298180 Mon Aug 16 16:58:55 -0700 2004 17 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1647872 I love a good panag. Is ir true that the coconut milk is high in fat or cholesterol? Mon Aug 16 16:58:55 -0700 2004 0 sing me a bar 1 1647877 coconut milk is high in saturated fats but not cholesterol, which comes from animal products. at least that is what i've always understood. please correct me if i'm wrong. Mon Aug 16 17:17:31 -0700 2004 1647872 0 arifa 2 1647880 That's right about cholesterol being found only in animal fats. Coconut milk is high in saturated fats, but I have seen low-fat canned versions. I have a friend whom I cannot persuade to believe that peanut butter has no cholesterol! Maybe people confuse saturated fat with cholesterol. Mon Aug 16 17:20:42 -0700 2004 1647877 0 Browniebaker 3 1647886 My nutrition teacher, to make the point about cholesterol, would ask: "Did it have a face? Did it have a mommy?" If not, no cholesterol. Mon Aug 16 17:41:52 -0700 2004 1647880 0 snackish 2 1647882 Yes, you're right. One cup of canned coconut milk has about 43 grams of saturated fat! Mon Aug 16 17:24:17 -0700 2004 1647877 0 Chocomom 2 1647884 Cholesterol only comes from animal products period! Neither peanut butter nor cocoanut milk has any cholesterol. There are light versions of cocoanut milk on the market. Tast of Tahi or Thai Kitchen produces one and there is version avaiable at Cost Plus World Market that has 4 g. fat of which 3 g. are saturated. If you wanted to put some cholesterol in peanut butter I guess you could whip in some lard. I think that is what one of the major producers got into trouble with in the 50's. It was supposed to help make it more spreadable. I remember my parents being horrified by the report aouut it in Consumers Reports back then. Mon Aug 16 17:37:58 -0700 2004 1647877 0 Candy 3 1647909 Then they substituded hydrogenated vegetable fats and oils which are just as bad for you. Mon Aug 16 19:25:15 -0700 2004 1647884 0 2chez mike 4 1647915 yeah, and sugar which is totally unnecessary! Mon Aug 16 20:31:44 -0700 2004 1647909 0 Candy 5 1647944 Except, of course, for flavor. Tue Aug 17 06:41:08 -0700 2004 1647915 0 fladd 6 1647980 If you like sugared peanuts. I think peanuts taste fine with just a little salt. Tue Aug 17 14:59:29 -0700 2004 1647944 0 Candy 2 1647891 I use the lowfat coconut milk in preparing Thai curries all the time, to good effect. The results aren't quite the same as with "whole" coconut milk, but they're close enough to justify foregoing all the extra fat and calories. Mon Aug 16 18:04:54 -0700 2004 1647877 0 Tom from Durham 3 1647946 exactly. It's one of those things that's definitely worth the trade off. I figure for every 10 times I use lite coconut milk, put skim on my cereal, make a grilled cheese sandwich w/ 2% cheddar, etc. I'm buying myself a big cone of super premium ice cream. Tue Aug 17 08:20:06 -0700 2004 1647891 0 danna 2 1647942 I read somewhere that coconut and its derivatives have 0 cholesterol when you eat them but metabolize to saturated fat. I think palm oil does the same. Tue Aug 17 01:39:14 -0700 2004 1647877 0 N Tocus 3 1647943 For a serious query about this you can call the American Dietetic Association Consumer Hotline at 900-225-5267 (there's a charge per minute) and talk to a registered dietitian. Tue Aug 17 01:45:02 -0700 2004 1647942 0 N Tocus 3 1647945 Anything you eat can "metabolize" to saturated fat - animal fat is saturated and that's how we store the energy in the excess food we eat, even if it starts off as, for example, whole grains. Tue Aug 17 06:44:24 -0700 2004 1647942 0 FlyFish 1 1647951 Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver using saturated fats, like those in whole coconut milk. Consuming whole coconut milk or any saturated or trans fats will increase a normal person's LDL (bad) cholesterol, whether the product "contains" cholesterol or not. Tue Aug 17 10:29:59 -0700 2004 1647872 0 lucia 2 1648017 Biochemically speaking, this is not true. I've linked below to a description of the synthesis of cholesterol in humans. Incidentally, the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs inhibit the first step of this process. Saturated fats are not directly converted into cholesterol, although they are metabolized partly into acetyl coenzyme A, which is one of the inputs to the cholesterol synthesis. I am not an expert on nutrition, but it is my impression that you are right to believe that studies show a correlation between saturated fat intake and "bad" cholesterol. However, I'm not sure that causation has been demonstrated. Link: http://www.gwu.edu/~mpb/cholesterol1.htm Tue Aug 17 21:25:49 -0700 2004 1647951 0 ericf 1 1648183 Thanks all! I never imagined I'd learn so much on the subject. I may have to stick with the Pad Prikh King or another non-coconut milk based curry. Fri Aug 20 00:22:21 -0700 2004 1647872 0 sing me a bar