Neither, as far as trials can tell. In a 2020 meta-analysis, coconut oil did not change CRP, a blood marker of inflammation, compared with other cooking oils in 5 trials. It did raise LDL cholesterol by 10.47 mg/dL across 16 trials. Butter raised LDL even more, and olive oil came out on top.
Side by side
In the summer of 2017, 94 volunteers aged 50 to 75 in Cambridgeshire, England, were each randomly given one fat to eat every day for 4 weeks. It was 50 g of extra virgin coconut oil, unsalted butter or extra virgin olive oil. They could cook with it or simply eat it on its own.
Few studies line these fats up so directly. So we pulled every head-to-head result from our sources into one table. Two terms first. CRP (C-reactive protein) is a protein in the blood that rises when the body is inflamed. LDL is the cholesterol that builds up in artery walls.
| Matchup | Inflammation markers | LDL cholesterol | Study type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil vs non-tropical plant oils | CRP: no clear change (5 trials) | Up 10.47 mg/dL on coconut oil (16 trials) | 2020 meta-analysis |
| Coconut oil vs palm olein vs virgin olive oil | No difference in any of 6 markers, including hsCRP and IL-6 | All fasting blood fat measures lower on olive oil than on coconut oil | Crossover trial, 45 adults, 5 weeks per diet, 2011 |
| Coconut oil vs butter vs olive oil, 50 g a day | CRP was measured, but the summary gives no result for it | Butter up 0.42 mmol/L vs coconut oil; coconut oil and olive oil about equal | Randomized trial, 94 adults aged 50 to 75, 4 weeks, 2018 |
| Butter vs refined olive oil | hsCRP: no difference | Higher total and LDL cholesterol on butter | Crossover trial, 47 adults, 5 weeks per diet, 2015 |
| Olive oil vs a mix of control diets | CRP down 0.64 mg/L (15 trials); IL-6 down 0.29 (7 trials) | Not pooled in this review | 2015 meta-analysis of 30 trials, 3,106 people |
Read down the inflammation column. In every direct matchup, it says the same thing. Now read the LDL column, where the three fats fall into a clear order.
Is coconut oil inflammatory or anti-inflammatory?
The "anti-inflammatory" idea mostly rests on medium-chain fats. Coconut oil got popular because people credit these fats with health perks. But its main fat, lauric acid, may act like both a medium-chain and a long-chain fat in the body. A 2019 review warned that tests of pure medium-chain fats don't apply straight to coconut oil. Many claims, it said, rest on animal studies, lab-dish studies or those pure fats.
In every direct matchup, coconut oil, butter and olive oil tied on inflammation markers. LDL cholesterol broke the tie.From a 2011 randomized trial in Am J Clin Nutr
So what happens when people actually eat it? In a 2011 trial in Malaysia, 45 healthy adults ate three diets for 5 weeks each, cooked with palm olein, coconut oil or virgin olive oil. None of the 6 inflammation markers moved differently between the diets. That list included hsCRP, IL-6 (a signal immune cells use to call up inflammation) and TNF-alpha.
The 2020 meta-analysis, which pools the results of many trials, found the same. In the 5 trials that measured CRP, coconut oil did not change it compared with non-tropical plant oils.
The opposite worry gets the same answer. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat. Yet in these trials it did not push inflammation markers above what the other oils did. On this evidence, coconut oil is neither.
Where they are the same
Butter faced olive oil in a 2015 crossover trial, where each person tried both. The 47 healthy adults had an average age of 40.4. Each swapped part of their usual diet for butter for 5 weeks, then for refined olive oil for 5 weeks. Their hsCRP did not differ between the two. Neither did their insulin or blood sugar.
That makes three direct matchups with the same result: no fat in this trio beat another on inflammation.
Then why does olive oil have a CRP drop in the table? That review pooled 30 trials of olive oil against all kinds of control diets, often as part of a Mediterranean-style eating plan. The trials were set up in very different ways, so the authors urged a careful reading. It's a real signal. It just was not measured against butter or coconut oil.
