Cuckoo for Coconut Oil
While channel checking one recent night, I became interested in a story about a man who seemed to have had a slowing down of his Alzheimer's symptoms by adding coconut oil into his daily diet. Many doctors who work with patients who have an autism diagnosis and immune dysfunction, have been recommending coconut oil for a number of years and it is also helping in other immune system disorders. It was this video that over five million viewers watched:
"Out of all the videos viewed on our CBN News website last year, the most popular by far showed how coconut oil helps some Alzheimer's patients. More than 5 million people watched it.
Now, some heavy-hitters within the Alzheimer's medical establishment are also taking notice.
The video told the story of Steve Newport, whose Alzheimer's symptoms reversed after he started taking coconut oil.
His wife, Dr. Mary Newport, a Florida neonatologist, documented her husband's astounding progress in her book, Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was A Cure?
......Here's how it appears the coconut oil works. In patients with Alzheimer's, insulin resistance prevents their brain cells from accepting glucose, their primary fuel. Without it, the cells die.
But there is an alternate fuel known as ketones, which cells easily accept. Ketones are metabolized in the liver after eating coconut oil..........Insulin resistance doesn't just affect people with Alzheimer's but also folks with dementia, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's, ALS, even autism."
That sounds interesting and promising but the insulin/ketone connection seemed to me, to be just the tip of the iceberg. It appears that coconut oil could be helping in other ways. The ketone connection seems to help through this mechanism:
"Dietary protocols that increase serum levels of ketones, such as calorie restriction and the ketogenic diet, offer robust protection against a multitude of acute and chronic neurological diseases. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain unclear. Previous studies have suggested that the ketogenic diet may reduce free radical levels in the brain. Thus, one possibility is that ketones may mediate neuroprotection through antioxidant activity....Ketones also significantly decreased mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species and the associated excitotoxic changes by increasing NADH oxidation in the mitochondrial respiratory chain.... ketones reduce glutamate-induced free radical formation by increasing the NAD+/NADH ratio and enhancing mitochondrial respiration in neocortical neurons. This mechanism may, in part, contribute to the neuroprotective activity of ketones by restoring normal bioenergetic function in the face of oxidative stress."
Coconut oil can reduce oxidative stress but what else might be happening? Since I have written about similarities between Alzheimer's and Autism due to beta amyloid production, I wondered it that could also be part of the coconut oil benefit. From that article:
"The peptide beta amyloid has long been thought to be involved in Alzheimer's disease, though there is a great deal of controversy about whether it's a primary cause of the disease, or merely a symptom. Now, Rudolph Tanzi and his group at Massachusetts General Hospital have shown it might not be simply 'junk' - it could be being made to protect the brain from pathogens as part of the innate immune system.......beta amyloid has a normal function, but if there is too much of that function, it becomes toxic."
Connecting dots and seeing patterns are an important part to figuring out cause and effect in so many increasing neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Is it then possible that coconut oil may be actually showing its most benefit by pathogen and microbial elimination? Less microbes would equal less beta amyloid and thus, increased brain functioning. We, here at Age of Autism, continue to sound the alarm on the fact that Autism for many, represents immune system damage. Is Alzheimer's the same?
Emerging roles of pathogens in Alzheimer disease
The Emerging Role Of Infection In Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease - a neurospirochetosis. Analysis of the evidence following Koch's and Hill's criteria
Could coconut oil then be helping by slowing or stopping this process? Let's look at some research that seems to show that could be the mechanism of its success as well:
A Review Of Monolaurin and Lauric Acid
"Coconut oil and certain coconut products contain approximately 50 percent lauric acid and approximately 6–7 percent capric acid......Monolaurin, a monoester formed from lauric acid (medium chain fatty acids), has profound antiviral and antibacterial activity. Research has suggested that monolaurin exerts virucidal and bactericidal effects by solubilizing the lipids and phospholipids in the envelope of the pathogen causing the disintegration of its envelope. Recent evidence has also indicated that the antimicrobial effect is related to its interference with signal transduction in cell replication6.
