Going Coconuts...the New "Skinny" Fat

Coconut oil, the long-dogged tropical oil, is slowly returning to glory here in the United States as the best of the fats. This super fat, a cornerstone of some of the healthiest diets in the world, is apparently a "miracle" for humankind, well renown and revered — at least internationally. As author of The Coconut Oil Miracle, Bruce Fife, writes, 

"Coconut oil has a long and highly respected reputation in many cultures throughout the world, not only as a valuable food but also as an effective medicine". 

Chris Cowen, owner of Cocopura, Inc., adds, "To the islanders in the tropics, coconut trees are the 'Tree of Life.' It's one of the most valued natural resources. In this country, people don't realize the importance of the coconut tree on a worldwide basis."

Coconut oil is a special breed of fat. A saturated "skinny " fat containing medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) has the ability to be used in the body in a totally unique way. Without belaboring the chemistry, a saturated fat is carbon chain saturated with hydrogen atoms, making it a more chemically stable fat, which makes it easier for the body to process and store. The stability of saturated fats makes them the healthiest to cook and the most resistant to spoilage. A medium-chain fatty acid is literally a fat with fewer carbon atoms, 8-12 of them to be exact. Taken together, coconut oil's saturation and composition of mcfas makes it a very efficient, safe, and useful fat. "Medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are broken down and used predominately for energy production and thus seldom end up as body fat or as deposits in arteries or anywhere else. They produce energy, not fat. Medium-chain fatty acids do not have a negative effect on blood cholesterol and help protect against heart disease"

MCFAs are quite miraculous. Mcfas increase metabolism, which helps a body burn fat, making coconut oil a surprise assistant in fat loss. Fife adds, "Cellular activity, including the healing of injuries, is regulated by metabolism. When metabolic rate is high, cellular activity is accelerated, and processes such as healing damaged tissues, removing toxins, fighting germs, replacing damaged or diseased cells with healthy new ones . . . are all performed at a heightened rate of activity . . . Mcfas provide a quick source of energy to the cells, boosting their metabolic level and healing capacity". The lauric and capric mcfas found in coconut oil also take care of some heavy adversaries to human health.According to Dr. Mary G. Enig in her article, Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century," "Lauric acid . . . has the additional . . . function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, . . . influenza, various pathogenic bacteria . . . and protozoa such as giardia lamblia." "Capric acid," Enig notes in the same article, "has been added to the list of coconut's antimicrobial components . . . recently published research has shown that natural coconut fat in the diet leads to a normalization of body lipids [fats], protects against alcohol damage to the liver, and improves the immune system's anti-inflammatory response".

Why are most Americans unaware of coconut oil's healing properties? Enig writes, "The food industry has, of course, long been aware that the functional properties of the lauric oils, and especially coconut oil, are unsurpassed by other available commercial oils. Unfortunately . . . the commercial interests of the U.S. domestic fats and oils industry were successful in driving down the usage of coconut oil". As Fife adds, "Much of the credit goes to the American Soybean Association (ASA). It began in the mid-1980s. Coconut oil, they proclaimed, was a saturated fat and would cause heart attacks . . . In response, movie theaters began cooking their popcorn in soybean oil. Food makers began switching from the tropical oils they had used for years to soybean oil. Restaurants stopped using tropical oils in favor of soybean and other vegetable oils. By the early 1990s, the tropical oils market had dwindled to a fraction of what it once was and the only people who actually benefited were those in the soybean industry."

Currently, coconut oil's future looks bright. With the increasing research and publicity of the myriad of coconut oil's health benefits, consumers will likely reconsider the "Tree of Life" as a great source for their remedies and rejuvenations. As Nilsson reiterates, 

"Put de lime in the coconut, then you'll feel better."