Coconut oil is solid saturated fat.
Coconut oil is a health food.
Are these two sentences in direct opposition of each other? Definitely not! Once you start to hear about the health benefits of extra virgin coconut oil, you'll begin to understand why that is.
Many people mistakenly believe that all saturated fats are bad for you, but that's really not true.
The problems are man-made trans-fats, and if the fat-source you're looking at has high amounts of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
In fact, Dr.
Weston Price found that Pacific Islanders whose diets included large amounts of coconut had incredibly low levels of heart disease.
* Coconut oil is very high in lauric acid, a health-promoting compound with anti-viral/bacterial/protozoan properties.
It's also high in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are smaller and easier to digest than most vegetable fats (long-chain triglycerides or LCTs).
These MCTs are easy for your liver to burn for energy - just like carbohydrates - but without the insulin spike.
Once they get the fire lit, your body will keep burning fat for energy and will begin to use up stored fat.
Cooking With Coconut Oil This is an important thing to note: It's not healthy to cook with olive oil.
Got that? Good.
The reason why is this:

• Olive oil and most other vegetable oils have low-smoke points.
  When a fat starts to smoke from heat, it is going through a chemical change.
  After this has happened, it becomes full of carcinogenic compounds and oxidants that are horrible for your body.
  
• Most vegetable oils come from GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) which include soy, corn, and canola.
  

Coconut oil has a much higher smoke point, and therefore will not be damaged by heat and is much better for cooking.
As far as olive oil (virgin, extra-virgin, regular, organic, or any other variety) is concerned, there is a reason people like to use it as salad dressing, and that's because it's healthiest if never heated.
It will serve you much better drizzled on top of your healthy and delicious meals.
Does Cooking With Coconut Oil Affect The Flavor Of The Food? Generally speaking, no, it doesn't.
Coconut oil is pretty mild in flavor, and certainly would tint the flavor of your food far less than most good olive oils would.
However, if you get a really fresh extra-virgin coconut oil, you'll certainly be able to detect the smell of coconut from the oil, and may be able to detect the flavor in your dish.
Personally, I've found that this really isn't much of a problem.
Many Ethnic foods such as Mexican, Thai, or Indian really work well with this (very) slight flavor of coconut.
Foods that don't - such as steak frites - never seem to pick it up enough for you to really notice it.
So don't hesitate to use it with any dish you might be preparing.
But if you want to keep your healthy foods healthy, don't hesitate to use coconut oil in any dish you're making.
* (source)