Coconut Oil: The Doctors Debate

Hi Mr Greg Arnold, as any of the health-conscious individuals who have never given up searching for the truth, and so am I. Just recently, my aunt handed to me a book about the healing power of coconut oil, authored by Bruce Fife.

I read the book and found that coconut (including the oil)is good for the body. I found it surprising. What I had known before was that the oil is actually bad. And so now, I'm standing in between black and white. But since you're testifying in favor of the coconut oil, could you tell me more about its magical effects on health? And could you tell me instances wherein you have personally seen people recover (while eating the oil) from a particular kind of disease?

Thanks. Hope to hear from you soon.
Stephen

Fats from nature are life giving ... fat altered by man is very dangerous. Coconut oil (not processed but virgin) is very health giving .... Canola and Soy are processed oils and are virtually dead oils they can't carry oxygen to the cell and are not incorporated into the cell membrane properly. These processed oils can not be utilized in the manufacturing of eicosanoids which regulate all the communications between cells and our immune system responses. Has there been any rise in chronic illnesses lately hmmmm.

Most of the oils from nature are very stable and have been in our diets for milleniums ... unlike the processed oils on shelves at supermarkets which by the way are already rancid, you just can't taste it.

Source?

Gary said:
Fats from nature are life giving ... fat altered by man is very dangerous. Coconut oil (not processed but virgin) is very health giving .... Canola and Soy are processed oils and are virtually dead oils they can't carry oxygen to the cell and are not incorporated into the cell membrane properly. These processed oils can not be utilized in the manuf[...]

You are liars! Dr. Mercola is right on! Anything less than what he says is garbage and greed! He is so right!
Everyone should listen to him and get healthy and stay healthy! The rest of you go to hell! You are only in it for the MONEY!! Your trickery stinks!

Sally wrote:

Everyone should listen to him and get healthy and stay healthy! The rest of you go to hell! You are only in it for the MONEY!! Your trickery stinks!

Seriously, Sally, can you explain why you feel so strongly for Dr. Mercola?

Sally said:
You are liars! Dr. Mercola is right on! Anything less than what he says is garbage and greed! He is so right!
Everyone should listen to him and get healthy and stay healthy! The rest of you go to hell! You are only in it for the MONEY!! Your trickery stinks![...]

Good lord. Just when I thought things couldn't get weirder around here.

If I'm in it for the money, where is my check? I haven't gotten a cent. That sucks.

This was actually quite an informative discussion. Sally - are you being "tongue-in-cheek" here? If not, then, wow.

I eat organic coconut oil everyday. I always put a spoonful in my cappacino each day and then use it to stir fry or fry. I have never experienced the burning or nausea that others have been talking about. I don't eat it straight. That might have a lot to do with why it burns and makes you sick to your stomach. I love it and have seen major improvements. Every 3 months or so I also do a full cleanse. My first one was in March of this year and I had dramatic results. I used Tao Cleanse. I lost weight and felt so good after. I also take digestive food enzymes everyday after each meal. Just some helpful tips that have helped me.

My experience with coconut oil is that I am hypothyroid, and have been on alot of synthroid and cytomel for about 7 years. I read about and started taking VCO (2Tam, 1Tnoon, 1T pm) and inside of 1 month needed to reduce my thyroid meds by more than 1/2. felt warm right away, and felt my metobolism speeding up. I am going to continue and get my levels checked in a couple of months, including colesterol. the best thing is that I feel better than ever.
thanks for letting me say my bit.

I also bought into the coconut oil hype - read the books and I tried it. I noticed no benefits but I did notice some definite adverse symptoms including chest pains after eventually consuming half a litre over some months. The most significant reaction I describe as follows:

I have a legacy of peripheral neuropathy in my feet from diabetes which I have brought under control by following a low fat diet. This means I have some peripheral nerve damage due to compromised capillary circulation.

I can tell straight away if my wayward girlfriend has use coconut oil in her cooking. My feet immediately react by turning numb indicating compromised circulation. Now this is no trivial reaction but quite pronounced beyond what I would experience by consuming polyunsaturated oils for example.

Bottom line - my mind may not be able to fathom the truth from all the internet hype, but my body leaves me in no doubt whatsoever.

