Coconut Oil

The ABC’s Of Health

By Dr. Joanne T. Gjelsten

BUY A LITTLE COCONUT AND EAT IT ALL UP!

We just came back from the land of palm trees, Florida, enjoying 85 degree temps and relaxing on the beach.  Why we came back I don’t know, but here we are, shivering through Dec. as I write this, my January article. Good think I like skiing, I sometimes say. Well, what we did miss while were away is our daily breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal, coconut oil, lecithin, fruit, nuts, stevia, chia seeds, wheat germ, flax seeds, the kitchen sink, 12 swans a swimming, and how great we feel on this stuff.

Coconut oil is a complicated mixture of saturated fats. Like butta, only more complicated. Butter and coconut oil are saturated, meaning they are solid at room temperature, though coconut oil is solid up to 76 degrees Fahrenheit, then it becomes a liquid. Heat up butter and it becomes a liquid as well.  (If you really want to know what that means, then go take organic chemistry, a requirement for Chiropractic college that I thought I would shoot myself going through at the time, but turns out to be more interesting after the fact. Now is use if every day with my nutrition/chiropractic practice..go figure.) Coconut oil confuses people.. Contrary to what you might think, coconut oil helps to lower rather than raise LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, because it’s 50% lauric acid.  By the way, the larger your cholesterol molecules the better; a blood test can determine your sizes.

 I’m not that concerned about high cholesterol, but lots of people are.  High cholesterol in the presence of inflammatory factors is dangerous however. Unsaturated fats like corn oil go rancid in the body, depletes your vitamin e,  and even goes rancid in the refrigerator.  So coconut oil is more stable, even after a year at room temperature.

 Why Dr. Jo, is the saturated fat, coconut oil good for you? Because this saturated fat has different chemical properties that benefit your health. How?  Let me count the ways. I’ll be back in about an hour. I’m exhausted, but here goes:   the palm tree/coconut tree, “ the tree of life”;  Ayurvedic medicine has known about its properties for 4000 years, and compared its health benefits in Sanskrit to mothers  milk,  is antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial,  containing lauric acid among many other fatty acids, which you convert to monolaurin, which you use to combat viruses and bacteria.  You with the ulcers, sore throat, various other bacterial infections might be helped with coconut oil.  It may help you kill the lipid (fat) coated viruses like herpes, and if you put it on bruises and it helps to heal them; just don’t lick your wounds, or do, it’s good for you Yolanda. It’s effective for your thrush, your athlete’s foot, your diaper rash, or your baby’s diaper rash.  Got kidney or gall stones? I don’t.  Could be the coconut oil Karen. You see Yo Yo, coconut oil contains medium chain triglycerides and fatty acids.

These guys are absorbed right away into the liver…not taking the long way home like long chain fatty acids. This makes them available to your mighty mitochondria, the powerhouses of your little cells.  They don’t get absorbed into your fat like their long chain brothers, as easily, and, hooray, they raise thyroid function. Here’s something that will make your day.  “In the 1940's farmers tried coconut oil to fatten their animals but discovered that it made them lean and active and increased their appetite. Whoops! Then they tried an anti-thyroid drug. It made the livestock fat with less food but was found to be a carcinogen (cancer causing drug). In the late 1940's, it was found that the same anti-thyroid effect could be achieved by simply feeding animals soybeans and corn. “

Moral of the story, grow your own food.

Coconut oil helps you dissolve kidney stones, lose weight, maintain good blood sugar, encourage your thyroid to behave.  You may absorb your minerals better my osteoporotic peeps, this miracle fruit of the palm tree by getting more calcium and magnesium into you guys. Your teeth might thank you, (let me know if you do hear from your teeth, I’ll run the other way) for this oil helps to prevent decay, and the calcium you’re absorbing helps you maintain your choppers. Studies, you ask?  In a colon cancer review of 50 years, only 3% of coconut consumers got cancer, as opposed to 32% of corn oil users.

You can cook with it, or ghee, or mustard oil, all good, rub it on your skin, or your hair to help “nourish damaged hair”,  people from India will tell you. If you ask them. Likely. Unless they never heard of it, but of course, they have.  Buy a little organic virgin coconut oil like I do, “and eat it all up…call me in the mornin’ I’ll tell you what to do…nontoxic, no side effects, tastes good. Thanks Mama Nature!

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The products and claims made about specific products on our site have not been evaluated by any regulatory health authority and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided on our site is for informational purposes only. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any or stopping any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.