Coconut oil and cellulite: myths and facts

• Is coconut oil good for cellulite?

• Does coconut oil get rid of cellulite? Best coconut oil for cellulite?

• Looking for a “cellulite oil” or for the best oils for cellulite?

• Coconut oil also contains 10% medium chain triglycerides

• 10% lipolytic + 90% of lipogenic: you do the maths

• Yes, but what about drinking 100% pure MCT oil?

• Medium chain triglycerides (MCT), metabolism and cellulite

• MCT oil is not the same as coconut oil: big difference

• How about applying coconut oil - or even MCT oil - on the legs for topical cellulite reduction?

• Have a cellulite treatment in London with the cellulite specialists

Is coconut oil good for cellulite?

Coconut oil is an extremely hyped up oil, having been suggested over the last few years as a miracle oil for:

• Skin hydration. Hype not justified, as coconut oil is not not nearly as good as most other oils and butters. Coconut oil is a “thin” oil that quite simply does NOT hydrate well. Almond oil, shea butter and a host of other oils and butters are much more hydrating.

• Being a healthy oil to eat. Research is ambiguous to NEGATIVE on this point, but coconut is definitely not nearly as good for health as extra virgin olive oil.

• Being a good oil to fry. Frying is evil for your health, no matter what oil you use. But coconut oil, specifically, is a VERY BAD CHOICE, as it has a low smoke point and no antioxidants to protect it. Coconut oil is a disaster for frying.

• Helping you lose weight. Coconut oil does NOT help you lose weight and the whole idea of weight loss with coconut oil was based on a gross misrepresentation of one research paper. Even the author of that paper came out to speak against those misrepresenting her work and misleading the public. It is THAT bad.

• Cellulite reduction. Absolutely no justification for such claim whatsoever, given than coconut oil is, well, 100% saturated fat.

Definitely the hype about coconut oil for cellulite is not justified.

Let’s have a look in detail.

Does coconut oil get rid of cellulite? Best coconut oil for cellulite?

Before anything else, let’s make it abundantly clear that nothing gets rid of cellulite.

Despite it being used liberally, the term “get rid of cellulite” means nothing for 90% of women with cellulite, because in 90% of the cases cellulite cannot be “rid of” - it can only be reduced.

So the correct question is: “Can coconut oil reduce cellulite?”

Furthermore, as we will see below, coconut oil does NOT reduce cellulite, in any shape or form, so looking for the “best virgin coconut oil to reduce cellulite” makes no sense.

Looking for a “cellulite oil” or for the best oils for cellulite?

People look for anti-cellulite oils to drink or apply on the skin and one of the oils they most commonly look for is coconut oil.

However, coconut oil is, well, an oil, meaning it contains 9 calories per gram. If you ingest a lot of it you will just get fatter. It’s as simple as that. And the fatter you become, the higher the chances of getting cellulite, NOT reducing it.

There is no oil (except from fish oil, in small, supplement quantities, i.e. 1g/day or less) that helps you lose weight, fat or cellulite.

Coconut oil is 90% LIPOGENIC (i.e. fat-boosting) saturated fat, which is one of the worst types of fat for cellulite.

It is only second in that respect to horrible hydrogenated oils and fried oil.

Coconut oil also contains 10% medium chain triglycerides

On the other hand, coconut oil also contains a special type of fat called ‘Medium Chain Triglycerides’ (MCTs), which some research has shown to have a lipolytic action.

This means that MCT oil can help with lipolysis, i.e. “breaking down” fat (well, to some extent, let’s not get excited here).

10% lipolytic + 90% of lipogenic: you do the maths

However, the findings of that research have been blown out of all proportion by crafty coconut oil marketers (and shallow Instagram influencers).

These marketers made it out to be that normal coconut oil, containing just 10% of MCTs, helps burn fat, while this is (only moderately) true specifically for 100% MCT oil.

Coconut oil is made of 10% lipolytic (fat fighting) MCTs and 90% lipogenic (fat boosting) saturated fats.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that coconut oil is 10 times more lipogenic than lipolytic and therefore as a whole it does not possess ANY lipolytic properties - quite the opposite. The more you eat of it, the more you will fatten and get cellulite.

Now if you are a naturally slim, 25-year old influencer with good genes and you exercise all day, you can get away with years of coconut oil eating (and peddling to your followers) without putting on weight. But that is not due to slimming coconut oil, it is due to good genes, young age and lots of exercise

(When I was that age I had 8-10% body fat, despite eating for two people. That’s not a reason to advertise eating for two…)

Yes, but what about drinking 100% pure MCT oil?

Nice try.

Many coconut oil marketers correctly claim that, unlike normal fat, MCT oil is not a normal oil and it is readily used for energy instead of carbs. But this really means nothing.

By ingesting MCT oil, instead of your body utilising glucose calories from carbs or triglyceride calories from normal fat for your energy needs, it will use MCT calories for them.

So what? The total equilibrium of calories in your body will remain the same and if you ingest more oil, MCT or other, that means that you will have more calories inside you.

So MCT acts (kinda) like good carbs. But it is still calories, like carbs are and fat is.

Medium chain triglycerides (MCT), metabolism and cellulite

Even if MCT oil gives you more “energy” (seriously?) and stimulate the release of fat from your fat cells (lipolysis), you will still need to actually “burn” that released fat in your muscles and organs.

In fact, MCT has never been shown to stimulate metabolism that much to make up for the 9 calories per gram it carries.

(Two good examples of such true metabolism-boosting fatty acids that do help stimulate fat burning are the fish oil constituents DHA and EPA - but that’s material for another article).

So, no, MCT does NOT stimulate metabolism or reduce fat - including cellulite fat.

MCT oil is not the same as coconut oil: big difference

But the most important detail is that MCT oil is NOT coconut oil, it is MCT oil.

So even if MCT oil indeed has SOME benefits in relation to fat reduction, these do not translate at all to benefits of whole coconut oil for fat/cellulite reduction.

In fact, coconut oil is fattening - regardless of what the shallow/paid bloggers (choose whichever your prefer), instagrammers and coconut oil marketing companies say.

Coconut oil may be a neutral oil to eat (some research says it’s a good oil, some other research says is bad for you), but that’s it. It is definitely NOT slimming or cellulite reducing.

How about applying coconut oil - or even MCT oil - on the legs for topical cellulite reduction?

Applying plain coconut oil on legs for cellulite reduction is totally pointless.

Yes, coconut oil will kinda hydrate the legs (and not even as well as almond oil or shea butter for hydration), but that’s it.

There are no benefits to cellulite by applying coconut oil on the legs.

On the other hand, applying 100% pure MCT oil might have SOME lipolytic benefits, but on its own it’s just not enough to make any significant difference to cellulite in a reasonable amount of time.

The effect is very mild, and much more potent anti-cellulite actives, such as highly purified and bioavailable caffeine, forskolin, centella asiatica etc, have to be applied topically to make a visible difference, with or without MCT oil in the cream.

So all in all, to answer the original question:

No, coconut oil does not get rid of cellulite. It actually does not even come close to reducing it, either ingested orally or applied topically. And high oral consumption of coconut oil will definitely INCREASE cellulite.

Have a cellulite treatment in London with the cellulite specialists

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Learn more or check prices and book an expert treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1)