Yes! Coconut oil is good for you. It’s like a medicine chest in a nutshell. It can cure almost any ailment, infection, virus, or condition. It has the ability to heal, soothe, repair and aid almost every part of the body.
So why is coconut oil good for you?
I’m not a medical or health practitioner but I have been using coconut oil for almost 5 years and experienced first hand the benefits and the uses of it. Most of my information comes from an author called Bruce Fife. Bruce is the world’s leading expert on coconut and health. He is the director of the Coconut Research Center, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to educating the public and scientific community on the nutritional and health benefits of coconut. He is the author of numerous books including The Coconut Oil Miracle.Â
The following information is a summary or paraphrase from Bruce Fife’s Book “Coconut Cures”. This is a lengthy read but will give you, the reader, a good insight to why coconut oil is good for you. Enjoy!
Coconut oil like any other fat or oil is composed of fatty acids. You can classify fats in two ways. The first is based on saturation. There is unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. The second way of classifying is by measuring the molecular size of the length of the carbon within the fatty acid. There is short-chain fatty acids, medium-chain fatty acids, and long-chain fatty acids.
The majority of fats in our diet, whether they are saturated or unsaturated are composed of long-chain fatty acids. However coconut oil is unique; it is composed predominately of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). It is the MCFAs in coconut oil that make it different from other oils and which give it its remarkable nutritional and medical properties.
Coconut oil is considered a “functional food,” which means it possesses health benefits beyond its nutritional content.
The size and length of a fatty acid molecule is extremely important. MCFAs are shorter and smaller than long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Because MCFAs are smaller they digest much more easily and have a greater solubility in water. Unlike LCFAs, pancreatic digestive enzymes and bile are not even necessary for their digestion. Because of this, coconut oil can provide a quick and easy source of nutrition without taxing the enzyme systems of the body.
Here’s a brief outline of how fats are digested and metabolised. When you eat foods containing LCFAs they are passed through your stomach and released into your intestinal tract. Almost all of the digestion of LCFAs takes place in the intestine. Digestive enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the gallbladder are necessary for fat digestion. As LCFAs are digested the bonds holding the individual fatty acids together are broken. Individual fatty acids are then absorbed into the intestinal wall. Here they are packaged into little bundles of fat and protein called lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are then funnelled into the bloodstream where they circulate throughout the body. As they circulate, small particles of fat are released from the lipoproteins into the bloodstream…..
When MCFAs are eaten, the process is different. MCFAs also travel through the stomach into the intestinal tract, but because they digest so easily they are completely broken down into individual fatty acids by the time they leave the stomach. Therefore, they do not require pancreatic digestive enzymes or bile for digestion. As they enter the intestinal tract they are immediately absorbed into the portal vein and sent directly to the liver. In the liver they are used as a source of fuel to produce energy. Therefore MCFAs bypass the lipoprotein stage in the intestinal wall and in the liver. They do not circulate in the bloodstream to the degree that other fats do. Consequently, they do not get packed away inside fat cells……..They are used to produce energy, not body fat and arterial plaque.
Because MCFAs are easily digested they also tend to improve the absorption of other nutrients as well. When coconut oil is added into the diet, it enhances the absorption of minerals such as magnesium and calcium, some of the B vitamins, the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K and beta carotene) and some amino acids (ie protein).
Because MCFAs are preferentially used by the liver as a source of fuel to produce energy, coconut oil consumption can boost your energy level.
Because MCFAs are used to produce energy rather than packed away into fat cells, coconut oil can be useful in weight management. In fact, coconut oil has gained the reputation as being the world’s only natural low-calorie fat. It has slightly less calories than any other fat. Most fats have 9 calories per gram, coconut oil has 8.6 calories per gram. But this isn’t the main reason for coconut oil’s low-fat reputation. Coconut oil satisfies hunger better than any other fat, and probably any other food. When you add coconut oil to a meal you become satisfied sooner and do not get as hungry between meals so you can go longer without snacking. Therefore you are eating less and consuming fewer calories. The last reason for coconut oil’s reputation as a low-calorie fat is that it lifts metabolism to a higher level. As metabolism increases, calories are consumed at a higher rate. As more calories are burned up, fewer are left to be converted into body fat.
More good news is that this increase in metabolism doesn’t last for just an hour or two after a meal. Studies have shown that after a single meal containing MFCAs, metabolism remains elevated for a full 24 hours! So after eating a meal containing coconut oil your metabolism will be elevated for 24 hours. During this time your body will be burning calories at an accelerated rate and you will enjoy an increased level of energy.
Coconut oil provides a source of highly efficient cellular food. If your cells are sick, then you will be sick. Eating foods containing coconut oil is one way of giving your cells a source of quick, easy nourishment, thus helping them to remain alive and active.
All your cells, whether they are on the inside or the outside of your body are able to absorb MCFAs to produce energy they need to power biological functions….This is one of the reasons why coconut oil can work wonders for skin problems. Blemishes such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, fungal infections, wounds, and sores dramatically improve in many cases….You can think of coconut oil as food for your skin. When it is applied topically, the cells absorb the MCFAs and convert them into energy. Metabolic activity increases, stimulating healing and repair. This may be why coconut oil is so useful for cuts, burns, ulcers, and other skin and tissue injuries.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of MCFAs in coconut oil is their ability to kill germs and parasites. Coconut oil is one of the best natural remedies you can use for infectious illness. The MCFAs in coconut oil are identical to those in human breast milk and possess the same antimicrobial properties. MCFAs are effective in killing bacteria as well as viruses, fungi and parasites. Unlike, antibiotics which kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad, MCFAs and more specifically their medium-chain monoglycerides not only kill many disease causing microorganisms but evidence suggests that they enhance the immune system. The MCFAs in coconut oil can kill off Helicobacter pylori (said to be the cause of peptic ulcers), streprococcus, herpes and candida albicans. It also possesses properties that fight cancer.
Coconut oil can improve intestinal health. Because coconut oil is anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti viral it can kill disease causing bacteria and yeasts but not the friendly bacteria. Coconut oil can aid people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBS, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) by balancing the intestinal environment and protecting and healing inflamed tissues along the digestive tract. (Healing of the digestive tract will also help alleviate NEUROLOGICAL symptoms such as depression and anxiety)Â
Coconut oil can dissolve gallstones. This approach has been demonstrated at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Wisconsin Hospital. The monoglycerides and diglycerides of caprylic and capric acids in the coconut oil have been found to dissolve gallstones.
Coconut oil is a powerful antioxidant. The higher the saturated fatty acid content of a fat or oil, the more stable it is and the more effective it is as an antioxidant. Coconut oil consists of 92% saturated fatty acids, which is higher than any other dietary fat. This makes it extremely stable and valuable antioxidant. As an antioxidant, it helps protect against peroxidation of unsaturated fats and all the damage they cause. Free radicals are linked to conditions such as Heart disease, Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis to name a few. Regular consumption of coconut oil will help keep free radicals at bay and slow down the ageing process.
As you can read there are so many things that coconut oil is good for. I have only mentioned the tip of the iceberg here. Coconut oil is the one product that should be in everyone’s medicine chest. Hope you enjoyed this article. Be sure to comment below if you have used coconut oil for something particular.
