The Coconut Oil Miracle (24 page)

In Alzheimer’s disease, brain cells have difficulty metabolizing glucose, the brain’s principal source of energy. Without adequate energy, the brain slowly degenerates and dies. Ketones bypass the defect in glucose energy metabolism associated with Alzheimer’s. Therefore, if enough ketones were available on a continual basis, they could satisfy the brain’s energy needs. However, ketones are only produced when carbohydrate consumption (the primary source of glucose) is very low; this normally happens when little or no food is being consumed.

Obviously, fasting is not a practical solution. However, if carbohydrate consumption is very low, a person can get all the calories and nutrients he or she needs from protein and fat. This type of diet is known as a ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet has been used therapeutically for over 90 years to treat another brain disorder—epilepsy. Years ago it was discovered that fasting, consuming nothing but water, for several weeks at a time could significantly alleviate symptoms and in many cases completely cure epilepsy. The reason for this is that during the fast, the brain has access to a constant supply of ketones that not only provide needed energy but stimulate healing and the growth of new brain cells. Researchers back then reasoned that if they could prolong the effects of fasting for more than a few weeks, say, for a year or so, it would allow more time for the healing process and increase the cure rate. Of course, you could not place someone on a fast for a year, so they devised a diet that mimicked the metabolic effects of fasting while providing all the nutrients needed
to maintain good health. The result was the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet proved to be enormously successful even for very severe drug-resistant cases of epilepsy.

Since the ketogenic diet had proven so successful in correcting the brain defects associated with epilepsy, researchers began to wonder if it could be used to treat other brain disorders. Initial studies with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Huntington’s disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, chronic headaches, and depression have shown that the ketogenic diet can provide symptomatic relief to a broad range of brain disorders (Tieu, 2003, Gasior, 2006, Zhao, 2006, and Duan, 2003). Animal models of Alzheimer’s have also responded well to ketone therapy. In animal studies ketones were shown to reduce the amount of Alzheimer’s-like plaque that forms in the brain and increase performance on visual-spatial memory tasks, increase the ability of learning tasks, and increase performance in short-term memory (Van der Auwera, 2005, and Costantini, 2008).

With the classic ketogenic diet carbohydrate intake must be kept very low (around 2 percent of total calories) in order to stimulate the liver to convert fat into ketones. Carbohydrate ordinarily accounts for about 60 percent of our daily calories. When this is dropped to only 2 percent, the void must be filled by other energy-producing nutrients, either fat or protein. In the ketogenic diet fat is used to replace the carbohydrate in order to supply the needed building blocks for ketone production. Although the ketogenic diet shows great promise in treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, producing palatable meals consisting of 80 to 90 percent fat is a challenge.

Fortunately, there are certain fats, namely medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), that are converted into ketones in the body regardless of blood glucose levels or the amount of carbohydrate in the diet. When MCTs are consumed, a portion will be converted into ketones regardless of what other foods are eaten. Therefore, most any type of diet can be transformed into a ketogenic diet by the addition of an adequate amount of MCTs. The ketogenic diets currently used to treat epilepsy use MCTs, which reduce the amount of fat in the diet and increase the allowable protein and carbohydrate, making them much more palatable.

The addition of MCTs into the diet can produce very positive effects on the brain, providing a new tool with which to fight Alzheimer’s. In clinical studies MCTs have produced better results in Alzheimer’s patients than any other treatment currently known to medical science.

In one study, for instance, Alzheimer’s patients consumed a beverage containing MCTs or a beverage without MCTs. Ninety minutes after consuming the beverage a cognitive test was administered. Those patients who had consumed the MCTs scored significantly better on the test than the control group did (Reger, 2004).

This study was remarkable because it produced measurable improvement in cognitive function after a
single
dose of MCTs. No Alzheimer’s drug or treatment has ever come close to achieving results like this.

Coconut oil is the source of the MCTs used in the treatment of epilepsy and in the studies on Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. Consuming as little as 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 milliliters) of coconut oil can raise blood ketone levels to therapeutic
levels. Since ketones are used up to produce energy, this dose would need to be repeated three times a day to maintain elevated ketone levels.

While adding coconut oil into the diet can have a remarkable effect on brain health, coconut oil alone is not the complete solution. Diet also affects brain health. What you eat can either enhance the effectiveness of coconut oil therapy or interfere with it. An improper diet can sabotage the beneficial effects produced by the oil. This explains why some Alzheimer’s patients who add coconut oil into their diets experience remarkable results while others experience only modest improvement.

The best diet for the brain isn’t necessarily the typical “healthy” diet recommended by weight-loss gurus and fashion magazines. It’s a therapeutic diet—a diet that is designed to enhance brain health.

