The Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil Page 1

About the Authors

Dr Bruce Fife N D is a certified nutritionist and Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. He has written 18 books and serves as the publisher of Piccadily Books/Health Wise Publications.

Dr Jon J Kabara, Ph D Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacology Michigan Sate University.

He was one of the first researchers to discover the anti- microbial properties of medium-chain fatty acids. He has been awarded 16 patents and has authored more that 200 scientific publications including eight books. He is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on dietary fats.

Dr Conrado Dayrit Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology University of the Philippines and Past President of the National Academy of Science and Technology. Dr Dayrit’s clinical study on coconut oil was the first which led to the breakthrough discovery that medium-chain fatty acids (lauric and capric) were effective in killing HIV in lad cultures.


Highlights of the Reference Materials

• Why Coconut Oil is Different

• Lauric Acid-Major ingredient from mother’s milk is found in Coconut Oil

• Metabolism of MCFA

• Nature’s Marvelous Germ Fighter

• Coconut Oil as Medicine

• Coconut Oil and Weight Problems

• Health Benefits of Coconut oil – Summary

• How to make Virgin Coconut Oil

• Additional References



COMPOSITION OF DIETARY FATS

Fat===========Saturated==========Mono===========Poly

Canola Oil=========6===============62============32

Safflower Oil ======10===============13============77

Sunflower Oil ======11==============20============69

Soybean Oil =======13 ==============25============62

Olive Oil==========14==============77=============9

Chicken Fat======= 31==============47=============22

Lard=============41==============47============12

Beef Fat ==========52==============44 ============4

Palm Oil ==========51==============39============10

Butter============66=============30=============4

Coconut Oil ========92==============6 =============2

Called “monounsaturated” because it is predominantly monounsaturated, but like all vegetable oils, it also contains some polyunsaturated and saturated fat as well. Animal fats are generally the highest in saturated fat.

Vegetable oils contain saturated fat as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Most vegetable oils are high in saturated fat.

Coconut oil contains as much as 92 percent saturated fat-more than any other oil including beef fat and lard.

SATURATION AND SIZE We hear the terms saturated, monosaturated, and polyunsaturated all the time, but what do they mean?


What is saturated fat saturated with?

All fatty acids consist primarily of a chain of carbon atoms with varying number of hydrogen atoms attached to them. A molecule that has two hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon is said to “saturated” with hydrogen because it is holding all the hydrogen atoms it possibly can. This type of fatty acid is called a saturated fat.

A fatty acid that is missing a paid of hydrogen atoms on one of its carbons is called a monounsaturated fat. If more than two hydrogen atoms are missing, it’s called a polyunsaturated fat.

Wherever a paid of hydrogen atoms is missing, the adjoining carbon atoms must form a double bond(see examples on the following page). This is important because this double bond produces a weak link in the carbon chain which, as we will see in the next chapter, can have a dramatic influence on health.

The concept of saturation can be described by using an analogy with a school bus full of kids. The bus could represent the carbon chain and the students the hydrogen atoms. Each scat on the bus can hold two students just as each carbon can hold two hydrogen atoms.


A bus filled to capacity so there are no empty scats would be analogous to a saturated fat. No more


Saturated Fatty Acid


HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHO
…………………………………

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-

…………………………………

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


Saturated fats are loaded, or saturated, with all the hydrogen(H) atoms they can carry. The example shown above is stearic acids an 18-carbon saturated fat commonly found in beef fat.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acid

HHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHO
…………….. ……………….

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-H

……………………………………….

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


If one paid of hydrogen’s were to be removed from the saturated fat, the carbon atoms would form double bond’s with one another in order to satisfy their bonding requirements. The result would be unsaturated fat.

In this case it would form a monounsaturated fatty acid. The example shown is oleic acid, an 18-chain monounsaturated fatty acid which is found predominantly in olive oil.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid

HHHHH H HHHHHHHO

………………… ………………

H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-O-H

……………………………………….

