If you want to lose weight and improve your health, try consuming coconut oil. I usually swallow a heaping spoonful each morning. It has a slightly sweat, creamy taste.
No, I haven’t lost my mind. While it’s true that coconut oil is a saturated fat, a lot of misinformation has been spread about saturated fats and unsaturated fats.
Vegetable Oils and Heart Disease
For the last 60 years, the health care industry has been convincing the public that saturated fats are bad for the heart, while lauding vegetable oils as heart-healthy. During this same time, there has been a dramatic rise in heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the number one killer in America. This was not true before Americans began to massively consume vegetable oil.
In contrast, Pacific Islanders, who regularly consume saturated fats in the form of coconut oil, have almost no incidents of heart disease.
Coconut oil may actually be one of the most beneficial products you can take for your health. It helps fight hypothyroidism and chronic fatigue syndrome. It also helps lower cholesterol. Surprised? Read on!
A Lesson from the Past
Back in the 1940s, cattle ranchers decided to fatten their livestock by using coconut oil. Their plan backfired. Instead of becoming fat, the cows became lean and active. In contrast, when they began to feed the cows corn and soybeans, they got their desired results. The cows gained weight, and corn and soy have been used as cattle feed ever since.
Scientists would soon find that unsaturated fats suppress metabolism. This can cause hypothyroidism. Unsaturated fats also damage mitochondria through oxidation and enzyme suppression. This is an important point for those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, because people with chronic fatigue syndrome tend to have damaged mitochondria.
Saturated verses Unsaturated Fats
Let’s take a closer look at vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are extracted from plants and seeds, and they include corn, cottonseed, peanut, sunflower, olive, and safflower oil. Most vegetable oils are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs are fragile, unstable, and prone to oxidation. They are highly processed when manufactured. It isn’t easy to make oil out of a seed. If you squeeze an olive, oil comes out, but what comes out of a sunflower seed if you squeeze it? Nothing. In order to process PUFAs, high heat, extreme pressure, and chemicals are used. The finished product often contains residual chemicals.
PUFAs produce free radicals and can increase inflammation in the body. They can also disrupt metabolism because they interfere with the activity of the thyroid. Often, the results are slow metabolism and weight gain.
Even after you stop consuming PUFAs, they remain stored in bodily tissues and are released during times of stress or fasting. They bind with cells and interfere with chemical reactions in the body. They destroy the mitochondria in the cells, and they impair communication between cells. They create the perfect conditions for hormonal disruption and disease.
The only safe vegetable oil is olive oil, but olive oil is easily damaged by heat and is not suitable for cooking.
The truth is that you need some saturated fat. Saturated fat reduces levels of lipoprotein, a risk factor for heart disease. It is also necessary for calcium absorption. The brain is made up of saturated fats and cholesterol, and depriving the brain of saturated fats impairs repair and function. Saturated fats also improve the immune system by strengthening white blood cells.
Omega-3s verses Omega-6s
Vegetable oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Our cells contain only a small amount of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. They are mostly composed of saturated and monosaturated fat. Consuming large amounts of omega-6 creates an imbalance in our bodies.
Omega-6 oils increase the risk of heart disease and cancer. They also increase inflammation, a major cause of disease.
Olive oil is about 10% omega-6. It is fine in moderation but it’s not the best oil.
What Makes Coconut Oil Special
Coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFAs). Most vegetable oils are made of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). LCFAs are difficult to break down because they require special enzymes for digestion. This puts more strain on the liver, pancreas, and the digestive system. LCFAs are also stored in the body as fat, and they can be deposited into the arteries as cholesterol.
In contrast, MCFAs are easily digested, putting less strain on the digestive system. They are sent directly to the liver where they are converted into energy instead of stored as fat. The liver and gall bladder do not need to digest MCFAs. This results in instant energy, increased metabolic rate, more heat production, and increased circulation. If you have had your gallbladder removed or if you have impaired fat digestion, you can benefit from how easily this oil is digested.
Coconut oil is one of the few dietary sources of MCFAs. Palm kernel oil is another source, and milk fats are another source; but milk fats a have lower amount of MCFAs.
Lauric Acid
Something else that makes coconut oil great is the presence of lauric acid. Lauric acid is converted into monolaurin in the body, a compound that kills viruses, bacteria, funguses, and other microorganisms. Monolaurin disrupts their lipid membranes and destroys them. It is an effective treatment for Candida. It also fights Influenza, Hepatitis C, and HIV. Monolaurin can only be produced in the body from lauric acid. The only other source of lauric acid is breast milk. Incidentally, infants who are breast-fed have fewer incidents of infections than those who are not breast-fed.
More Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
The health benefits of coconut oil are numerous. One benefit is that it improves metabolism, and this in turn increases the activity of the thyroid. This is great news for hypothyroidism sufferers! Boosting your metabolic rate also accelerates the healing process, increases energy levels, improves immune function, and helps with weight loss.
Coconut oil gets converted into instant energy, like carbohydrates. Unlike carbohydrates, however, it causes no insulin spike. Therefore, it protects against Diabetes.
The following is a short list of some additional health benefits of coconut oil:
- Eases acid reflux
- Kills parasites
- Strengthens the liver
- Reduces muscles and join inflammation
- Destroys the flu virus
- Protects against osteoporosis by aiding in the absorption of calcium and magnesium
- Lowers cholesterol
- Lowers the risk of heart disease and diabetes
Dosage
When you switch to coconut oil, make sure to get virgin coconut oil. Regular coconut oil is often refined, and the refining process strips away many of its benefits. In fact, it can be so refined that it becomes a trans-fat.
Adults should consume 3.5 tablespoons daily. This dosage has the same amount of lauric acid that a nursing infant would receive in one day from breastfeeding. Beginners should start with a lower dose, and then slowly build up to the recommended dose. Those who are accustomed to a low-fat diet may experience diarrhea if they take too much too soon.
For further reading, check out the following links:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/22/coconut-oil-and-saturated-fats-can-make-you-healthy.aspx
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/surprising-health-benefits-coconut-oil
Conquering Chronic Fatigue 