Coconut or Not?
The Martial Art of Wellness
Volume 13 – November 2014
DEAR FRIENDS
Welcome to this month’s BioNews. We must learn to free ourselves from the control that others exert over us. As we learn we become FREE, we become powerful. This pursuit of self defense in wellness, I call “The Martial Art of Wellness.” And as we practice we become Wellness Ninjas.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
” It takes about four days of virtuous living to create a little weight loss. That also happens to be the time required to get used to eating less. In other words, if you can get past day three of a fitness regimen, things improve.”
– Martha Beck
THIS ISSUE’S TESTIMONIAL: BAC and weight Loss!
” I wanted to update you on my health and weight loss. I wanted to tell you I just broke 200 lbs, on Monday at 199.8. I have lost 40 pounds in about eight months. I work out 1 hour a day, some jogging/walking and trampoline.
I added BAC formulas F3 to my regime of the F2 and it is really allowing me the energy and recovery I need. My diet is lots of organic salad greens, organic fuji apples, organic grass fed NON GMO MEATS/PROTEINS. I meditate and practice wing chung / ti chi for help in my blood pressure which has lowered since the weight loss. However, my goal is 180 lbs. I have taken on this regimen as a regular way of life not just a diet. I feel fantastic and very athletic at 56yrs. The Bio-Algae is the core of my success.
On another note. I started planting organic heirloom seed herbs and peppers several months ago. They are growing in small pots and getting bigger everyday. I am feeding them with one capsule of Bio-Algae twice a month and I noticed the colors and thickness of stock is mind blowing. They grow in spurts especially when I feed them the algae. I thought you might find this interesting experimenting with growing food.
Well, thanks again for your help. An a big thank you to you and Dr. Kiriac for BAC. ”
– Peace, Gerard Martinez, USA, November 2014
THE MARTIAL ART OF WELLNESS: Coconut or Not?
Many articles that have been written about coconut oil and grease. I decided to write about it too just in case some of you were not aware of how good it is for you. I will not be extensive about it as experts have done that already… please do visit some of the links provided below for more in depth information and to gain knowledge about the benefits of coconuts.
As always I will ask that you do not read any medicinal advice from my or other’s writing about coconuts. I have come to understand that foods are not medicine, but rather are a source of fuel from which our cells derive energy from. On the other hand there are foods that are better fuels than others. For example, a salad of lettuces and greens is dramatically more efficient than a plate of “cooked to death” fries and cheese curds “poutine”. One will energize you, the other will put you to sleep. In that sense, the coconut food and its derived oils and grease are one of those special foods on earth.
Coconut oil has been used extensively in tropical countries especially India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines etc., which have a good production of coconut oil. At one time, the oil was also popular in the United States and Canada, but in the 1970s there was a strong propaganda campaign spread by the corn oil and soy oil industry against coconut oil. Coconut oil was said to be harmful for the human body due to its high saturated fat content. It’s not until the last decade (2000s) when people began to question the claims of the propaganda, and now coconut oil and grease is on the shelves of all organic shops and has even landed in supermarkets.
Coconut oil sales are skyrocketing. We found it in many food products and many claim that coconut oil has all the virtues, from losing weight to slowing down Alzheimer’s disease.
However, certain health authorities are still warning people against oil coconut and other tropical oils of similar composition. I suggest you just don’t listen to them, and instead you learn about it, read the pro’s and con’s, become the expert, and make up your own mind, and not that of another.
Interesting nutritional composition of coconut oil
- One tablespoon of 13.6 grams contains 117 calories (a woman needs about 1,800 calories per day). On the surface coconut oil is pure fat with a bit of vitamin E. It contains zero protein, zero carbohydrates, zero minerals and almost zero vitamins.
Coconut fat is almost entirely composed of unsaturated fatty acids. But unlike the animal fats, also rich in saturated fats fatty acids, coconut fat contains an unusual amount of medium chain fatty acids or medium chain triglycerides (MCT).
