Coconut
Research
COCONUT
- Coconut Nucifera
In Asia and the Pacific Islands coconut is
traditionally used as food - coconut juice, coconut milk,
coconut
oil - as well as medicine. It is called 'The Tree of Life'.
It has achieved a
title of
functional food for its various health promoting effects. Specifically
coconut oil has gained interest in research areas in western
countries.
Coconut has been traditionally used for various ailments such as:
asthma, influenza, cuts, weakness, gingivitis and tooth ache,
rash
and skin infections, baldness, tumors, jaundice, pneumonia, scurvy,
earache, syphilis, menstrual problems, fever, typhoid, kidney stones,
bruises, nausea, abscesses, burns, dysentery, scabies, gonorrhea,
tuberculosis, bloating, lice, constipation, malnutrition, stomach ulcer
and other stomach problems, dropsy, cold, cough. Science has already
verified some of these effects.
Coconut fat has had a bad reputation for a long time in western
countries. This probably has its origin in political and financial
reasons for promoting other vegetable oils in western countries -
coconut and other saturated fats were declared unhealthy. The bad
reputation has something to do also with wrongly interpreted research
results - many times these studies were done with hydrogenated fats,
not coconut oil or non-hydrogenated coconut fat.
Exhaustive coconut fact pack:
The Coconut Odyssey, Mike Foale (134 pages)
 RESEARCH
Coconut oil fatty acids has been researched widely.
List propose some
studied
positive effects.
Sars, aids, influenza, measles, herpes, hepatitis
C, staphylococcus aureus - staph aureus MRSA
Stomach ulcer, throat infections,
urinary infections, gingivitis and tooth decay
Pneumonia, gonorrhea, candidiasis, diaper rash, athlete's foot
Tapeworm, lice, giardia
Insulin excretion, blood sugar, spleen, entzymes,
pancreatitis, diabetes, malabsorption
Cystic fibrosis (CF), calcium and magnesium absorption
Bones and teeth, osteoporosis, gall bladder, Crohn's disease
Colon ulcer, digestion, bowel function, hemorrhoids
Infections,
tissues, immune system
Breast cancer, colon cancer, other cancers
Cholesterol, arteries, atherosclerosis, periodontal disease,
caries
Antioxidant, fatty acid absorption, chronic fatigue syndrome
Prostathic hyperplasia, epilepsy,
kidney diseases, kidney stones
Liver diseases, metabolism
Sports endurance
Research links fatty acids/coconut oil:
Note: Research made with
hydrogenated coconut oil is not comparable with research made
with non-hydrogenated or virgin coconut
oil (VCO) studies!
CoconutResearchCenter
PubMed: VCO lowers total cholesterol,
triglycerides, phospholipids, LDL, VLDL and rises HDL
TheWestonAPriceFoundation, A New Look at
Coconut Oil
TheWestonAPriceFoundation, More Good News on
Coconut Oil
A.P. John Institute of Cancer Research
recommends coconut oil for cancer patients
Coconut Oil prevents hair damage and protein
loss
 LAURiC
ACiD
One of the important substance in coconut is lauric acid. Coconut oil
has approximately 50-60% medium chain
glycerides from which lauric acid content is about
40-66%. Lauric acid is important immunity builder. Breast milk
is rich in lauric acid.
Also, in nature lauric acid content in cinnamon oil
is 80-90%. Moreover, laurus nobilis perenneal and
cuphea
species has high lauric acid contents - especially c.epilobiifolia
has 68% lauric acid. Lauric acid is also manufactured in
synthetic
form, which presumably cannot be compared to natural form that is
present in coconut oil.
MONOLAURiN
Lauric acid is converted into monolaurin in digestive processes.
Monolaurin is antiviral, antibacterial, antiprotozoal monoglycerin,
which destroys lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes,
cytomegalovirus, influenzavirus, many pathogenic bacteria such as
listeria monocytogenes, helicobacter pylori, and protozoans such as
giardia lamblia. Some studies support also free
lauric acid's antimicrobial
effects.
Lauric
acid used in cosmetics industry, food-items and animal feed is in many
times changed considerably in various processes, where it changes from
a benefial substance into a possible carcinogen.
Lauric acid in virgin coconut oil is in natural form part of wholesome
nutrition.
Read more about lauric acid:
Lauric.org
MicroscopicResourceCenter:Lauric Acid
|
|
|
