Is Virgin Coconut Oil good for us?
 

Someone just emailed me a very interesting link. I saw all this info on Virgin Coconut Oil and it's LOADED with saturated fat but supposedly is BETTER than olive oil and canola.

I had never heard of virgin coconut oil. The site said that it's the hydrogenated coconut oil that is NOT good for you.

But the virgin organic coconut oil is good for the heart and the arteries.

Just google Virgin Coconut Oil and see what pops up.

They all look like advertisements to me. But who knows if the information is correct or not?

Anyone know this?

Thanks much.

Melody

I started including this in my supplement regimen a month or two ago afetr reading some intersting links in the Parkinson's forum and what it has done in terms of brain and memory power with Alzheimers patients.

I have noticed a little more sharpness mentally. Nothing I can quantify though.

Hello Everyone!

MelodyL - Very few people know that there is more than one type of saturated fat? Coconut oil is 92% saturated but most of it are medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). Almost all other oils/fats are mostly, if not entirely, long chain fatty acids (LCFA).

Unlike LCFAs like soybean oil, olive oil, canola oil, etc., MCFA-rich coconut oil go straight to your liver to power metabolism. MCFAs are so different from LCFAs. Their absorption, transport, metabolism and uses are completely different.

Did you know that canola oil is NOT a natural oil? Canola comes from genetically modified rapeseed, whose toxic erucic acid content is reduced. Problem is, the purification process wherein canola is subjected to high-degree heat, gives canola oil its 4-5 percent transfat content.

Just my two cents.

Cheers,
CoconutOilGuy

Well you sold me. Trouble is I just came home and went on the computer.

I was in NYC today and went to a big health food store.

And there in front of me WAS ORGANIC VIRGIN COCONUT OIL.

I thought it would look like oil but it was solid.

I also thought you can cook with it. Am I wrong?

I mean, if I do a stir fry with this, won't it have a coconut taste??

The prices ranged from $12.99 to $17.99

Next time I'm in the city, I'll buy a small bottle.

How exciting. A new oil in my life.

I MUST GET A LIFE!!!!

lol

Hi Mel

sadly that guy had good info but was here to sell, and wouldnt stop trying to spam his website soooooo:rolleyes:

anyways, the coconut oil does give a slight flavor to stuff and yes, it goes solid white when not heated. You can also stir a little into steamed veggies instead of butter....delish!

Sounds good enough for me.

I'll try some the next time I go to Cornell.

Thanks much

Melody

Hy Mel,

I take virgin coconut oil capsules every day.

And I just got my quarterly blood tests back and it has totally improved my triglycerides and my cholesterol.

I already take fish oil for my trigs and it helped tremendously. But adding in the coconut oil since the last test was the only other difference I mad and wow I dropped them another 40 points.

And my HDL, went up 20 points from 60 to 80 and let me tell you I did not eat all that great over the holidays.

So intersting results for me but I am being careful and only take 1/2 the recommended dosage.

Here is an srticle I found on coconut oil and diabetes.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025388.html

Odd question Shelley, but with the extra oils you are taking, have you noticed a difference in your feet cracking?

I'll have to look for the capsules. I'm not a big coconut flavor fan.

*looking at feet* :confused:

Ayup they actually do look better. :D Still cracked but not nearly as deep.. Did not think of that. I still do feel a bt dry thought because of low estrogen. And it is dry here in So cal in the winter....got that desert thing going on.

I only take 2 of the coconut oil a day, a prescription fish oil and a flax oil capsule. The cocnut oil bottle says take four but sometimes I only take one a day or two. I did not want to overdo something that was new.

I was very pleased with my numbers on the latest blood test and the only thing different i did was the coconut oil. And like I said I did not holdback eating wise over the holidays. I went to town...cookies, fudge.

And my AC1 did not budge off a 5.4 which was when i was on a diet. So there must be something to how its used as a medium fatty chain oil for energy. My fasting glucose number was 90, not bad. fasting insulin was 6. but i know that the insulin number is better read after a two hour test minimally.

Now my total cholesterol went up to 244. BUt my HDL (good stuff) went ot 80, the highest its ever been. and the LDL was 144 still high but better (remember I did eat bad). They say that if you can get the ratio of the HDl to the LDL 1:2 that is good and mine is slightly better.