Lipid-Coated Bacteria Inactivated by Monolaurin
Listeria monocytogenes
Helicobacter pylori (gram-negative)
Hemophilus influenzae (gram-negative)
Staphylococcus aureus
Strptococcus agalactiae
Groups A, B, F, and G streptococci
Gram-positive organisms
Gram-negative organisms if pretreated with a chelator
Lipid-Coated Viruses Inactivated by Monolaurin
Human Immunodeficiency virus HIV-, HIV+
Measles Virus
Herpes simplex virus-1
Herpes simplex virus-2
Herpes viridae (all)
Human lymphotropic viruses (type 1)
Vesicular stomatitis virus
Visna virus
Cytomegalovirus
Epstein-Barr virus
Influenza virus
Pneumono virus
Sarcoma virus
Syncytial virus
Rubeola virus
In vitro antimicrobial properties of coconut oil on Candida species in Ibadan, Nigeria.
"It is noteworthy that coconut oil was active against species of Candida at 100% concentration compared to fluconazole. Coconut oil should be used in the treatment of fungal infections in view of emerging drug-resistant Candida species."
Susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to bactericidal properties of medium-chain monoglycerides and free fatty acids.
"The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to the in vitro bactericidal properties of medium-chain MGs and FFAs [free fatty acids ]."......., lauric acid (C12:0) was the only medium-chain saturated FFA with bactericidal activity against H. pylori. ...Collectively, our data demonstrate that H. pylori is rapidly inactivated by medium-chain MGs and lauric acid .."
Then there is the multitude of research showing that herpes simplex virus is connected to Alzheimer's. Here is the downstream effect to beta amyloid:
Antivirals reduce the formation of key Alzheimer's disease molecules in cell cultures acutely infected with herpes simplex virus type 1
"Our research showing that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is a risk factor for AD for the brains of people who possess a specific genetic factor and that the virus causes accumulation of key AD proteins (β-amyloid (Aβ) and abnormally phosphorylated tau (P-tau)), suggests that anti-HSV1 antiviral agents might slow AD progression.....the anti-HSV1 antiviral agents acyclovir, penciclovir and foscarnet reduced Aβ and P-tau accumulation, as well as HSV1...The antiviral-induced decrease in Aβ is attributable to the reduced number of new viruses, and hence the reduction in viral spread. Since antiviral agents reduce greatly Aβ and P-tau accumulation in HSV1-infected cells, they would be suitable for treating AD with great advantage unlike current AD therapies, only the virus, not the host cell, would be targeted."
Interesting and if we go back to Steve Newport , we can see these connections but instead, coconut oil may be the virus slayer:
"Steve has a long time history of lengthy outbreaks of fever blisters on his mouth, and had an outbreak around his eye and was quite sick at age 29. I strongly believe that, at least in his case, herpes simplex may be the cause of his Alzheimer's disease and this particularly bad episode could explain why he became symptomatic so early."
It appears that we are looking at immune dysfunction in many of these diseases. Like Autism, Alzheimer's has its connection to microbes . What can cause a body to not be able to fight off these pathogen predators?
"MICROBES AND IMMUNE REACTIONS- There are a number of environmental conditions that may provoke and/or weaken the immune system—infections, cancer, allergens, stress, sleep deprivation, vaccinations, trauma, toxins, degenerative changes, molecular mimicry, low glutathione levels, increased oxidative stress, metal toxicity, elevated leptin levels and some medical treatments [10-13]. "
Forget genetic connections. Go buy some coconut oil.
Teresa Conrick is Contributing Editor to Age of Autism.
On day 7 of giving my 3 year old old son 1 teaspoon of organic unrefined coconut oil in the morning and 1 at night and he has said his first sentence of his life today. He has also responded to his name a few times too as well as playing appropriately and make believe with his toys instead of lining them up. He has also called me mama several times. This is a dream come true. We stopped everything else and just give him this. I mix it with a little Nutella to hide the taste and he can't wait for it. Excited to see what the next few months bring!
I also looked it up and found this:
"Coconut contains two special ingredients that make it excellent for immunity. These are anti-viral properties, commonly referred to as lauric acid and caprylic acid. Both are well-known for fighting off yeast overgrowth (candida), along with bacterial infections. Coconut is actually comprised of 50 percent lauric acid, which the body converts to monolaurin, an antiviral agent that fights off a variety of pathogens and viruses."
