How many times must we quote that dark character from the movie (and book),
All The President’s Men, by the name of "Deep Throat?"
His statement is simple, but charged: "Follow the money."
Fats, fats, fats. We are told so much about fats. Fats kill. Fats cause heart
disease. Fats cause cancer.
The purpose of this article is to break through the junk science we’ve all
been spoon fed and bring to light some of the truth about fats.
The American Heart Association (and a sundry of organizations supposedly
supporting your healthy heart) since the fifties have been telling us to eat
margarine and polyunsaturated oils for good heart health. When you follow the
money, you discover that the companies making these products are the largest
supporters of these supposed heart organizations.
In 1998, the American Heart Association, in the face of overwhelming evidence
(and the fact that Americans can actually read) finally came out telling us to
limit our intake of trans fats, the main ingredient in margarine.
Trans fats are also called partially hydrogenated oils. They are in all our
junk foods, but some food companies are starting to cut back on their use, as
sales have fallen off since revelations about trans fats began circulating.
Here's something that you probably don't know: the oils in your store, on those shelves,
looking golden and clear, are ALREADY RANCID.
Here’s a little something I learned from a lecture by Karl Loren:
Corn oil is first squeezed from the corn and filtered. This is virgin oil.
Virgin corn oil is not very stable to begin with and immediately starts to
oxidize (break down/turn rancid).
There is still corn mash left over from the process, and because the food
industry wants to make even greater profits, they go on to chemically extract
the rest of the oil found in this mash. They add benzene to the corn mash.
The benzene pulls the extra oil out of the corn the same way gasoline pulls
oil out of a soiled cloth. Since benzene is not allowed in food, the oil must be
heated (burned) to burn off the benzene. The burning process denatures the oil
and oxidizes it making it rancid.
The oils are all mixed together, the virgin squeezing and the chemically
extracted oils. They are bottled in clear plastic. Oh, I forgot: there’s a
chemical factory just outside of New Jersey that makes an oil flavored perfume
that is added to the oil so you don’t smell the rancidity.
In the clear plastic, the oil is assaulted by light which further breaks it
down.
So, when you finally open that bottle of corn oil, it still smells clean and
pure, but much of it is already rancid, and rancid oils can attack your arteries
and have been linked to cancer.
Now lets tell you a little bit about coconut oil.
Coconut oil is one of the most stable oils you can buy. It does not turn
rancid easily. It does not attack your arteries. In fact, coconut oil was one of
the foods Weston Price studied
in his journeys. He discovered that the coconut was considered, by the local
populations, a medicine food. He found that those civilizations that consumed
coconut regularly had no knowledge of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and
diabetes.
Let’s take a look at the healing properties of coconut oil:
- Coconut oil is antiviral, antifungal (kills yeast too) and antibacterial.
It attacks and kills viruses that have a lipid (fatty) coating, such as
herpes, HIV, hepatitis C, the flu, and mononucleosis. It kills the bacteria
that cause pneumonia, sore throats, dental cavities, urinary tract
infections, meningitis, gonorrhea, food poisoning, pneumonia, and many, many
more bacterial infections. It kills the fungus/yeast infections that cause
candida, ringworm, athletes foot, thrush, jock itch, diaper rash and more.
- Coconut oil is called the "low fat" fat. It actually acts like a
carbohydrate in that it is quickly broken down in the liver and used as
quick energy. It is NOT stored like other fats. It boosts one’s energy and
endurance. Many athletes use it blended into their drinks. It also supports
thyroid function and increases your metabolism (great if you want to lose
weight).
- Coconut oil improves digestion and absorption of fat soluble vitamins,
minerals (especially calcium and magnesium), and amino acids. It improves
the body’s use of blood glucose and improves insulin secretion and
absorption (great for type II diabetes). In fact, many diabetics (type I and
type II) use it to reduce their symptoms. One’s risk of diabetes decreases
with regular use of coconuts and coconut oil. And as we already mentioned,
cooking with coconut oil does not create any harmful byproducts.
- Coconut oil helps the body heal and repair faster. It aids and supports
immune function, protecting us from a variety of cancers.
- Coconut oil, contrary to much hubbub, is good for your heart. It keeps our
blood platelets from sticking together (and causing dangerous clots).
Regular users of coconut oils have a much lower chance of atherosclerosis
(clogging of the arteries), arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries),
and strokes. Coconut oil can lower your blood pressure.
- Coconut oil is a natural antioxidant. It protects the body from free
radical damage and prevents premature aging and degenerative diseases.
- Finally, coconut oil is the best massage oil on the planet. What it does
to your skin, you simply have to witness. It forms a barrier against
infections, softens and moisturizes your skin, and prevents wrinkling,
sagging, and age spots. It promotes healthy hair and complexion, protects
from any damaging UV rays. (It is used in Ron Salley’s
products.)