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


If two or more pairs of hydrogen atoms are missing and more than one double carbon bond is present, it is referred to as a polyunsaturated oil. The example illustrated is linoleic acid an 18-chain polyunsaturated acid.


The fats found in animal tissue, as well as our own bodies, are mainly the trilycerides of stearic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat. Stearic and palmitic acids are saturated fats.

The saturated fat found in food consists of a mixture of the different types. Milk for example, contains palmitic, myristic, stearic, lauric, butyric. As far back as 1966 Dr. Jon J. Kabara, a professor of pharmacology and researcher at Michigan State University, reported on the antimicrobial activity of lauric acid, because of concerns about viral contamination in foods, early research focused on the antiviral effects of lauric acid.

It was soon discovered that lauric acid also exhibited antibacterial and antifungal effects as well. In fact, all the MCFA seem to share this characteristic. Most bacteria and viruses are encased in a coat of lipids (fats).

The fatty acids that make up this outer membrane or skin hold together the organism’s DNA and other cellular materials. But unlike our skin, which is relatively tough, the membrane of these microorganisms is nearly fluid.

The fatty acids in the membrane are loosely attached, giving the membrane remarkable degree of mobility and flexibility. This unique property allows these organisms to move, bend, and squeeze through the tiniest openings. Lipid-coated viruses and bacteria are easily killed by MCFA, which primarily destroy these organisms by disrupting their lipid membranes. Medium-chain fatty acids, being similar to those in the microorganism’s membrane, MCFA are much smaller and, therefore, weaken the already nearly fluid membrane to such a degree that is disintegrates.

The membrane literally splits open, spilling its insides and killing the organism.


Our white blood cells quickly clean up and dispose of the cellular debris. MCFA kill invading organisms without causing any known harm to human tissues. Our bodies have many ways of protecting us from microorganisms that can cause us harm.

The strong acid excreted in our stomachs, for example, kills most organisms that we may eat with our foods.

In our bloodstream, microorganisms are attached and killed by our white blood cells. Our first line of defence against any harmful organism, however, is our skin. In order to inflict harm, microorganisms must first penetrate the skin’s protective barrier.

While the skin is permeable to some degree, it is also equipped with chemical weapons to help it ward off attach. One of these weapons is the oil secreted by our sebaceous(oil)glands. Sebaceous glands are found near the root of every hair. This oil is secreted along the hair shaft to lubricate the hair and skin. Some have described this oil as “nature’s skin cream” because it prevents drying and cracking of the skin it also has another very important function. It contains medium-chain fatty acids to fight invading microorganisms.

A thin layer of oil on the skin helps protect us from the multitude of harmful germs our skin comes into contract with each day. The antimicrobial power of MCFA are utilized naturally by our own bodies.




They are found in mother’s milk to protect and nourish her babies; LIPID COATED MICROORGANISMS KILLED BY LAURIC ACID

Below are some of the pathogenic organisms reported to be inactivated by lauric acid

Lipid Coated Viruses
Visna virus
Cytomegalo virus
Epstein-barr virus
Influenza virus Leukemia virus
Pneumono virus
Hepatitis C virus

Lipid Coated Bacteria
Listeria monocytogenes
Helicobacter pylori
Hemophilus influenzae
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus agalactiae
Groups A, B, F, & G streptococci
Gram-positive organisms
Gram-negative organisms (if pretreated with chelator)

Numerous laboratory studies have shown that lauric acid effectively kills many disease- causing microorganisms. They are also utilized on our skin to shield us from infectious intruders. They are non- toxic to us and create no toxic by-products.

They are completely safe and natural. Lipid researcher Jon J Kabara, Ph D., speaking of the safety of using fatty acids for medicinal purposes says, “Fatty acids and derivatives tend to be the least toxic chemicals known to man.