Posted by: Melinda | May 01, 2019 at 11:23 AM
Hi! It's tru! Coconut oil is indeed God-given! My autistic son has been on it for 6months now and I've seen a lot of changes!one is his complexion which has turned dark through the years because of low glutathione levels.. I've seen him glowing eversince he took the oil. I've tried many supplements such as theb6 and magnesium therapy for a couple of years. though it worked for his speech and behavior,, tried zinc as well for his picky eating which worked well too. Put him on a gluten-free diet for some time but as soon as I read about the wonders that coconut oil does for autism, iI literally stopped all of these and now, he can eat anything without going hyper. He started at 2 tablespoons in he morning and another 2 at night then I gradually increased the dose to 3 in the morning and 4 at night.. Believe me that this oil really works wonders! I'm using extra virgin coconut oil which is cold-pressed.
Hope my testiminy would be of help to many! All the glory to God!
I forgot about to tell you about the great improvement in my son's speech and behavior.he now says what he wants, though when he was in the b6 and magnesium therapy was when he began to do this, but with coconut oil, he became more procactive and he now participates well in school.his teachers could attest to that! Praying that these breakthroughs continue.
Posted by: Vi salas | February 28, 2019 at 08:31 PM
Guys, I forgot about to tell you about the great improvement in my son's speech and behavior.he now says what he wants, though when he was in the b6 and magnesium therapy was when he began to do this, but with coconut oil, he became more procactive and he now participates well in school.his teachers could attest to that! Praying that these breakthroughs continue.
Posted by: Vi salas | February 28, 2019 at 08:11 PM
Hi! It's tru! Coconut oil is indeed God-given! My autistic son has been on it for 6months now and I've seen a lot of changes!one is his complexion which has turned dark through the years because of low glutathione levels.. I've seen him glowing eversince he took the oil. I've tried many supplements such as theb6 and magnesium therapy for a couple of years. though it worked for his speech and behavior,, tried zinc as well for his picky eating which worked well too. Put him on a gluten-free diet for some time but as soon as I read about the wonders that coconut oil does for autism, iI literally stopped all of these and now, he can eat anything without going hyper. He started at 2 tablespoons in he morning and another 2 at night then I gradually increased the dose to 3 in the morning and 4 at night.. Believe me that this oil really works wonders! I'm using extra virgin coconut oil which is cold-pressed.
Hope my testiminy would be of help to many! All the glory to God!
Posted by: Vi salas | February 28, 2019 at 08:01 PM
Whole-coconuts can be eaten as well! They can usually be obtained for ~$2 and have 1400 Calories apiece!
What a deal. My only criticism of the whole-coconut is that they, like all nuts, contain a bit more phosphorus than calcium. They should be balanced with vegetables IMO.
Grated coconut and salt is a good addition to steamed vegetables. Real coconut tastes nothing like that artificial coconut flavor that they put into candy. Shredded coconut in the baking aisle also has propylene glycol added as a dessicant.
Coconut doesn't really taste like some people think it does.
Posted by: Narad | November 04, 2016 at 05:35 PM
I posted earlier we were restarting coconut oil with my autistic son for candida, alongside some other antifungal treatments. We started in the late evening, and then the next morning i gave him a softgel with 1,000 mg coconut oil before he left for school, alongside his morning meds. I went to pick him up and he informed me he had to go find his new friend to give him his username info so they can play video games on the same online portal they both like. This is the first time my son has made friends this year at his new school (he didn't have any all last year and usually verbalizes he hates all school) and the first time he has tried to engage with a friend outside of school. I am completely shocked and delighted. We are up to 2 softgels a day now. Candida is already gone from his tonsils and it's day 4 of antifungal and coconut oil treatment.
Posted by: RM | November 04, 2016 at 12:24 PM
This is the one thing that when things fall apart either with my Autistic son's behavior or stomach we keep circling back to. I don't know why we ever stopped. He communicates and feels better with coconut oil and is calmer on it. We are restarting it again.
Posted by: RM | October 21, 2016 at 06:24 PM
As with many of the children with Autism, my son also had yeast issues and other gut problems. We put him on a CFGF diet to begin with and even with that the frequent bowel movements and loose stools did not get much better but the coconut oil really helped get rid of most of the yeast issues and the chronic diaper rashes.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 22, 2016 at 03:02 AM
im trying a cold pressed unrefined coconut oil for my 4 years old son just for few days........hoping to see some improvement on him by time with the grace of god. will definately contribute to write in this articles about the benefit of this oil as soon as i see improvement on my son.
Posted by: Dr. Bharaty | September 10, 2015 at 05:54 AM
Jilly, how much did you have your kid take? Seems like you'd need a LOT to over do it, no? How quickly did they get tired of it, and is your child tired of it completely, or can you mix it in stuff and its ok?