So? How come we don’t know about coconut oil? In our research, we
discovered that coconut oil was attacked by the oil industry as being an
"artery clogger." While doing this research, we were contacted by
Bruce Fife, ND, who sent us a copy of his book to review: The Healing
Miracles of Coconut Oil. (See below for where to get your copy.)
Medium chain fatty acid. That doesn’t mean much to most people, however,
this gives coconut oil its unique qualities. It is not digested as other fats,
but gives you quick energy. In the body it is broken down quickly, but on the
shelf, it doesn’t break down as quickly as other fats. It is just plain better
than other fats.
In our book, Bypassing Bypass,
we point out that the current theory of heart disease points to infections in
the blood as being the culprit behind our skyrocketing heart disease rates. Even
gum disease can eventually lead to a fatal heart attack, as the germs leave the
mouth and travel through our system of blood vessels. Consumption of coconut oil
can cut your chances of heart disease better than any drug on the market. We
highly recommend you pick up a copy of Bruce’s Book. It is so packed full of
information that you’ll read it like a murder mystery, hardly able to put it
down. It is well researched and well written.
Coconut oil is NOT a magic bullet. You don’t simply take it when you have
been hit by a virus. You have to eat it daily (or get some whole coconut in you)
and build up your body’s supply of the nurturing fatty acids in coconut from
the coconut.
How much coconut oil to eat? Here’s the figure we get from Bruce: between
three and four tablespoons a day. "That’s a lot!" you might say. But
we have some ways for you to get it.
In Bruce’s book there are a few recipes. But one simple way we found is
this: people love sweets in the morning. With their coffee or just alone, humans
love sweets. So, take some coconut oil, add some honey and cinnamon, and spread
over toast. You will love it.
Add some coconut oil to your morning or evening smoothie. We even modified
our Mock Miracle Whip recipe to include coconut oil.
Instead of that third cup of Safflower Oil, in your heated mixture, stir in a
cup of coconut oil. Then blend that in slowly. The taste is fabulous. Everyone
who tried it loved the new coconutty flavor. We also tried ¾ cup of coconut oil
and ¼ cup wheat germ oil. This too is tasty and very, VERY healthy. Imagine
that, really healthy mayo!
Where can you get coconut oil? We had been using a form from Spectrum
Naturals. It is supposedly unrefined. Be careful, because most coconut oil is
RBD (refined, bleached, and deodorized). The spectrum brand was ok, but then we
discovered a brand made by
Quality
First International (they are from Canada), and is called De Coco-Crèam. It tastes SUPERB!
Editor's Note: As we are about to publish this page, we just discovered that
the lovely Klahn family, who sent us samples of their coconut oil and who had a
web site to purchase this brand mentioned above, have decided to quit the
business to spend more time being a family rather than a business. They are very
wonderful for helping us and we wish them love and joy in their lives.
Yes, it’s expensive, but you do get what you pay for. Every recipe we
tested just tasted better using this brand. If you go to their web site, you can
bring the price down considerably by ordering it by the gallon. If you like to
deep-fry, this is the one oil that won’t shorten your life span if you
deep-fry. When you are done deep-frying, and the oil is still liquid, filter the
warm oil into a jar and save in your fridge. It can last up to a year. Imagine,
healthy deep frying.
Quality First International's De Coco-Crèam is made by a very simple cold
process extraction. No chemicals are used. Another brand we discovered (sold by
Tropical Traditions) is made
this way: the meat of the coconut is compressed to squeeze out the coconut milk. By
the way, the water inside the coconut is NOT coconut milk. It is a liquid that
is used medicinally for one purpose: constipation. Drinking this liquid can give
you a bad case of the Polynesian plots (Tahitian two-step). The milk is in the
meat of the coconut. After the milk is squeezed, it is left to sit and the oil
rises naturally to the top, where it is skimmed off. That’s it. Totally
unprocessed, unrefined, untreated. It is great stuff.
And do not worry about gaining weight! Using coconut oil increases your
metabolism. This is the low fat fat that helps you lose weight. The fats in
coconut oil, unlike all other fats, do not circulate through the blood looking
for places to be stored. They go directly to the liver and are turned into
instant energy. Bruce’s book covers this in depth.
To order
Quality First International's brand, you have to call Canada:
877-870-1018. I'm planning on ordering it in a five gallon plastic bucket for
$195.00 plus about $33.00 shipping. Ordering by the gallon or greater will save
you a lot of money. However, there is a hold up for plastic crossing the
Canadian border, so expect a delay (who knows why?)
Tropical Traditions has a web site where you can purchase both coconut oil
and Bruce Fife's books: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/.