Where they differ
Cholesterol is the split, and it is not small. In the 2018 Cambridgeshire trial, butter raised LDL by 0.42 mmol/L more than coconut oil, and by 0.38 mmol/L more than olive oil. Coconut oil and olive oil came out about equal on LDL. Coconut oil also raised HDL, the "good" cholesterol, more than either one.
One 4-week trial is a narrow window, though. The 16-trial meta-analysis gives a wider view: coconut oil raised LDL by 10.47 mg/dL and HDL by 4.00 mg/dL compared with non-tropical plant oils, and the LDL rise held up when weaker trials were left out. A 2016 review of 8 trials and 13 observational studies saw the same order. Coconut oil raised total and LDL cholesterol more than unsaturated plant oils, but less than butter.
A 2020 meta-analysis of 12 studies drew the same line. Compared with animal fats, coconut oil lowered LDL; compared with plant oils, it raised it. Virgin coconut oil had the better cholesterol numbers of the coconut oils.
What about coconut oil on your skin?
That is a different question from eating it. A 2019 review found limited but consistent evidence for using coconut oil on the skin in atopic dermatitis, a common type of eczema. It says nothing about what eating coconut oil does inside your body.
The tiebreaker
With inflammation a draw, LDL cholesterol decides it. The American Heart Association ties LDL directly to atherosclerosis, the buildup that narrows arteries. In its 2017 advisory, trials that cut saturated fat and replaced it with polyunsaturated vegetable oil lowered heart disease by about 30%. Swapping saturated fat for refined carbs and sugar did not.
You may have heard that people in the tropics eat plenty of coconut and do fine. In traditional diets, eating coconut flesh or squeezed coconut was not linked to heart problems. But those diets and lives differ so much from a typical Western diet that the finding does not carry over. Even the trial authors who found coconut oil close to olive oil said their results do not change the advice to cut back on saturated fat.
So here is the ranking. Olive oil first: tied on inflammation, best on LDL, and the only one with a pooled CRP drop. Coconut oil second. Butter third.
Which to pick
Tick what you'll try this week. Your picks stay on this device.
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How this article was made
Researched and written from 9 peer-reviewed papers. Our automated check matched every claim against the exact words of its source, confirmed every paper exists in PubMed, and found none retracted. Checked November 4, 2026. Not individually reviewed by a doctor. Photos are illustrative; the people in them are not patients or readers.
Grades run Strong, Moderate, Emerging, Early and Not supported, and the grade decides the words we may use. How we grade evidence · Medical disclaimer
Sources
- Meta-analysisThe Effect of Coconut Oil Consumption on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials.Neelakantan N, Seah JYH, van Dam RM Circulation, 2020.PubMedFull paper
- Randomized trialDiets high in palmitic acid (16:0), lauric and myristic acids (12:0 + 14:0), or oleic acid (18:1) do not alter postprandial or fasting plasma homocysteine and inflammatory markers in healthy Malaysian adults.Voon PT, Ng TK, Lee VK et al. Am J Clin Nutr, 2011.PubMedFull paper
- Randomized trialRandomised trial of coconut oil, olive oil or butter on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors in healthy men and women.Khaw KT, Sharp SJ, Finikarides L et al. BMJ Open, 2018.PubMedFull paper
- Randomized trialButter increased total and LDL cholesterol compared with olive oil but resulted in higher HDL cholesterol compared with a habitual diet.Engel S, Tholstrup T Am J Clin Nutr, 2015.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisEffects of Olive Oil on Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Function-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Schwingshackl L, Christoph M, Hoffmann G Nutrients, 2015.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisImpact of coconut oil consumption on cardiovascular health: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Teng M, Zhao YJ, Khoo AL et al. Nutr Rev, 2020.PubMedFull paper
- ReviewCoconut oil consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in humans.Eyres L, Eyres MF, Chisholm A et al. Nutr Rev, 2016.PubMedFull paper
- ReviewHealth Effects of Coconut Oil-A Narrative Review of Current Evidence.Wallace TC J Am Coll Nutr, 2019.PubMedFull paper
- ReviewDietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association.Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JHY et al. Circulation, 2017.PubMedFull paper