Not only are these agents nontoxic to man but are actual foods and in the case of unsaturated fatty acids are essential to growth, development, and health. LAURIC ACID Technical speaking, coconut oil as it is found in fresh coconuts has little, if any, antimicrobial properties. Coconuts cam be attached by fungi and bacteria like any other fruit or nut.

I know this sounds contrary to what I’ve stated above, but the beauty of this is that when we eat oil, our bodies convert it into a form that is deadly to troublesome microbes, yet remains harmless to us.

All dietary oils, including coconut, are composed of triglycerides. Triglycerides are nothing more than three fatty acids hooked together by a glycerol molecule. When oil is eaten the triglycerides break apart into diglycerides (two fatty acids joined by a glycerol), monoglycerides (a single fatty acid attached to a glycerol), and free fatty acids. It is the monoglyderides and free fatty acids that have the antimicrobial properties.

The most active are lauric acid and capric acid and their monoglyderides-monolaurin and monocaprin. In regards to their antimicrobial properties, the monoglyderides and free fatty acids are active and the diglycerides and triglycerides are inactive. The antimicrobial properties of coconut oil (which consists of triglyderides).

Therefore, become active only when ingested or otherwise converted into free fatty acids or monoglyderides. The medium-chain fatty acids that appears to have greatest overall antimicrobial effect is lauric acid (and monolaurin). This is the largest of the MCFA consisting of a string of 12 carbon atoms.

Coconut and palm kernel oils are by far richest natural sources of this super nutrient, comprising nearly 50 percent of their fat content. Milk fat and butter are a distant second consisting of about 3 percent. These are the only food sources we have that contain significant amounts of lauric acid. Unlike the tropical oils, all vegetables oils are completely deficient in this and other MCFA. Neisseria meningitis, gonorrhea, pelvic inflammatory Diseases Chlamydia genital infections, lympho granuloma venereum,conjunctivitis, parrot fever pneumonia, periodontitis Helicobacter pyloris stomach ulcers Gram positive organisms anthrax, gastroenteritis, botulism, tetanus Antibiotic properties that have been used for generations with some degree of success. One of these is coconut oil.

The fatty acids found in coconut are powerful antibiotics. They are known to kill bacteria which can cause throat and sinus infections, pneumonia, ear infections, stomach ulcers, venereal diseases, and dental cavities, to name just a few.


The standard treatment for all these bacteria infections is to use antibiotics, and this may be necessary in life-threatening situations. It is conceivable that instead of taking a drug for every single infection, we may simply eat foods that will kill these organisms. Onions, garlic, and Echinacea are credible plants that are commonly used for this purpose already.


Coconut living in their digestive tract. Normally, competition from friendly bacteria and the cleansing action of our immune system keep candida numbers low and prevent them from causing any diverse health problems.

But when the immune system is compromised or friendly bacteria in our gut are killed by taking antibiotics, a candida infection can quickly flare up. A single course of antibiotics can lead to a raging candida infection.

Approximately 75 percent of women experience vaginal yeast infections at one time or another. Vaginal yeast infections are typically treated as if they were only localized in one are of the body.

Many people, however, have systemic infections in which candida grows out of control overrunning the digestive tract and affecting the entire body, including the reproductive system. Systemic yeast infections call candidiasis (or yeast syndrome) affect the entire body and can afflict men as well as women.

Symptoms are numerous and varied (see table below) and even doctors have difficult identifying the problem. Because it is not easy to identify, hundreds of thousands of women and men are plagued with candidiasis without even realizing it. Vaginal yeast infection or oral yeast infections (thrush) can be identified by the white discharge they produce.

Recurring vaginal yeast infections are one of the signs of a systemic infection. But you can have candidiasis without an active vaginal yeast infection. Anyone who has taken antibiotics, birth control pills, steroids, or immunosuppressive drugs is at high risk of having a systemic yeast infection, even if no noticeable symptoms are evident.


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