Bruce Fife, N.D., Publisher

Published by Piccadilly Books, Ltd.

A study conducted by researchers at Mukogawa Women’s University in Japan recently revealed some interesting facts related to coconut and blood cholesterol levels and research practices in general. The research was sponsored by the Australian macadamia industry and the study itself was focused primarily on the effects macadamia nuts have on cholesterol levels. Coconut was used in the study only for comparison.

The aim of the study was to observe any beneficial effect of a macadamia nut rich diet in young women. Macadamia nuts are rich in monounsaturated fat. The oil is similar to olive oil in fatty acid content. The research was performed to evaluate the effects monounsaturated oil in macadamia nuts have on health. Since olive oil is believed to be heart healthy, researchers assumed that macadamia oil and nuts may also have health benefits.

Sixty young female students aged 18-23 years participated in the study. They were randomized into three groups, 20 in each, and were given three kinds of rolls topped with macadamia nuts, coconut, or butter. The subjects continued the regime for three weeks. Physical and metabolic parameters were measured before and after the intervention.

The researchers reported that body weight (BW) and body mass index (BMI) were reduced significantly from initial measurements in the group fed macadamia nuts. Total cholesterol fell from an average of 180 mg/dl to 169 mg/dl. LDL cholesterol, the so-called “bad” cholesterol, fell from 97 mg/dl to 90 mg/dl. All of these results were favorable.

The researchers concluded that macadamia nuts reduced body weight, BMI, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol in young Japanese women without adversely affecting risk factors for heart disease. They recommended the regular use of macadamia nuts as a means to reduce risk factors associated with heart disease.

It probably comes as no surprise to you to learn that macadamia nuts are good for you. But here comes the interesting part. Their data also showed that the cholesterol levels of the women who ate coconut was equal to or even better than that of those who ate the macadamia nuts.

In the coconut group total cholesterol dropped from an average of 180 mg/dl to 169 mg/dl, the same as in the macadamia group. LDL cholesterol dropped from an average of 103 mg/dl to 94 mg/dl. This is a drop of 9 mg/dl. The LDL cholesterol in the macadamia group dropped 7 mg/dl, showing that coconut had a greater LDL lowering effect than macadamia nuts.

If you read this study, however, you may be mystified because you won’t find any mention of the effects of coconut in the text. Although coconut gave an equal or better result than macadamia nuts, the authors didn’t bother to mention this in their write-up. The only way we know about the effects of the coconut is from the list of data. The authors of the study said nothing about the coconut. Their focus was on macadamia nuts. However, if coconut had a negative effect or gave results worse than macadamia nuts, the authors may have used that to their advantage. But they didn’t say a thing.

This is very typical in research. The fact that no mention was made in the text of the effect of coconut is a classical example of selective reporting by researchers. Only the favorable effects of the sponsor’s product were given. Many studies involving coconut are not reported for similar reasons. Because of bias in favor of the sponsor’s product or prejudice against a product (such as coconut) the favorable results of competing products often go unreported. Reader’s often have to examine the data in detail to discover all the facts.