After spending much time wading through all the various dogma, I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. John McDoudgall. Like all other isolated oils - at best they are drugs, at worst they are toxic.

I recently requested lipid profile bloodwork from a leading proponent of coconut oil only to be told that there was none. It seems to me that this would be the first evidence that they would produce to counter the claims of detractors if they could.

If you want any purported health benefits, consume the whole food. Leave the oil isolates alone.

Historically, this makes perfect sense when you consider that man has consistently produced negative consequences when he tries to fractionate isolated compounds from whole foods. Man is simply too smart for his own good.

I bought a vat of virgin coconut oil a couple of months ago. I was at a store and saw it and thought "why not?". My main motivation at the time is remembering that in theory, we should all get twice as much Omega 3 as we get Omega 6 (see Dr. Udo), and realizing that my salmon a couple times a week + 1 Omega 3 capsule a day wasn't even half of the olive oil and canola oil in my food, so I figured cooking with the coconut would reduce my Omega 6 intake. Plus, my grandpa used to cook with coconut oil before the cholesterol insanity made my grandma banish it, and he always said, as a gourmet cook, that it "made food taste fresher" (he was referring specifically to leftovers, like lunchtime rice eaten at dinner).

So I bought it and started cooking with it. Food does taste fresher. I wouldn't say I'm on the "coconut oil diet" though cause I'm not taking anywhere near 3 tbsp a day - I bought a pound of it 2 months ago and used maybe 6 tbsp of it total, including the bits I've sneaked and used as body butter on my dried up feet and elbows.

I guess my point is, regardless of the hype, it is a cook fat to cook with? Doesn't turn into trans fat when overheated or taste mildly rancid in leftovers. I'll let you all know if I become incredibly skinny and healthy (the healthy part I'll attribute more to cutting down on the Omega 6 rather than magical coconut properties, though). And you can use it on your frizzy hair, dried up skin, and as eye-makeup remover in a pinch. Versatile!

"people in okinawa use canola oil". riiiiigghhhtttt. moron. so people in okinawa have been using canola (canada oil, ie, rapeseed oil)??? just plainly and simply, no they haven't. it's a crop particular to the north americas. and it's an industrial oil crop. the japanese have not been importing rapeseed oil for cooking purposes. where do you dipshits get your info?

I keep hearing people say "It's too hard to swallow the coconut oil.. it's like crisco..eewww"

ANSWER:
I put it on food...
It's good on warm rice.
It's yummy on toast.

If you add a dash of salt, it tastes a lot like butter only better in my opinion.

I'd feel sick too if I just ate a blob of butter OR coconut oil by it's self.

Well I don't know Dr. Mercola, nor do I even care what he has to say to be totally honest. I have an aunt from China who still cooks with coconut oil on a daily basis. She gets some on her hands and rubs it into her face too.

All I know is she's 70 and she doesn't look or act above a 40 year old. When you look around the world, well, we're one of the only societies that worked so hard to get coconut oil out of our diet. Makes sense cuz well we went to war with Japan in WWII, and god knows we didn't cultivate friendships with the island countries. And well China is a big Red. So we had to come up with our own food oil sources didn't we?

BUT we are the worst in health world wide for a rich NON drought or non food scarce country. India tried the switch to "western" diets and saw a HUGE increase in heart problems. They went back to coconut oil and ghee. All of the Asizn countries have seen this same phenomenon. You STILL can compare however. They all eat roughly 90 coconuts per person per annum. Gee, is it a wonder then that they are so young looking? So smart? So skinny?

Just like my aunt. I'm going with sheer logic on this one. forget the stupid studies. Just open your eyes and look around. My aunt is as energetic as ever and as happy as ever and as fun to be around as ever. I want to be JUST like her. So coconut oil it is! Plus, she NEVER gets sick EVER. Her hair looks FABULOUS and she doesn't dye it! It's BLACK as night. Yeah, that's the one thing I never had in my diet before and I tried EVERYTHING. Well, in just one day, I've seen results. It wasn't Dr. Mercola who had anything to do with it for me. Just sheer logic. Eat my fruits and veggies daily (like the Asians) eat meat occasionally, and coconut oil, butter, olive oil, or palm oil for cooking. I know Dr. Mercola said olive oil no no for cooking, but well, sorry, it too has benefits. Not just as a salad oil. everything in moderation and make sure I balance work with play. Not so hard is it? Unless you're ill all the time like I used to be. This last month I also added 3 daily teas with honey and gradually saw my health improve. OH I forgot to add that coconut oil improved my breathing 100%! I had severe asthma. I FELT the inflammation in my lungs go down immediately and my sinus inflammation reduced as well. I can breathe. I'm sticking with the coconut oil!

