coconut oil when I want the taste. I just want to know, am I missing out on a lot of the benefits of coconut oil (MCFA, etc.), when I use the refined stuff?

[donnal]

I would love to know the answer to this one too! I just started using Coconut oil and accidentally first bought refined. Now I have some unrefined but I don't know if the refined is useful in some ways?

[lolawolf]

I went to a local farmy kind of store and they sell refined and unrefined and the unrefined was only $1 more
Next time I'll get mine from amazon since it's cheaper that way
Amazon.com: Nature's Way EfaGold. Organic, Pure Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 32-Ounce Jar: Health & Personal Care

[GrokON]

The way I look at it is this: Unrefined, Virgin CO has "good stuff" in it that Refined doesn't have. Use it whenever possible. But Refined CO still doesn't have the "bad" stuff that other (PUFA) cooking oils have, and it is a better choice than anything else except Virgin CO and lard.

Caveat, some Refined CO is junk. I use an organic, natural, unhydrogenated brand in my deep fryer.

[Owly]

I'd avoid any chemical/heat processed refined oil. Cold expeller pressed coconut oil should be okay to use. But that's not going to be cheaper than the virgin stuff in most cases.

[lssanjose]

soaperschoice.com has a great steal for 7lbs of EVCO: 41 bucks out the door.

[iniQuity]

The way I look at it is this: Unrefined, Virgin CO has "good stuff" in it that Refined doesn't have. Use it whenever possible. But Refined CO still doesn't have the "bad" stuff that other (PUFA) cooking oils have, and it is a better choice than anything else except Virgin CO and lard.

Caveat, some Refined CO is junk. I use an organic, natural, unhydrogenated brand in my deep fryer.

Exactly this. I use virgin coconut oil for eating (as in, straight up, not heated) or adding to beverages (mostly tea) for the good stuff. I use refined for cooking, when I don't want the coconut taste and I'm looking to avoid all the shit oils that I don't even keep in the house. I don't do it because I'm looking for the coconut oil properties.

[Chaohinon]

I don't see any reason to fear refined olive oil. If you're going to refine something, coconut oil is it, since you can all but drop a nuclear bomb on it and it won't go rancid.

Even virgin CO is still refined enough to be too far removed from actual coconut to be considered a whole, nutritive food. It's still just pan-lubricant, albeit superior to seed oils. I'm curious if there's really any hard evidence that eating coconut oil by the spoonful is beneficial or particularly nutritious.