--- title: This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud description: Here's the latest round-up of health news this week, from reasons to eat more coconut oil to why exercise benefits the brain. canonical: https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-27T17:35:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:37:26.050Z article:section: Health og:title: This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud og:description: These are the top stories in health this week og:url: https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c0ffea89f1f45d7/6988c3f97cdbac64f1d5805d/salty-foods-opener.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Salty foods opener og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud twitter:description: These are the top stories in health this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c0ffea89f1f45d7/6988c3f97cdbac64f1d5805d/salty-foods-opener.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 27, 2017 5:35 PM UTC  by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 27, 2017 5:35 PM UTC This week’s health stories shed new light on what to add to your diet, like a bit of [coconut oil](http://new.time.com/4755761/coconut-oil-healthy/) to your frying pan and [cinnamon](http://time.com/4751426/why-cinnamon-is-insanely-good-for-you/) to your toast. They also showed what to leave out: fast food, since people tend to underestimate the [amount of salt in their restaurant meal](http://new.time.com/4746932/sodium-salt-fast-food/) by more than 600%. Here’s what else caught our attention in health news this week. (Sign up for [our newsletter](http://time.com/newsletter-health) for more.) ## [**You Asked: Is coconut oil healthy?**](http://time.com/4755761/coconut-oil-healthy/) It may not help you lose weight, but some preliminary evidence suggests that coconut oil is a good choice for high-heat cooking. ## [**Why cinnamon is insanely good for you**](http://time.com/4751426/why-cinnamon-is-insanely-good-for-you/) A new study suggests that cinnamon may reduce blood sugar and provide anti-aging benefits by activating a specific protein in the body. ## [**Your meal has way more salt than you think**](http://time.com/4746932/sodium-salt-fast-food/) When people were asked how much sodium they just ate at fast-food restaurants, they were off by an average of 650%. See how well you do on our salt quiz. ## [**Why the fish you order isn’t always what you get**](http://time.com/4754138/fish-fraud-mislabeled/) Seafood fraud, where cheaper species are mislabeled as more expensive ones, is rampant, a new study shows. ## [**Energy drinks are worse for you than soda**](http://time.com/4754233/energy-drinks-caffeine-heart/) They both have caffeine, but energy drinks seem to have a different effect on heart health and blood pressure than some other drinks. ## [**Why you shouldn’t feel guilty for taking a day off from your workout**](http://time.com/4754622/workout-recovery-protects-bones/) Doing too much intense exercise without taking recovery breaks may raise your risk for fractures and osteoporosis. ## [**How to get over a breakup, according to science**](http://time.com/4756642/how-to-recover-from-heartbreak/) Positive thinking can help people feel better after heartbreak, according to a new study. ## [**The simple reason exercise enhances your brain**](http://time.com/4752846/exercise-brain-health/) Scientists are gaining a better understanding of how fitness improves brain function. ## [**95 ways to eat more vegetables**](http://time.com/4755840/how-to-eat-more-vegetables/) Plant your own, eat them at breakfast and 93 more. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/"},"headline":"This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud","datePublished":"2017-04-27T17:35:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:37:26.050Z","description":"Here's the latest round-up of health news this week, from reasons to eat more coconut oil to why exercise benefits the brain.","url":"https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/","keywords":["this week in health","sodium","Exercise","Salt","Energy drinks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c0ffea89f1f45d7/6988c3f97cdbac64f1d5805d/salty-foods-opener.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c0ffea89f1f45d7/6988c3f97cdbac64f1d5805d/salty-foods-opener.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Salty foods opener","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/this-week-in-health/","name":"this week in health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4756731/coconut-oil-salt-fish-fraud/","name":"This Week in Health: Coconut Oil, Salty Food and Fish Fraud"}}]}] ```