Posted by: Cristina | October 25, 2013 at 01:58 AM
This article has me asking more and more questions about coconut oil and what it can do. Fascinating!! I have been slowly putting together the scientific research on coconut oil, check it out http://www.coconutoilgood.com
Posted by: Coconutoilgood | April 02, 2013 at 09:58 PM
It is intersting to hear other peoples experiences with Coconut oil. Our son struggled with sebhorreic dermatitis on face and chest (after eating many types of food).I have been to many skin specialists over the last 7 years and all they have offered him is anti fungal and cortizone creams which have had no effect. 3 weeks ago I started my son on organic extra virging coconut oil to treat the return of his helicobacter pylori, gastritis and weight loss. I thought I would also try coconut oil on his face and chest to clear up the red rash and dryness. It is amazing how quickly it has worked. All the money and doctors visits could have been saved if I had used coconut oil earlier. I hope it clears the helicobacter too because that has caused him to go from 81 kg to 64kg and lose lots of muscle and hair as well (He is 21 now). For the record he had special antibiotic treament for the H. Pylori which worked for a two months then symptoms returned. His subsequent blood test, stool test and breath test for helicobacter came back negative but as weight loss continued I asked for another endoscopy and found he still had H. Pylori (so much for test accuracy).I read 1 teaspoon of coconut oil 3 times a day for a month can treat helicobater so I am hoping it works. I will know if he starts putting on weight without having to eat 3500 cals per day.
Posted by: J Vermeer | February 20, 2013 at 06:54 AM
Another great article. Thanks for the info and comments, too.
Posted by: Sue Stopka | February 19, 2013 at 11:53 PM
"Forget genetic connections. Go buy some coconut oil."
Complete your anti-Alzheimer's prevention/treatment by NEVER getting "vaccinated", ESPECIALLY with the 25mcg of mercury "flu shot" and a few INEXPENSIVE common sense non-drug nutrients and you may be home free.
Alzheimer's just like all the vaccine caused diseases is a MAN MADE DISEASE.
How to Produce Alzheimer's
"If you have something that's been put in your mouth that you can't dispose of in a waste basket without breaking environmental protection laws, there's no point in keeping it around, there's no point in taking that type of risk - there's no point in exposing people to any level of mercury toxicity if you don't have to...... .....there is no doubt in my mind that low levels of mercury present in the brain could cause normal cell death, and this could lead to dementia which would be similar to Alzheimer's disease.... We can't go inside a living human being and look at their brain, so we have to work outside, and do scientific experiments such as we've done. And to the best that we can determine with these experiments, mercury is a time-bomb in the brain, waiting to have an effect. If it's not bothering someone when they're young, especially when they age it can turn into something quite disastrous" Dr Boyd Haley, Professor of Medicinal Biochemistry, University of Kentucky.
"Pendergrass and Haley in a 1997 performed a study published in the journal Neurotoxicology. In their study, they showed concentrations of mercury vapor, known to be released by dental amalgams in people, increased mercury concentrations in rat brains from 11- to 47-fold higher than controls. At this level, the mercury produced the identical lesions seen in Alzheimer’s disease (neurofibrillary tangles) by interfering with normal tubulin maintenance." Mercury Filling Toxicity
“The fluoride/aluminum association is of particular importance as it relates to Alzheimer's Disease. Aluminum by itself is not readily absorbed by the body. However, in the presence of fluoride ions, the fluoride ions combine with the aluminum to form aluminum fluoride, which is absorbed by the body. In the body, the aluminum eventually combines with oxygen to form aluminum oxide or alumina (53). Alumina is the compound of aluminum that is found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease.” Ronsivalli, LJ, "Addenda to Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies", Note I don't think things can be clearer than this.
We have found that clinically normal individuals aged 60-65 who receive influenza vaccine three or four times during a five-year period, will five years later have an incidence of Alzheimer's disease 10-fold greater than age-matched individuals who did not receive it." Doctor H. Hugh Fudenburg, MD, Note and CDC cannot figure out where Alzheimer's is coming from. Right! 90% of our seniors are getting the "flu vaccine" toxin.
