There are so many benefits of virgin coconut oil. It is unusually rich in Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCT), which are easily digested by the body for quick energy and also known for being antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal.
According to a study published in The Journal of Nutrition in March 2002, MCT oils used in place of other dietary fats significantly reduces body fat. In other words, virgin coconut oil supports weight loss.
The vast majority of fats in our diet are composed of molecules known as long-chain triglycerides (LCT). As the name implies, LCT are larger in size than MCT. The size of the fat molecule is very important because our bodies process and metabolize fats differently depending on their size. Most all the vegetable oils used in cooking and food preparation are composed entirely of LCT. This includes corn, safflower, soybean, canola, and other typical cooking and salad oils. The only significant natural source of MCT are found in coconut and palm kernel oils. Coconut oil is composed predominately of MCT and its effects on the body are characterized by these fats.
In the Journal of Nutrition study researchers reviewed all the published studies to date on MCT and weight management. These studies demonstrated that diets containing MCT result in an increase in energy, a rise in metabolism, increase burning of calories, decrease in food consumption, lower body fat mass, and reduce body weight. Because of these effects, the authors of this study recommend using oils containing MCT, such as coconut oil, as a means to lose excess body fat, control weight, and even treat obesity.
One of the reasons why coconut oil is effective in reducing body fat and lowering weight is because it contains fewer calories than any other fat. For this reason, it has gained the distinction of being the world's only natural, low-calorie fat. When you use coconut oil in your food preparation, you can eat the same types of foods as you normally do yet consume fewer calories.
So take a spoonful 30 minutes before a meal. It will reduce your appetite. Take before bedtime to assist with constipation (according to www.doctorjp.blogspot.com)
Here's an experience of using coconut oil:
"I'm a nurse assistant in a hospital and looking at most of the elderly they are dehydrated from lack of oil I can tell it from their toenails (dry looking and fungal, cracked) also their bowel movements are not regular - after usually 3 days of no movement they'll pile in the hospital. The solution I find that is inexpensive and actually good for you is drinking coconut oil.
I know it goes against what your told, but coconut oil is good for cardiovascular. I use two large tablespoons in my coffee with carnation french vanilla cream to taste- take the day off it will clean you out - and I do about 3 cups a day like this. I repeat whenever I don't void in under 1 minute. That's how well it works!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Coconut oil and weight loss explained
coconut oil Health benefits
Coconut oil is a common cooking oil among south asian populations. But is it beneficial or harmful to health? "Coconut oil has been used as cooking oil for thousands of years. Popular cookbooks advertised it at the end of the 19th century. Then came the anti-saturated fat campaign and the promotion of polyunsaturated fats, such as flaxseed, canola, soybean, safflower, corn, and other seed and nut oils plus their partially hydrogenated counterparts (margarine, "I can't believe it's not butter", etc.) as the way to go," says chemist, enzyme therapist, nutritionist, author and lecturer, Dr. Lita Lee, Ph.D.
Are there any people who live on saturated fats who are healthy? Yes, says Dr. Lee. "People who live in tropical climates and who have a diet high in coconut oil are healthier, have less heart disease, cancer, colon problems and so on, than unsaturated fat eaters. Two such groups of people include those from Melanesia and the Yucatan. These people are slightly hyperthyroid because of the thyroid stimulating effects of coconut oil plus a diet which includes protein (fish) and adequate fruit (stimulates thyroid function).
Citing research on the subject Dr. Lee goes on to say, "Many researchers have reported that coconut oil lowers cholesterol (Blackburn et al 1988, Ahrens and colleagues, 1957). In 1981, Prior et al. showed that islanders with a diet high in coconut oil showed no harmful health effects. When these groups migrated to New Zealand and lowered their daily coconut oil intake, their total cholesterol and especially their LDL cholesterol - the so-called evil one - increased. The cholesterol-lowering properties of coconut oil are a direct result of its ability to stimulate thyroid function. In the presence of adequate thyroid hormone, cholesterol (specifically LDL-cholesterol) is converted by enzymatic processes to the vitally necessary anti-aging steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA. These substances are required to help prevent heart disease, senility, obesity, cancer and other diseases associated with aging and chronic degenerative diseases."
Why then is there a doubt about the beneficial effects of coconut oil? In an article titled, 'How a P.R. Campaign Led to Unhealthy Diets' by Beatrice Trum Hunter, MA, and published in www.coconutoil.com (Printed with permission from Beatrice Trum Hunter and
The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation) she has this to say, "In 1988, N.W. Istfan of Harvard University Medical School's Nutrition Coordinating