“The vast majority of the fats and oils you eat, whether they are saturated or unsaturated or come from an animal or a plant, are composed of long-chain triglycerides. Probably 98 to 100% of all the fats we eat consist of LCT. Coconut oil is unique because it is composed predominately of MCT. The size of the fatty acid is extremely important because physiological effects of medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are distinctly different from the long-chain fatty acids more commonly found in our diet. It’s the MCT in coconut oil that make it different from all other fats and for the most part gives it its unique character and healing properties. Almost all of the medium-chain triglycerides used in research, medicine, and food products come from coconut oil” [0].
- When you eat MCT, they go right in your liver and are metabolized to produce energy or are converted into ketones, which can have a therapeutic effect on the brain (epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease).
- Your body is very difficult to store MCT in your fat reserves (thighs, buttocks, abdomen, arms, and chest).
- You can even lose weight instead of butter or other saturated with oil, coconut fat. One study concluded that 15 to 30 grams per day of MCT increases the energy consumption of 5%, which is 120 calories per day [1].
- Finally, new studies have shown very large there is no link between saturated fat intake and the risk of heart attack or stroke. [2]
Populations that consume coconut foods tend to be healthy
The Coconut is considered among us as an exotic product but do not forget that it is the staple diet of the people in many of the tropical countries. And we find that when they preserved their traditional way of life, these people are in very good health.
The best example are the Tokelauans who live in the South Pacific. Their calorie intakes are 56% as fat, of which 90% comes from coconut oil, making them the biggest eaters of fat in the world. However, their blood lipid levels is moderate and it is very rare that they suffer from heart disease [3].
Other researchers have found the same phenomenon (absence of heart attack and stroke) with other big consumers of coconut: the people of Kitavien (Melanesia) [4].
Choose virgin coconut oil
Please note that these results are only true with oil obtained when cold pressed from fresh ripe coconuts, without heat or chemicals. In this way it is considered pure virgin raw or unrefined. You can spot it because it has the sweet smell of coconut, unlike the hydrogenated coconut oil or the bleached and deodorized, which are cheaper but also not so healthy.
Possible virtues and benefits of virgin coconut oil for health
A diet rich in MCT (which represent 65% of the virgin coconut oil) shows increases in glucose tolerance and improves insulin sensitivity in rat studies [5],
A 2009 study showed that replacing soybean oil with an equal amount of coconut oil allowed a slight decrease in weight for women with abdominal obesity [6], and other studies show that you can lose weight by adding virgin coconut fat to your diet [13].
Recently, a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer found that consuming coconut oil protects neurons of the cerebral cortex in cells of laboratory mouse [7].
In a 2006 study, the consumption of MCT led to immediate improvements in brain function in human patients with moderate forms of Alzheimer’s disease [8].
Coconut oil, which is made up of 50% lauric acid results in the killing of disease causing bacteria’s, viruses and yeast, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans [9].
Virgin coconut oil has the advantages of remaining solid at room temperature and of not producing toxic compounds when heated, which makes it an excellent alternative to butter and palm oil in cooking and for pastries: it gives a smooth and creamy texture desired in pies, pastries and cakes.
Due to its antibacterial effects, coconut oil is also excellent for the skin [10], hair [11] and even teeth. It is known to limits damages caused by the sun’s rays, blocking 20% of ultraviolet [12], making it a great natural sunscreen for moderate exposure.
Sources :
[0] Coconut Research Center online at http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org
[5] Medium-chain fatty acids: Functional lipids for the prevention and treatment ofthe metabolic syndrome, Koji Nagao, Teruyoshi Yanagita. Laboratory of Nutrition Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biochemistry and Food Science, Saga University, Honjo-1, Saga 840-8502, Japan, accessed 12 September 2014<
[7] Nafar F, Mearow KM, « Coconut oil attenuates the effects of amyloid-β on cortical neurons in vitro », J Alzheimers Dis. 2014;39(2):233-7. doi: 10.3233/JAD-131436.
[8] Effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate on cognition in memory-impaired adults
[9] Fatty Acids and Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents
[11] Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage
[12] Potential of herbs in skin protection from ultraviolet radiation