"There is conclusive scientific research showing a direct correlation between the numbers and surfaces of amalgam fillings and the mercury content of brain tissue. Autopsy studies show high levels of mercury in the brain tissue of Alzheimer's victims. Chronic inhalation of low-level mercury vapor can inhibit polymerization of brain tubulin essential for formation of microtubules." Mercury Filling Toxicity
Ever wonder where the neuron tangles of Alzheimer’s come from?
So if you want to produce Alzheimer's just feed elders (and everyone else) water with fluoride put in it, "vaccinate" (with mercury, aluminum and other toxic garbage) the hell out of them and encourage them to get "silver" (mercury) tooth fillings. Know any country where this is being done? Yeah right here in the land of the free.
It is 100% clear to me if you want to VASTLY reduce your odds of contracting Alzheimer's simply stop drinking fluoridated water, soft drinks, using anything with fluoride in it, getting the toxic and totally worthless "Flu Shot" or any other "vaccination" and filling your teeth with mercury.
http://healthyprotocols.com/2_alzheimers_intro.htm
Posted by: Lou | February 19, 2013 at 06:49 PM
This morning I melted the coconut oil and slipped it in the protein shake I make my son. I had doubts about him liking the texture of the solid CO. He didn't realize it was in there until I told him. I have been cooking/baking with coconut oil for a few years now and we also use it to make personal products. It is the only product I use to moisturize my face and it works great as a makeup remover too. Two other uses I would like to share are:
Make your own deodorant. Store bought anti-perspirants/deodorants contain aluminum and parabens. Even some of the “natural’” products contain aluminum. Sweating is one way how we detox; it doesn’t seem in our (or our children’s) best interest to stop that process with anti-perspirants. In a food processor (or by hand) mix 1 part coconut oil, 1 part (non aluminum) baking soda and 1 part arrowroot powder. You can add in a few drops of essential oils like lavender etc. Mix until all ingredients are combined and put it in a container with a lid. If you live in a very warm area, you may have to keep it in the fridge.
Make your own Vicks VapoRub. In a container mix 1/4 cup coconut oil with drops of peppermint oil and/or eucalyptus oil.
Not only is it healthier to make your own personal care products but it is much cheaper too!
Posted by: samaxtics | February 19, 2013 at 02:12 PM
I had recently read a book on Alzheimers and mild cognitive impairment. The book very clearly described the descent into this group of brain illnesses. The authors, who are MDs, can actually document their patients' specific pattern of language loss and change in behavior patterns to specific sections of the brain. They could confirm their interpretation with a special type of brain scan which very much showed/confirmed the damage in those areas of the brain. Amazingly, after treatment (exercise to bring more oxygen to the deep regions of the brain, supplements & sometimes pharmaceutical medications) the symptoms could be halted and sometimes even reversed. Post-treatment brain scans showed healing in brain regions / neurogenesis.
I was dumbfounded by the similarity of description of the symptoms and manifestions, which sounded like autism symptoms. I was angry, wondering why language loss and behavior abberations in a senior citizen could be widely verified, accepted as evidence of a physical disease of the brain and be treated as such and be covered by insurance, but the identical set of circumstances in children would be denied, not treated as disease worthy of acknowledgment and treatment and not covered by insurance. I was hopeful that the same things helping these alzheimers patients would possibly also help children w/autism in the same manner.
The book was published long before the advent of the benefits of coconut oil, so coconut oil in like icing on the cake.
Thank-you for putting this idea out there - obviously a large portion of the population can benefit from the use of these oils.
This also reminds me of conversations revolving around camel milk, known to have higher cholesteral/medium chain levels than bovine milk.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2621.1999.00254.x/abstract
http://ipac.kacst.edu.sa/eDoc/eBook/3129.pdf
Posted by: jenny | February 19, 2013 at 01:53 PM
Thank you for the above information. I've recently gained access locally to coconut oil and just bought some for variety, but will try using it more consistently to see if we benefit.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | February 19, 2013 at 01:16 AM
Dr. Fife's book combines taking coconut oil with a modified ketogenic diet. I haven't put my daughter on the diet, but I have been giving her coconut oil for months now (I was already giving her MCT oil and monolaurin). We are seeing improvement in the fine motor area - specifically, she is starting to be able to "write" single letters (using her iPAD and apps like iWriteWords). She is usually keeping within the outline of the letters now, and has spontaneously chosen the iWriteWords app a few times.
