The Coconut Oil Miracle (19 page)

Coconut and coconut oil are used in many traditional forms of medicine. The most well known of these is the Ayurvedic medicine of India. Here coconut products enjoy a place of importance and are essential components of some of the medicinal preparations. Coconut oil is recognized for its healing properties in both Ayurvedic and Indian folk medicine to treat a variety of conditions such as burns, wounds, ulcers, skin fungus, lice, kidney stones, and choleraic dysentery.

Modern medical science is just now beginning to unlock the healing secrets of coconut oil. Research is showing that coconut oil has many practical applications as a medicine. At this point you have learned how coconut oil can help protect against heart disease. The
MCFAs in coconut oil have a powerful antimicrobial effect that can kill a wide variety of infectious organisms, even drug-resistant supergerms. Coconut oil has proved to be a superfood that is easily digested and utilized to nourish the body. Medical research and clinical experience are continually uncovering additional uses for this miracle oil.

For at least five decades researchers have recognized that MCFAs are digested differently from other fats. This difference has had important applications in the treatment of many digestive and metabolic health conditions, and during that time MCFAs have been routinely used in adult and baby feeding formulas in hospitals.

The digestive health advantages of medium-chain fatty acids over long-chain fatty acids are due to the differences in the way our bodies metabolize these fats. Because the MCFA molecules are smaller, they require less energy and fewer enzymes to break them down for digestion. They are digested and absorbed quickly and with minimal effort.

The MCFAs are broken down almost immediately by enzymes in the saliva and gastric juices so that pancreatic fat-digesting enzymes are not even essential. Therefore, there is less strain on the pancreas and digestive system. This has important implications for patients who suffer from digestive and metabolic problems. Premature and ill infants especially, whose digestive organs are underdeveloped, are
able to absorb MCFAs with relative ease, while other fats pass through their systems pretty much undigested. People who suffer from malabsorption problems such as cystic fibrosis and who have difficulty digesting or absorbing fats and fat-soluble vitamins benefit greatly from MCFAs. They can also be important for people suffering from diabetes, obesity, gallbladder disease, pancreatitis, Crohn’s disease, pancreatic insufficiency, and some forms of cancer.

As we get older, our bodies don’t function as well as they did in earlier years. The pancreas doesn’t make as many digestive enzymes; our intestines don’t absorb nutrients as well; the whole process of digestion and elimination moves at a lower rate of efficiency. As a result, older people often suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Because MCFAs are easy to digest and improve vitamin and mineral absorption, they should be included in the meals of older people. This is easy to do if the meals are prepared with coconut oil.

Unlike other fatty acids, MCFAs are absorbed directly from the intestines into the portal vein and sent straight to the liver, where they are, for the most part, burned as fuel, much like a carbohydrate. In this respect they act more like carbohydrates than like fats.

Other fats require pancreatic enzymes to break them into smaller units. They are then absorbed into the intestinal wall and packaged into bundles of fat (lipid) and protein called lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are carried by the lymphatic system, bypassing the liver, and then dumped into the bloodstream, where they are circulated throughout the body. As they circulate in the blood, their fatty components are distributed to all the tissues of the body. The lipoproteins get smaller and smaller until there is little left of them. At this
time they are picked up by the liver, broken apart, and used to produce energy or, if needed, repackaged into other lipoproteins and sent back into the bloodstream to be distributed throughout the body. Cholesterol, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat are all packaged together into lipoproteins and carried throughout the body in this way. In contrast, MCFAs are not packaged into lipoproteins in the intestinal tract but go straight to the liver, where they are converted into energy. Ordinarily they are not stored to any significant degree as body fat. While MCFAs produce energy, other dietary fats produce body fat.

Cells get all the energy they need to carry on their metabolic functions from glucose and fatty acids. Long-chain fatty acids, as well as glucose, require the hormone insulin to transport them through the cell wall. Without insulin, glucose and LCFAs could not enter the cells. This is of major concern for people who are insulin resistant, such as those with Type II diabetes. If the cells cannot get enough glucose or fatty acids, they literally starve to death. Medium-chain fatty acids have an advantage in that they do not require insulin to enter the cells. They can easily penetrate the cell wall without it.

Inside all of our cells are organelles called mitochondria. The energy needed by cells to carry on their functions is generated by the mitochondria. Mitochondria are encased in two membranous sacs, which normally require special enzymes to transport nutrients through them. MCFAs are unique in that they can easily permeate both membranes of the mitochondria without the need of enzymes and thus provide the cell with a quick and efficient source of energy. Long-chain fatty acids demand special enzymes to pull them through
the double membrane, and this energy production process is much slower and taxing on enzyme reserves.