We've not tasted their brand yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be just as good as
Quality First International's. And the prices are about the same too.
Any recipe calling for shortening can be changed to
coconut oil. Any frying you do, including stir frying, add coconut oil. If you
bake, add coconut oil. If you make popcorn, pop it in coconut oil. If you make
smoothies, add some coconut oil.
If you have an expensive (and natural) body lotion (like the Ron Salley's
Miracle Skin Ultra Créme), first massage in some coconut oil. You'll wind
up using a lot less of your lotion and you'll find that coconut oil alone will
retard wrinkles and make your skin smoother than the proverbial baby's
bottom.
I've just heard that a friend, with very long hair, uses coconut oil as her
hair conditioner. And once in a while, she puts coconut oil into her hair, wraps
it, sleeps in it, and washes it out in the morning. She says there is nothing
better for her hair.
UPDATE (3/2/05):
In our original article on coconut oil, we focused on the
many benefits of this wonderful and nutritious product. Well, there is more.
There is a lot more.
For instance, the Department of Health in the Philippines
(luckily for them they are not yet our 51st state) began a clinical
study in February of 1999 to study the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability
of coconut oil in the fight against the HIV virus.
The study began as the accumulation of anecdotal reports
grew to the point where they could no longer be ignored.
Mary Enig from the Weston Price Foundation, a genius when
it comes to oils of all kinds, had investigated an AIDS organization, Keep Hope
Alive, in order to document the cases in which people with AIDS had their viral
loads drop to undetectable levels by eating either a half a coconut a day or 3 ½
tablespoons of coconut oil, which is roughly 20-25 grams of lauric acid.
The initial studies in the Philippines are completed and
they did confirm that coconut oil does have an antiviral effect. However, not
all people in the study benefited, and as most “initial” studies conclude: “More
and longer therapies using monolaurin [the anti-viral part of lauric acid] will
have to be designed and done before the definite role of such coco products can
be determined.” [http://www.doh.gov.ph/sars/coconut_oil.htm]
We found this by Dr Bruce Fife (whose book we
have reviewed in our original article on Coconut Oil):
The fact
that MCFA digest immediately to produce energy and stimulate metabolism has led
athletes to use them as a means to enhance exercise performance. There are
several studies showing this to be true. For example, in one study,
investigators tested the physical endurance of mice who were given MCFA in their
daily diet against those that weren't. The study extended over a six week
period. The mice were subjected to a swimming endurance test every other day.
They were placed in a pool of water with a constant current flow like that found
in a river. The total swimming time until exhaustion was measured. While at
first there was little difference between the groups of mice, those fed MCFA
quickly began to out-perform the others and continued to improve throughout the
testing period. [http://www.coconut-connections.com/hypothyroidism.htm]
A bit later, refining my web search, I found the actual
study:
The effect
of chronic administration of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) on swimming
endurance (swim capacity) was investigated in male Std ddY mice. The mice were
fed a diet containing 80 g MCT + 20 g long-chain triglycerides (LCT)/kg diet for
6 wk; mice fed diet containing 100 g LCT/kg diet were used as controls. After
being accustomed to swimming, the mice were subjected to forced swimming every 2
d in the current water pool that we had developed, and the total swimming period
until exhaustion was measured. The total swimming period was used as the index
of swim capacity. The group fed MCT showed significantly greater swim capacity
than the control group (89.5 +/- 2.5 vs. 80.2 +/- 2.0 min). In another
experiment, after 4 wk of MCT diet consumption, significantly greater swim
capacity was found in untrained mice. The major metabolic consequences of the
adaptations of muscle to prolonged MCT administration during endurance training
were higher activities of 3-oxo acid CoA-transferase (P < 0.01),
citrate synthase (P < 0.1) and malate dehydrogenase (P < 0.1). These findings
suggest that increases in the enzyme activities of the tricarboxylic acid cycle
and ketone body utilization associated with the chronic administration of an MCT-containing
diet enhance swim capacity in mice. [Fushiki,
T and Matsumoto, K 1995, Swimming endurance capacity of mice is increased by
consumption of medium-chain triglycerides. Journal of Nutrition 125:531]
The information we could not find is the following. Keep in
mind that in investigative journalism, nothing is confirmed till you get three
different sources to confirm it. So, this information, for the present, has just
one source.
We've learned that more and more horse trainers from the
Blue Grass state are feeding their horses coconut oil. I chased down the trainer
to last years Kentucky Derby winner, but he’d not heard of coconut oil.
So, that’s our update for now. If any of this information
is confirmed, we’ll be the first to tell you. If any more information comes in,
we’ll gladly update you. And if any of you out there have a story to tell about
your use of coconut oil, please, feel free to send it along to
Coconut Stories.