[cheryl j (OP)]

In the past year or two, I've seen articles, both in the popular media, and science publications, and the views about saturated fat and health are pretty much all over the map. I don't know where it stands right now. Recently I've been reading articles about the benefits of coconut oil. My mom's doctor even suggested she take 2 tablespoons a day as she claimed there's evidence it helps with age related memory problems. And I've seen it credited with other benefits. But it's also highly saturated, and for years dietitians said to avoid it.

Any opinions on the fat thing?

[JP]

There was a recent meta-analysis claiming that the differences between heart disease and intake of various types of fat are too small to be significant: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/17/290846811/dont-fear-the-fat-experts-question-saturated-fat-guidelines

That is, except for trans-fats, which are bad news.

I am, as a rule, very skeptical about dietary research, as the studies tend to be small and the correlations very weak.  There's a classic article pointing out the problems with much of this type of research: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0020124