Echoe

Not trying to make fun here, but this is funny. Having had UNSALTED butter for so long in France, I can't stand salt in my butter. I think the coconut oil is just fine on its own.

My wife and I just started taking 3 tbs of extra virgin coconut oil. (NUTIVA) On the second day I seemed to have more of a continuous urge to have a boul movement. On the 3rd day I had diahreah. On day 5 I came down with a sore throat and this has continued and it is now day 7 and the sore throat has continued to get worse. I dont know if I have just come down with some sort of cold symtom or if it is related to the coconut oil. I am going to cease taking the oil for a few days and see what happens. My wife does not seem to have experienced the same symptoms as of yet. Has any one else had a similar experience?

I am concerned that because virgin coconut oil does not go through any type of processing similar to pasteurisation of milk and other liquids, that there may be some contamination factors to be concerned about although I have not yet seen any publication that has addressed this.

It is not the fat you eat in meat & eggs in and of itself that would cause high triglycerides, high cholesterol, etc. but the things that you eat along with a meat-centered diet. Lots of meat causes cravings for carbos. And people who want to follow Atkins diet will crave a lot of carbos, but will substitute artificial sweeteners instead, which are pure poison, esp. aspartame. So after a period of time on this grossly unbalanced diet, they will surely "get" something or other.

I've also experienced the throat irritation when eating coconut oil raw, but it depends on the brand. "Nui", for one, is always smooth. Peace

Re: Atkins' death:

It proves skating is bad for your health and perhaps ice.

Spinoza

I want to start eating the coconut oil but will it actually help me lose weight? ITas hard to believe it will. I live in uk and the oil will be hard solid so how would i eat it? please help me? my email id is: zarif27@msn.com

Coconut oil has helped me to boost my energy level, but I've experienced some side effects, like fast heart beat and out-of-bretah feeling. I've read that coconut oil could stimulate the thyroid gland; it's known that people with hyperthyroidism experience symptoms of fast heart rate and shortness of breath. Could this explain the side effect I'm getting from the coconut oil (i.e. coconut oil could induce a temporary state of hyperthyroidism)? I wonder whether those side effects will be resolved as I continue using the oil.

I am 53, and have been consuming Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Jarrow brand is the one I prefer...) for about 6 months now.
I stir it into my oatmeal each morning, with a teaspoon of organic cinnamon. YUM.
I also use it to make a sauce for my fresh steamed veggies, adding sea salt, tumeric, garlic, etc.

I no longer struggle with those 5 extra pounds, as I am burning fat, and I have more energy to exercise each day.
The BEST thing I've noticed is that the gray hairs that were starting to show up in my eyebrows, went away. My eyebrows are dark again, look like they've been "done up" with a makeup artist, and no one can believe they are natural!

Now, I do NOT think that coconut oil alone is some "magic pill". You've got to be smart about what you put into your body. AND what you DON'T put into it.
Real, Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is a great "addition" to a healthy lifestyle, which INCLUDES exercise and eating fresh organic produce, cold water (wild) fish and GRASS FED beef (if you eat beef at all).

Eat right, exercise, say NO to pharmaceuticals, say YES to supplements and bioidentiacal hormones, and you will reap the benefits.
I'm "younger" now than I was at 30.

Having been vegan for 20 years and eated tons of soya, both myself and my partner have ended up with hypothyroidism and that has to be down to all the phytoestrogens in soya, eating soya at all now makes both of us ill. It was only on reading about the effects of soya that I started to realize why my health was falling apart.

Anyone that says that soya is good for you has been misinformed by the hype put out by the soya industry. Also it's nothing but drivel to tell people to eat flax seed, a seed which actually has 3 times the thyroid destructive power of soya, unfortunately for me I usewd to eat a wide variety of foods that destroy the thyroid on the bs basis that they are healthy. As eat soya and flax for their healthy properties you might as well go and shovel up some dog crap and put it on your plate because both will kill you in time.