Posted by: Carolyn M | February 18, 2013 at 11:10 PM
Coconut oil (cold pressed,organic) is also great for body massage and newborn skin care.Do not use it on the baby's face or belly button area.Excellent as a diaper balm,it nourishes and provides protection against the moisture in the diaper.Much
better than any petro-chemical or vaseline in the market as it allows the skin to breath.Best to use it right after shower or bath when the skin is clean,warm and slightly moist,a small amount goes a long way.
Posted by: oneVoice | February 18, 2013 at 10:20 PM
I agree with the MCT'ers
If the goal is to get the brain to run on ketones, MCT oil is far more practical. Just be sure to use the Dr Friedlander's brand and not the Now brand which is of poor quality and is more prone to cause stomach upset. MCT oil is tasteless, is a liquid at any tempurature, and requires a much smaller amount to get similar effects.
Posted by: Steve | February 18, 2013 at 07:48 PM
After eating the tiniest amount of coconut oil, I would herx. Every day I would increase it a little and now I no longer herx. It kills lot of pathogens, and to me, that's how it works.
Posted by: Heidi N | February 18, 2013 at 07:35 PM
Dr Bruce Fife N.D. has written a book about this called Stop Autism Now! Explains in detail the benefits of coconut oil and MCT oil for brain function, repair and regrowth. That's right I said REGROWTH!
Posted by: Adam M | February 18, 2013 at 06:04 PM
Fermented young green coconut water and the meat of the young green coconut is very beneficial. We make candy out of coconut oil. Mix chocolate, stevia or honey into oil and freeze. If you don't want chocolate try the sweetener with orange and vanilla flavoring. I spread it on wax paper and when frozen break into chips and store in freezer. I am popular with my kid's friends for my popcorn; it's the coconut oil. I save my bacon grease and mix half and half to cook chicken. I purchase mine in 5 gallon buckets.
Posted by: Diane W Farr | February 18, 2013 at 01:18 PM
We stumbled on to this last year. Our son has had persistent gut problems that improved immensely once he went GFCF. Despite this he was always rail thin, and looked emaciated. We started using medium chain triglyceride oil (MCT - derived from coconut oil) to supplement his calories. I had read it was used in severe cases of celiac disease to provide nutrition as it can pass into the gut cells with minimal digestion and without the need of an elaborate transport system (unlike long chain triglycerides found in most foods).
We were shocked that he had an almost immediate cognitive improvement with dramatic increases in alertness and sociability. His teachers noticed it immediately as he had always been a happy loner, he was now engaging with other children regularly.
At first we ascribed this to simply improved energy from the additional calories, but the change was so sudden and evident it just didn't make sense. We eventually realized we might be inadvertently inducing ketosis the same way MCT is used in ketogenic diets to treat intractable epilepsy. We checked his urine using Ketostix (used to measure ketones in the urine by diabetics and low carb dieters) and sure enough they were there. Not in huge quantities, but enough to make use realize we were probably providing an alternate energy source (i.e. ketones) his brain prefers. His brain mitochondria just seem to function better on ketones rather than glucose. He has also put on some much needed weight.
I would recommend folks give this a try for just about any neurological issue as it's inexpensive, easy, and safe. The ketogenic diet has been around since 1921, the medical establishment is just now figuring out its widespread applicability beyond epilepsy. Ketones can be induced with MCT without needing the severely restricted diets once thought necessary.
Posted by: Jeff C | February 18, 2013 at 09:56 AM
What a fantastic article! I have long sung the praises of coconut oil.
Thank you Teresa and Not an MD for sharing your insightful information! I'll have to give the tea a try. I often have a smoothie with coconut oil in the morning.
Posted by: Rhonda Spellman | February 18, 2013 at 09:33 AM
I started giving my son coconut oil about 10 months ago. I read the piece mentioned here and thought that coconut oil could not hurt. He now drinks coconut milk, has coconut yogart as a snack and coconut ice cream for dessert, all of which taste good. I considered him as "recovered" before we began the coconut oil, but since then his grades are amazing. He is 14 and just made high honor roll for the first time last month. He actually eats a heaping tablespoon of oil at breakfast ( in the summer he drank it). There is nothing to lose unless you are allergic.
Posted by: LInda L. | February 18, 2013 at 09:09 AM
This summer my neighbor lost her one year old grandchild and we sat conversing on my back porch. The conversation turned to MCT oil/ coconut oil. Her brother is a doctor, she was a CEO of a health insurance company. She was stunned.