Combining coconut oil with a proper diet can stop Alzheimer’s dead in its tracks and bring about substantial improvement. The downward spiral of Alzheimer’s can be stopped at just about any stage of the disease. Reversal, however, is most effective in the early and middle stages. I’ve produced a book titled
Stop Alzheimer’s Now!
to show people exactly how to use coconut oil with a brain-enhancing diet to successfully combat Alzheimer’s. The program outlined is suitable for treating just about all forms of dementia as well as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative disorders. This approach also works for developmental disorders such as epilepsy and autism. The program, which is slightly different for children, is detailed in my follow-up book
Stop Autism Now!.

Alzheimer’s is not just a concern for the elderly. There is no way of telling who will develop the disease. We are all at risk. Alzheimer’s
doesn’t happen suddenly; it is a progressive disease that begins decades before the first symptoms ever surface. The conditions that eventually lead to Alzheimer’s may start as early as the teenage years or before. As a person ages, brain cells die at an accelerated rate. The brain’s natural ability to compensate for lost neurons masks the problem until there are too few remaining to maintain normal brain function. By the time symptoms become noticeable, approximately 70 percent of the brain cells responsible for memory are already destroyed. You need not wait until symptoms surface before you start to do something about it. The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is definitely true when it comes to neurodegeneration. You can stop Alzheimer’s disease before it has a chance of taking over your life. Adding coconut oil into your daily life can help provide that protection.

Coconut has been used as both a food and a medicine for centuries in many cultures throughout the world. Traditional forms of medicine use coconut oil for a wide variety of health problems, ranging from the treatment of burns and constipation to gonorrhea and influenza. Modern medical research is now confirming the effectiveness of coconut oil for many of these conditions. Research over the past several decades has demonstrated that the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are digested and metabolized differently from those of other fats. This difference gives the oil many health benefits obtained from no other source.

Medium-chain triglycerides in coconut oil don’t require pancreatic enzymes or bile for digestion. They are easy to digest, making them ideal for infants, cystic fibrosis patients, and those who have digestive problems, including those with gallbladder disease and those who have had their gallbladders removed.

Coconut oil has been recommended for use in the treatment of malnutrition because it provides a quick and easy source of nutrition without taxing the enzyme systems of the body. It also improves the absorption of minerals (particularly calcium and magnesium), B vitamins, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K and beta-carotene), as well as some amino acids. The MCFAs in coconut oil are used by the body to produce energy, not make body fat. Coconut oil stimulates metabolism, increases energy, and improves thyroid function, all of which aid in reducing unwanted body fat. For these reasons, coconut oil has gained a reputation as being the world’s only natural low-calorie fat. Researchers have recommended the oil as a means to prevent and even treat obesity.

Coconut oil is heart healthy. It has no detrimental effect on blood cholesterol, does not promote platelet stickiness that leads to blood clot formation, and does not collect in the arteries. Coconut oil possesses anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties, all of which protect arteries from atherosclerosis and from heart disease. Those people around the world who consume the most coconut oil have the lowest rates of heart disease. This is true even for those populations who get as much as 50 percent of their daily calories from saturated fat, primarily from coconut oil.

The MCFAs possess powerful antimicrobial properties that kill a
variety of disease-causing bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites, yet they do not harm friendly gut bacteria or contribute to antibiotic resistance. Coconut oil may be of great help to those with common infections such as influenza and candida as well as more serious infections like HIV.

Because of its resistance to free-radical formation and its ability to support the immune system, coconut oil may be useful in preventing or treating a wide assortment of conditions, many of which aren’t even discussed in this book. Medical researchers and health care workers are discovering new health benefits associated with coconut oil all the time.

Studies show that coconut oil can help protect the heart, liver, kidneys, prostate, and digestive tract against disease, strengthen the bones and teeth, aid in weight loss, improve skin and hair health, ease symptoms associated with diabetes, and even block brain-destroying processes that lead to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurological disorders. What an amazing health food! No other food, no other oil comes close to matching what coconut oil can do. As research continues investigators are bound to find additional benefits and uses for this wonder of nature.

Despite the fact that all of these characteristics and benefits have been documented in published medical and nutritional journals it is surprising that some people still ignorantly criticize coconut oil as being unhealthy. Hopefully, the information in this book will help educate doctors, dieticians, and the general public about the healing miracles of coconut oil.

The regular use of coconut oil
can make a dramatic difference in your life. If you are overweight it can help you lose excess body fat; if you have digestive problems it will help with that as well. Coconut oil can help you feel and look younger, give you more energy, protect you from infections and illnesses, and help prevent many degenerative conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Coconut oil is truly one of nature’s most remarkable health tonics.