It's high time we had some real research done by people who aren't in the pocket of some pharmo of agri monster company, research that actually sets out to find out what is safe to eat, not what gives some scumbag a profit by killing us.
Governments like to blame us for our illhealth, the same Governments who take massive backhanders to pass toxic crap as safe. Well its about time we brought back the death penalty for treason, we should drag them and their corrupt scientists and corrupt governing officials to the gallows when they knowingly release toxins onto the market. If we had the guts to do that you'd see half the filth in the shops disappear overnight. You might think that hanging is a bit extreme, but think about all the poor people who have suffered nightmare lives and horrific deaths because of these scum. Countless millions in early graves while the vermin who put them there get away with billions upon billions in blood money. The reality is that the longer we do nothing the worse it will get and they haven't even got started with GM yet.

I've taken coconut oil and in three months I felt better than I had ever felt.I lost 30 pounds, my hair and skin improved and I had energy like never before.So whatever the doctors think I know it is good for you because I'm the proof.

i am 49 years old and have been eating virgin coconut oil for about 2 years. when i first started taking it i felt a warm rush for a few minutes. now i don't feel that; but i did notice that my hands and feet have not been as cold nor was i as cold in the winter as usual.
all the women in my family have some sort of thyroid problem. myself i am diabetic. for years i had very dry itchy skin and brittle hair. when i take the VCO regularly and use it on my skin and hair it is not dry.

i tested this theory. i stopped using VCO for a month because i was tired of it. all of a sudden my hands and feet started getting very cold even though it was not cold in our house. i noticed myself wearing sweaters again and having to sleep with 2 blankets.

so i went back to eating the VCO and i'm getting better. another thing i noticed is that i do not gain weight even if i eat 4 tablespoons of VCO a day - but when i recently added 2 tablespoons of olive oil to my diet i immediately gained weight. why is this? i thought raw olive oil would be just as good for you; in a different way.

i love both oils and am happy to be able to use VCO for so many things. i eat VCO on oatmeal and on my breakfast toast with jelly.

djh

Mother had a stroke 5 years ago. Within this past year we started her on organic extra virgin coconut oil to supplement her diet. It is supposed to be good for the brain's cognitive and metabolical function.

Within the time frame of including coconut oil in her diet, she started to have uncontrollable urges to chew on anthing that was within her grasp including the telephone receiver. Everybody' physical body is different and therefore would respond to foods, medication, vitaminss, herbs, etc.. differently. Even age plays a part on how we react to substances ingested.

We plan to remove coconut oil from her diet to see what happens. Has anyone heard or experienced anything like this? The coconut oil may not be the problem but it will be the 1st start in figuring what is causing the 'chewing anthing' urge. She has broken 1 tooth from intensively chewing a sippy cup straw. Now, monitoring her new habit is essential.

After about 6 months of switching to expeller pressed virgin coconut oil, real butter, and expeller pressed virgin olive oil in cooking (the coco oil in my fruit smoothies), I had my cholesterol levels checked. My Dr. called me personally he was so blown away. He said that my overall cholesterol was high- but in a good way. My bad cholesterol was the lowest he'd ever seen - and my good cholesterol was way high. So Coconut Oil does affect your cholesterol...for the good in my opinion. Going to try taking more now that I've read about the weight loss...

Not sure if this recent peer reviewed study was discussed, but it does support the positive anecdotal claims made here. If you want to see the abstact for yourself, google pubmed and type in the appropriate keywords. Here's a link to a summary of that study:

www.naturalnews.com/026547_coconut_oil_fats_health.html

If that link doesn't work, just google coconut, women, cholesterol

I been taken organic extra virgin coconut oil for 3 months...i'm 24..and been diagnosed with high blood pressure since my early teens..probably since like umm..16...and i'm overweight..i just started taken blood pressure medication about 2 years ago..it never worked..but since i been taken the coconut oil it lowerd my blood pressure..taken it with the medication made it too low..and i had to stop my medication.. but now my b/p is stabilized and i have alot more energy. and i lost a couple pounds without even trying.. i think people should ignore the mainstream media..and give this stuff a try..but it have to be organic