Because of these advantages, coconut oil has been a lifesaver for many people, particularly the very young and the very old. It is used medicinally in special food preparations for those who suffer digestive disorders and have trouble digesting fats. For the same reason, it is also used in infant formula and for the treatment of malnutrition. Since it is rapidly absorbed, it can deliver quick nourishment without putting excessive strain on the digestive and enzyme systems and can help conserve the energy that would normally be expended in digesting other fats.

Among all the foods in nature there is one that stands head and shoulders above all the rest. That food is mother’s milk. Milk was designed by nature to supply all the nutrients a baby needs for the first year or so of life. It contains a perfect blend of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats for optimal growth and development. Without question, breast milk is one of the wonders of nature. Children who are breast-fed not only take in important nutrients from the milk but also receive antibodies and other substances necessary to protect them against childhood illnesses, such as ear infections, later in life. Breast-fed children have better teeth and jaw formation, are less prone to allergies, have better digestive function, and are better able to fight off infectious disease. Research suggests that breast-fed children may even develop higher intelligence. Recognizing the superiority
of nature, scientists have attempted to make baby formula match mother’s milk as closely as possible.

An important component of breast milk is medium-chain fatty acids, principally lauric acid. Lauric acid is also the primary saturated fatty acid found in coconut oil. The medium-chain fatty acids in breast milk improve nutrient absorption, aid digestive function, help regulate blood sugar levels, and protect the baby from harmful microorganisms. The baby’s immature immune system is supported by the antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties of these vital fatty acids. In fact, without these unique saturated fats, the baby would probably not survive long. It would become malnourished and highly susceptible to a myriad of infectious diseases.

Both animal and human studies have shown MCFAs to be an important component in mother’s milk for the proper growth and development of their offspring. For example, when pregnant and lactating pigs were fed diets containing either long-chain fatty acids (vegetable oil) or medium-chain fatty acids (coconut oil) there was a pronounced difference in the survival and growth rates. The piglets whose mothers received MCFAs grew faster and healthier and had a survival rate of 68 percent compared to 32 percent for the piglets born to mothers receiving LCFAs. This was particularly true with piglets that were born underweight.

The same thing appears to happen in humans. For example, coconut oil was added to the formula of 46 very-low-birthweight babies to see if supplementation was capable of enhancing their weight gain. The group with the coconut oil supplement gained weight quicker. The weight gain was due to physical growth, not fat storage. The babies gained more weight and grew better with the coconut oil because
their bodies were able to digest it easily. The vegetable oils, to some extent, passed through their digestive tracts undigested and thus deprived them of nutrients they needed for proper development. The MCFAs not only allow infants to absorb needed fats but also improve the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and protein.

Milk that is rich in medium-chain fatty acids is vital for the healthy growth and development of the child. MCFAs are added to most, if not all, baby formulas. At one time formula manufacturers used pure coconut or palm kernel oils, and some brands still do, but MCT oil is used in many formulas. MCT oil is a product of industry that contains 75 percent caprylic acid and 25 percent capric acid, with little or no lauric acid—the most important antimicrobial MCFA. Lauric acid is also the most abundant MCFA found naturally in mother’s milk. The ratio of lauric acid to other MCFAs in coconut oil is similar to that in mother’s milk. The reason MCT oil is used in place of the more expensive coconut oil has to do with economics rather than health concerns. Don’t get me wrong, caprylic and capric acids are good, but not as good as lauric acid, and not as good as a combination of all three, as nature intended.

Just as the fatty acid content and quality of formula can be altered, so can human breast milk. Breast milk is, without question, the best choice of food for babies. Not all breast milk is the same, however. The quality of the milk is influenced by the mother’s health and diet. Breast milk is made from the nutrients the mother consumes. If she doesn’t eat the right amount of nutrients, her body will pull them out of her own tissues. If the mother is deficient in these vital nutrients herself, then the milk she produces will also be deficient. Similarly, if she eats foods containing toxins (such as trans fatty acids) her milk
may contain them as well. Eating wisely is very important for pregnant and nursing women and their babies.

Human milk fat has a unique fatty acid composition of 45 to 50 percent saturated fat, 35 percent monounsaturated fat, and 15 to 20 percent polyunsaturated fat. A significant portion of the saturated fat in human breast milk can be in the form of MCFAs. Sadly, many mothers produce very little. This can have dramatic consequences on the health of their children.

If breast milk does not contain enough MCFAs, an infant can suffer from nutritional deficiency and become vulnerable to infectious illness. One of the major characteristics of human breast milk is its ability to protect infants from a myriad of infectious illnesses during a time when their immune systems are immature and incapable of adequately defending them. The antimicrobial substances in milk that protect the child from a world teeming with infectious germs and parasites are the MCFAs found in the triglycerides or fat molecules in the milk. There are some illnesses that even an adult with a healthy immune system may have difficulty fighting off. If the baby is not protected with an adequate amount of MCFAs in the milk he or she is fed, exposure to such an infection could result in serious illness.