I will occasionally eat whole coconuts, though primarily consume the coconut butter, Coconut cream is also good, I dont eat the oil, (but will use it externally , or to make herbal infusions with)
The Oil is touted more so than the whole raw coconut for reasons of marketing and in a consumer culture, just as much as for reasons of health. Whole coconuts have limited shelf life, are much more difficult to ship, and take the kind of physicality and determination to open that the average consumerist simply does not possess. The oil on the other hand is a highly marketable product that fits well within the grocery store paradigm of our times. To its credit VCO is a much healthier alternative to cooking oils like Corn, canola, cotton seed or soy.
For me Coconut butter is the Goldilocks of all preparations, being happy medium between whole raw coconuts ,and the oil....Whole Raw coconut is good, especially when super fresh, though living in Kentucky is not always an option. I have noticed Whole Raw Coconut is a little too much enigmatically laxative activity, though if I eat it for a number of days in a row the laxative effects diminish as tolerance builds, but there seems to be some enzymatic overload level which limits the amount of coconut fat I can consume from whole coconuts.
Coconut oil is too striped down of all the other elements, and I dont care to use it.
I have a theory that the process of dehydrating coconut denatures some of the enzyme factors which in excess cause gastric distress and limit the amount one can comfortably consume? Even the coconut cream seems to have adverse gastric effects in high amounts, compared with the butter..... Coconut butter is essentially dried coconut which has been pureed. Ive made it myself from whole coconuts, but its a damn labor intensive process and very expensive to have bulk quantities of fresh coconuts shipped from the tropics.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doNk1gamdew