My cholesterol ratio was 3.1 down from 3.3 when I was eating good so must be something to it. You want to be under a 5.0.

But the triglycerides....On just the fish oil I came down from 221 to 145 which is great. Adding in the coconut oil I am now at 91.

Just a couple of other numbers. I did really well on my vit D. Now up to a 42. I am still struggling on maintaining that iron level. I just barely scooched above low normal. And thats with prescription iron.

All very intersting.

I only started trying the coconut oil after an article on the cognitive benefits that was posted in the alzheimers and Pd forum. And i have to say i get a shortlived burst of mental what I call calrity for a couple hours after taking it.

I dont think I could do the oil if it were not in a capsule.

So now my next test is to be a good eater and see if I can bring the total cholesterol down further while keeping the hdl at 80. Ok diet here i come.

Believe me, you gals, if I could grow a coconut tree in my apartment, I WOULD!!!

But since I can't, IT'S A TRIP TO MY NEAREST FOOD STORE THAT SELLS THIS STUFF!!!

I must learn how to use this in food. Stir fry, or maybe on a slice of toast at night.

I need all my brain cells.

And if it HELPS me ever get off insulin (that's really my goal, but who knows!!!), well, I MUST GIVE THIS A TRY.

I can hardly wait to see the look on Alan's face when I bring home a jar of Virgin Coconut Oil.

Tonight I made a fat free, egg free zucchini, tomato (with no fat cheese to boot).

It's cooking in the oven right now.

I found this EGG REPLACER thing in the big health food store in NYC. It's supposed to be the equivalent of 119 eggs (or something like that).

You use this instead of using eggs in any baking recipe.

I bought it thinking "I'LL MAKE ALAN HIS SCRAMBLED EGGS IN THE MORNING" with this stuff.

I take it home. Next morning I read the box and what does it say:???

"This DOES NOT MAKE SCRAMBLED EGGS".

Oh really? Guess what I did? I mixed the stuff with water (to equal 2 eggs), I then added a half of an Eggland's best egg.

Scrambled it up. Put some PAM in the frying pan. Poured the stuff in.

It came out like an omelette. Couldn't tell the difference.

Don't tell me I CAN'T USE THIS TO MAKE SCRAMBLED EGGS!!

I usually use one eggland egg and two egg whites for Alan's breakfast. I just wanted to try something different. And the box of this EGG REPLACER has ALL THESE COOL RECIPES.

lol

Melody

hello, new here, but not to coconut oil...
 

Well, I have Lupus. When my liver began to be attacked and deteriorated badly and quickly, my doc took me off all meds. talk about devastating. I couldn't live with the pain, or the brain fog or any of it. He and I did some medical research and we got around to coconut oil after some other tries with other remedies (he's an M.D. ) not working.

I was on coconut oil for one year. It took all the pain away, it lowered my cholesterol, (MUST be virgin coconut oil and not any other kind!) but it didn't quite clear off brain fog, stopped my muscles ticcing, and stopped the restless leg syndrome. Stopped a lot of other things too, and some quirky, funny wonderful side effects were loss of wrinkles, as my many younger friends complain, I look about 10 years younger than they do, and my son told me I don't have as many grays as I used to, (and god KNOWS our kids are brutally honest about these things...)

But it wasn't until I added in ACV to the mix, and finally betaines to make my stomach work better, that I got full memory, clarity, and energy, plus motivation. I lost weight without exercise, cuz between the coconut oil and the ACV I got a metabolism boost so that I no longer have cold hands and feet, and I can feel the energy in my body. It was coconut oil that healed my liver from all the damage. That took 3 months, fully followed by the doc and all enzyme measurements and ultrasounds to boot. It was coconut oil that made my hair shiny and sleek. It was coconut oil that gives me long term stamina, but it was ACV that gives me energy, and helps burn up my food properly.

My aunt was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, and I was looking for research on coconut oil for Parkinson's and from what I learned about Parkinson's it's my bet that while coconut oil won't cure it, it should help to at least prevent further damage. I have compiled the medical studies verifying that virgin coconut oil is beneficial to the heart and the liver and the brain, as well as lungs. And what other things it does in the body.

