Weight-Loss Miracles of Coconut Oil

Recently, coconut oil has made a triumphant comeback to the market of American health foods. Erroneously bashed before as “artery-clogging” and “fattening” (largely due to a successful lobbying of its biggest domestic competitor - the rich and powerful vegetable oil industry), now coconut oil is proven beneficial for the health of the heart, arteries, thyroid gland, and the gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, a liberal consumption of coconut products has been linked to a superb health that many tropical nations enjoyed before the advent of “civilization”. More recently, it has been found that lauric acid, found in huge quantities in both coconut oil and human milk, can protect us against a whole range of bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and other pathogens. It can even hamper the HIV! Another great property of coconut oil is its ability to suppress weight gain and stimulate the conversion of body fats into quick energy, thus promoting a rapid loss of unwanted pounds in overweight individuals.

A number of honest researchers, including biochemist Mary Enig, PhD, author of the book “Eat Fat Lose Fat”, and naturopathic doctor Bruce Fife, author of the book “Eat Fat Look Thin”, have written extensively on weight-loss and health-supportive qualities of coconut products. They state that, despite the fact that coconut oil is high in saturated fats, it is nonetheless much better for supporting the health of our glands and cardiovascular system than any other type of fats or oils. Adding coconut products and restricting vegetable oils can not only protect us from heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses, but also speed up metabolism, suppress appetite, and facilitate weight loss, they claim.

There are a number of reports that adding liberal amounts of coconut milk or oil into a diet promotes effective weight loss, even without other nutritional changes. Dr. Fife claims that most of his obese patients, even those suffering from high levels of metabolic resistance and being unable to lose weight through conventional diets and exercise, have dropped about 20 pounds of undesirable weight within a six month period simply by including several spoonfuls of coconut oil into their everyday diet!

A regular consumption of virgin coconut oil, or other unprocessed coconut products, also improves the work of the immune system and boosts a sluggish thyroid function that has particularly been linked to weight-loss resistance in middle-aged women.

These miraculous effects of coconut oil can be explained by its unique chemical composition that features about 92 percent of stable saturated fats, most of which are composed of beneficial medium-chain fatty acids that fasten metabolism, increase thermogenesis, or the production of body heat from dietary calories, and promote a rapid utilization of body fats.

American medical establishment, however, denies the claims that coconut products have health-boosting and fat-burning properties. The main argument of ‘diet dictocrats” is a lack of valuable scientific research that would support such assumption. However, the analysis of historical diets of tropical populations, including those of Polynesia, shows that their traditional fat intake came mostly from coconut products, yet those populations had extremely low incidence of overweight and showed no signs of heart disease or diabetes.

In her book “Definite Guide to Weight Loss”, Dr. Ellen Kamhi, PhD, states that coconut oil has been a staple fat in the traditional cuisine of most tropical populations for millennia. She points out that unrefined coconut products lower the amount of body fats, especially so-called “yellow fat”, and promote leanness by hampering genetic mechanism of weight gain.

How much coconut products do we need to consume in order to benefit our metabolic rate and facilitate weight loss? Dr. Bruce Fife recommends that we should eat about three tablespoons of coconut oil a day, which will provide us with 18 grams of beneficial lauric acid. The same amount of lauric acid can be found in four tablespoons of creamed coconut or one can of whole coconut milk.

Extra-virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil, as well as organic canned coconut milk without sugar, additives, or preservatives, are you best weight-loss options. You can use coconut oil for baking or stir-frying, while coconut milk can be added to smoothies, fruits and soups, or substituted for dairy products in a whole range of recipes.

Wayne Hammel

Canada Online Pharmacy