Coconut Oil - The Healing Oil

Highly Saturated / Stable Oil for Cooking - Coconut Oil contains 92% saturated fat and is thus extremely stable for use in cooking, much more so than other vegetable oils. It will not easily oxidize (produce free radicals) when heated. Use expeller-pressed coconut oil for cooking, which does not taste or smell of coconut.

Coconut Oil Contains Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)  - these triglycerides have the usual glycerol backbone with 3 attached fatty acids, but for MCT's, 2 of these 3 are medium chain-length fatty acids (MCFAs), having only 8-12 carbons (C's) in their bodies. Over 3/4 (80.7% - Orsavova J et al, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16, 12871-12890) of coconut oil's saturated fat is in the form of MCT's . Almost half (47.7%) of the fatty acids in coconut oil are lauric acid (C12:0), which is a very protective fatty acid also found in mother's breast milk.

MCFAs are Directly Absorbed in the GI tract and don't need to be broken down by Bile Salts - Typical seed oils in the American diet contain predominately long chain fatty acids, which need to be broken down by bile salts from the liver into chains of only 14 carbons. Unused, excess carbohydrates are also converted into 14 carbon chains and stored as triglycerides, until their energy is needed.

Since coconut oil fatty acids are already less than the 14 carbon units, instead of being digested into the blood stream,they are directly absorbed into the portal vein and go straight to the liver. There they support the immune system, help clean out pathogens, and then continue on to the body's cells.

People who can not digest food well, especially people who can not digest fats (E.g. those with cystic fibrosis or those without gall bladders) will thrive on coconut oil.

Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

Diabetic Aid.    Cells can make energy from MCFA's without requiring insulin - Most Americans (not just diabetics) have some degree of insulin resistance and do not get enough energy from their food. Coconut oil does not depend on the insulin system being in working order. Virgin Coconut Oil has a substantial effect in reducing blood sugar levels.

Lauric Acid in coconut oil is Antibiotic, Antiviral, Anti-Fungal and Anti-Parasitic.   Coconut oil contains about 50% lauric acid, which breaks down into a substance which dissolves the lipid envelope that protects most pathogenic bacteria and viruses. It also attacks yeast and parasites. Lauric acid is the major fat contained in a human mother's breast milk, and a major reason nursing infants have a high resistance to becoming sick.

Coconut Oil Increases Metabolism .   MCFA's do not require any enzymes or carriers to be transported by the body or to cross the cell membrane. Once in the cell they are burned for energy rather than stored as triglycerides, which increases the body's metabolism above normal. (known as thermogenesis).

-   Provides Instant Energy.   People with low energy notice they have energy again.

-   Thyroid gland activity is increased.    Those with under-active thyroid glands find their basal temperature becomes normal. When coconut oil is added to a balanced diet in the presence of adequate thyroid hormone, LDL-cholesterol is enzymatically converted to the vital anti-aging steroids, PREGNENOLONE, Progesteroneand DHEA. These hormones are required to help prevent heart disease, senility, obesity, cancer and other diseases associated with aging and chronic degenerative diseases.

-   Weight Control.     The increase in thyroid function and metabolic rate explains why people and animals that regularly eat coconut oil are lean. (Pig farmers tried to use coconut oil to fatten their animals but instead found it made the pigs lean!)

Coconut oil cleanses the colon.    Gently softens and loosens old fecal material.

Skin, Dandruff, Hair, Deodorant

-   MCFA's in coconut oil are identical to the fats found in the skin's sebum

-    Coconut oil protects the skin.    From sunburn, drying, chapping, and pathogenic bacteria. The main reason coconut oil is used in suntan lotions is because of its high saturated fat content, which will not oxidize and produce aging free radicals, when exposed to light, heat and air. Use virgin coconut oil every day, gently massaging into face and neck

-    It promotes overnight healing.   Rubbed into painful, bleeding cracks on fingers (a winter complaint)

-    For dandruff or red spots on the scalp.   Rub coconut oil into the scalp, leave on for about 20 minutes, then shampoo twice (Even better than tea tree oil shampoo)

-   Rub it on red spots on your skin.    Adding a drop or two of lemon or lavender essential oil for improved results

-   Coconut oil can be used as an underarm deodorant

-   Helps hair shine.    When included in the diet and/or used externally in a hair conditioner recipe.

Coconut has been Wrongly Maligned in the Past.    Some negative studies done on coconut oil used hydrogenated coconut oil, which has been altered from its original form. Coconut oil used to be commonly, commercially used in cookies, crackers and pastries, but the saturated fat scare lobbied by the domestic vegetable oil industry, forced manufacturers to abandon this safe and healthy oil in favor of hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola and cottonseed oils. Just for the record, since coconut's MCFA's are not present in the bloodstream, they can not be responsible for heart disease.

Coconut oil comes in Two Forms

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO)

-   A good quality oil when extracted from fresh coconut without high heat or chemicals - Retains the taste and scent of coconut.

-   VCO is the preferred form for coconut oil's full health benefits - Typical oral dosage is about 2-3 Tablespoons per day.

Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil (EPCO)

-   An excellent cooking oil choice

-   A good quality oil, made by mechanical extraction - not by using solvent extracts. EPCO is less expensive than VCO. Steam deodorization removes the coconut taste and scent.