Photo: bionicteaching, Flickr

I'll admit it -- I'm a huge fan of the coconut. Blended into a pina colada or shredded over a salad, I just love its rich, sweet taste. But when I learned how much saturated fat is packed into my favorite fruit, it curbed my coconut mania pretty quickly.

So imagine my surprise -- and delight -- when I got wind of some news that coconut oil might actually not be a dietary villain, but that it might actually (sigh!) help people lose weight by boosting metabolism while curbing appetite. The idea behind the claim is that coconut oil is made up of medium-chain fatty acids, which are much shorter than the long-chain fatty acids in vegetable oils and meat. So even though it is technically a saturated fat, coconut oil is broken down in the body more quickly than, say, a T-bone steak. Yet because it is high in fat, coconut oil makes you feel full quickly, so you eat less. A 2002 study from McGill University in Canada seemed to support this claim, so maybe there really is some science to it.

Not so fast. Regardless of its fatty acid make-up, coconut oil is still loaded with saturated fat. In fact, it's 92 percent saturated fat (even richer than butter, which weighs in at 66 percent saturated fat). "In moderation, that's OK," says Keri Gans, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "But in large amounts, we know that saturated fats can lead to high cholesterol and heart disease," she says.

Bottom line: If you want to use coconut oil, do so judiciously. "Moderation is key," advises Gans. "You like coconut oil, have a little coconut oil. But don't think having a lot of coconut oil is going to be a health cure or a weight loss cure, because it doesn't work that way."

And keep in mind coconut oil is not coconut milk. Read more to keep all your coconuts in line.

Searching for a better cooking oil? Try olive or canola oil. They're much lower in saturated fat, and higher in healthy, unsaturated fat.

What kind of oil do you like to use when you cook?