I'm on the Lupus *edit* site too. I don't sell coconut oil, but I've seen too many people truly benefit from it. I'm hoping to get a website up soon enough that has all of the compilations in one site, along with several doctors in my town who have the records showing the benefits and who fully support the use of coconut oil. And again, these are M.D.s or G.P.'s

Coconut oil (virgin) serves a vital function to the human body, and actually, all it is, is that the human body functions better on certain nutrients. It can perform it's job better when it is given the foods that it requires. Medium chain fatty acids are: butter, coconut oil, red palm oil, (olive oil is not a medium chain oil, however it does have a lot of very good properties, so dont' skip it.) and finally grass-fed lard. fish oil is another oil very good for the human body, however it too, can be overdone because it is a longer chain fatty acid. It can overwork the liver if overdone, actually anything can harm the body if overdone. :D But not coconut oil. It's a whole long story, all of the functions in the body: some of them; speed delivers nutrients to the necssary areas, speed removes toxins back to the liver for eventual excretion, kills all bad bacteria, but not good bacteria, kills yeast, fungus, parasites and viruses. In other words, killing all that off will give most people diarrhea at first. Our skin secretes medium chain fatty oils to keep it healthy. So feeding it medium chain fatty oils enhances the skins ability to regenerate, and somwhere I saw that someone had reduced cracks in feet. that would be why. It expands and makes supple the veins and arteries, reducing migraines, and plaque and blockage, thus reducing the chance of heart attack. It also gets to the brain faster, which makes the brain register satiety much faster and you will eat much less. It also is a needed fat by the brain for proper myelin sheathing, which helps stop deterioration of cells. Well that list goes on.

Optimal dosage of coconut oil: IF you have or have had chronic disease, you should be taking 4 tbsp of the lard version, or 16 of the pills; daily, for up to 2 years, you'll know when you get to where you can lower it, because your body "talks." via pain levels, or brain fog, or fatigue. A healthy person should get 3 tbsp daily or 12 pills daily. for VERY temporary weight loss, 2 tbsp BARE MINIMUM, but the body will get to the weight it is supposed to if you maintain 3. Just takes a little longer, which is actually better for the body anyway.

If you add ACV (apple cider vinegar) I suggest strongly getting the pill version, because at some point drinking it becomes very tiresome. Start with 4 pills daily, and after 2 weeks add 2 pills each week thereafter until you get to four pills per meal. (3 X daily) when you are at optimum weight and health drop back down slowly to 2, if 2 isn't enough, you'll also know, by fatigue levels and alertness. ACV will help with steady weight loss, with alertness, lowering blood sugar, and digestion of food so your liver and pancreas can do their regular jobs. It also kills systemic yeast. Which is a hidden problem for many. It works extremely well with coconut oil as this allows the coconut oil to kill off more harmful bacteria and viruses while ACV kills the yeast and fungus.

Betain HCl will help your stomach maintain proper acid leves, as many who take coconut oil experience heartburn from it. Both ACV and Betaine will stop the heartburn.

I am not affiliated with but recommend *edit* for all supplemental needs, as they buy in bulk and the savings are half any health food store I've visited with the same brands. shipping is minimal in cost also. Walmart may carry coconut oil in the supplement section, but not all Walmarts carry it for some reason. Walmart WILL fill a prescription for ACV (you'll have to talk your doc into it.) do NOT buy the coconut oil in the cooking section, as it is processed and devoid of health benefits. always buy VIRGIN coconut oil. You may substitute coconut milk, but it takes one full can per day (good for pina coladas! in the summer! One can dole pineapple juice to one can coconut milk.) to equal the 3 tbsp needs, and if you get coconut water, it's only about 1/2 to one cup.

Sorry, I do get carried away, but I have a small group of friends with varying illnesses, from fibromyagia, to diabetes (ACV lowers blood sugar dramatically) to thyroid illnesses, to IBS, all seeing tremendous benefits from coconut oil. I wanted to help with getting the proper amounts out there, and more information. :D Taking less does impart less benefits, but the benefits will be there nonetheless.

*edit*