COOL COCONUT OIL

Use of coconut oil along with other healthy fats provides nourishment to all the cells and supports metabolism

Fashion has gone beyond being attributed to just clothing or interiors. We now make fashion statements with food choices too and the fad has even percolated to edible oils. Refined oils are now replacing traditional oils such as sesame, coconut, desi ghee and mustard on the kitchen shelves. Cited in several ancient texts, these fats have faded into oblivion by the invasion of scientific breakthroughs. Breaking foods into their nutritional components and conducting trials is imperative. But drawing conclusions on the basis of limited, over-simplified hypotheses can be misleading.

Coconut oil is indeed dominated by saturated fat the kind that solidifies at room temperature but whether this fat is detrimental to health is another question. Ancel Keys is largely responsible for starting the 8220;anti-saturated fat8221; agenda. His statements regarding the atherogenicity artery clogging ability of saturated fats became the agenda of the government and private agencies in the US, thus causing a blow to the traditional fat industry in the last 30 years.

What was totally missed then was the fact that the studies on coconut oil with respect to its cholesterol-raising potential were done on 8220;hydrogenated coconut oil8221;8212;a procedure which causes formation of cholesterol-raising 8220;trans fats8221;. Studies done later on coconut oil which was not hydrogenated and fed physiologically with other fats or adequately supplemented with linoleic acid8212;an essential fat, found the oil is neutral in terms of atherogenicity.

Epidemiological and experimental data regarding coconut-eating groups note that dietary coconut oil doesn8217;t lead to high-serum cholesterol or high coronary artery disease mortality. In fact, some studies have shown that when coconut oil is added to diets, there is either no change or a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL bad cholesterol. A study conducted in 2004 at the University of Kerala demonstrated the potential beneficiary effect of virgin coconut oil in lowering lipid levels in serum and tissues.

Use of coconut oil along with other healthy fats provides nourishment to all the cells and supports metabolism. Coconut oil also triggers a powerful mechanism of satiation that is a key to success in permanent weight loss. Lim-Sylianco 1987 has reviewed 50 years of literature showing anti- carcinogenic effects of dietary coconut oil. Animal studies show quite conclusively the anti-tumor effect of feeding coconut oil.

The main fatty acid in coconut oil is lauric acid, a proven antiviral, antibacterial, and anti fungal agent found in mother8217;s milk. Converted in our body to a substance called monolaurin, it helps you defend against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens and strengthens our immune system. Monolaurin inactivates HIV, measles virus and herpes simplex virus. Thus , it8217;s important to investigate the potential benefits of coconut oil as an adjunct nutritional support regimen for HIV-infected individuals.

It is better to go for virgin coconut oil, produced locally using traditional, low-tech processes. Most commercial coconut oil is refined, bleached and deodorized RBD at temperatures over 200 F or treated with solvents and subjected to even higher temperatures. Refining and bleaching deplete the oil of vitamin E and other nutrients. However, virgin coconut oil is extracted at lower temperature upto 170 F preserving most of its nutrition.