She asked me if I remembered how it was back in the late 1970s when a lot of middle age men were suffering from heart attacks and blocked arteries? "
Oh yeah, I remember all the stuff that big heart doctors were writing - that it was the coconut oil and that we needed to not even allow it to be sold. Never mind the lard was also right beside the coconut oil too. I often wondered if it had more to do with Big Agricultural wanting to find a market for soy beans?
I use to make soap as a hobby. It was a great thing to do with my kids, and believe it or not it has helped them in conversations with people -- lots of hobbies have always been a good thing for PDD-NOS, personality disorders, mental illness. To make soap that makes big fluffy bubbles we needed coconut oil, and we had a hard time getting it in the 1990s. I had to order it through the mail -- coconut oil -- to make my soap.
Which might interest some people; only coconut oil and palm oil makes the big fluffy bubbles in soap. No other oils do that.
Lard soap- slimes
tallow soap is like wax
olive oil - tiny little bubbles
Oils and fats are all different when it comes to soaps -- so oils an fats are all different for the body as well.
Since this disease of my family-- this mitochondria myopathy in the complex I and III of the electron transfer system is damaged (reported as an after effect of Kawasakis are all linked to lipid metabolism problems). My family at young ages are getting high cholesterol. You put them on a Statin drug, or Welco that absorbs the fat while still in the GI track and you see immediate brain fog, weakness of the muscles and according to the only intelligent doctor we ever had -- heart failure.
I know that everyone else on this website is also looking at the B vitamins too.
Hard to believe that in 1901 - that a simple change in the processing of cornmeal took out niacin and 100,000 people died of pellegra -- skin problems - progressing into metal problems and then death.
So here I am feeding my family handfulls of vitamins. Yeah, I cook with coconut oil, coconut flour and let us not forget that MCT oil in the refrig.
Among those vitamins is also inositol. Any of you out there use it?
If you have bipolar that is the B vitamin they are looking at for a lot of Psychiatric conditions -- give that a quick WIKI Search.
Real research studies on pubmed too are actually saying that it can replace drugs.
So, while we are looking at coconut oil have a look see on inositol too.
Posted by: Benedetta | February 18, 2013 at 08:57 AM
I forgot to mention that I always cook pancakes using coconut oil, and I put coconut oil in oatmeal. Coconut oil makes everything taste better, in my opinion.
I also drink green tea with one tablespoon of melted coconut oil in it, at the first sign of an influenza-like illness, or influenza, in the hope it might take down the viral load and help me conquer the illness.
Posted by: Not an MD | February 18, 2013 at 08:31 AM
Good morning, Teresa. You are writing about one of my favorite topics - coconut oil! I discovered it several years ago, and have since discovered that if you have a sore throat (i.e. you feel that some nasty, bad ass germ is about to invade your throat) drinking two 8 ounce glasses of coconut milk will make that sore throat go away in no more than 20 minutes. Don't believe me? Try it! Even if it is only a placebo effect, which I doubt due to the known anti-microbial action of the medium chain fatty acids- lauric, capric and capryllic acid - in coconut oil and coconut milk, it still works for me and for my kids. It doesn't taste bad, either.
In my youth, I had the "3 S" method for eradicating germs, but it was wasn't the best system. The first "S" was steam (from a vaporizer or a pot of boiling water) to calm sinus inflammation, the second "S" was salt water snort to kill germs in the sinuses, and the third "S" was for Sambuca - as I mistakenly thought that something with so much alcohol in it must surely kill the germs in one's throat. Of course, Sambuca has a lot of sugar in it, too, which is not good to ingest when fighting pathogens, but it did taste delicious! While the first two "S's" were effective, the third "S" never was.
Oddly, I discovered coconut oil when doing my initial research to find out what on Earth could possibly kill persistent measles virus in the gut. Coconut oil does so much more than destroy measles virus, as you have outlined above. There is a lot of published medical research to back those claims up, too. I think one of the only germs it doesn't obliterate that I know of is rhinovirus, which is a big bummer, as that is what I am likely suffering from right now. --I guess I need to do that salt water snort that I dread after all.
Posted by: Not an MD | February 18, 2013 at 08:20 AM
Be careful not to over do it with your kids though . My child can no longer stand coconut oil because we overused it ..... Try to find an appropriate level
Posted by: Jilly Ann Beret | February 18, 2013 at 06:46 AM