You probably read the recent headlines…
- “Coconut oil isn’t healthy. It’s never been healthy” ~ USA Today
- “Nutrition experts warn coconut oil is on par with beef fat, butter” ~ Chicago Tribune
- “This popular health food is worse for you than pork lard” ~ Daily Star
- “Coconut Oil Isn’t As Healthy As We Thought, According To Depressing New Study” ~ Elite Daily
And wondering to yourself “What the heck is going on?”… “I thought coconut oil was healthy”…”Crap, coconut oil is another fake health fad?”
Well you are not alone, it seems the entire Internet freaked out at this “news” and for good reason.
As you can probably imagine, my email and phone has been blowing up about all this – even my Mom sent me a text wondering if it was true. I know it’s frustrating when there is so much conflicting health information being fired at us from all directions. How can we know what to believe? How can we know we’re getting accurate advice? Who should we listen to? How can we expect to get healthy?
It’s no secret that coconut oil is a regular part of my diet and I consider it one of the best oils to consume period. (I even partnered with the top organic coconut oil on the market as a result). Not everyone agrees with me, and that’s fine. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you to all be very careful about health advice reported in the media – because some well-meaning reporters fall for basic industry tricks like this one that has just happened.
When it comes to health information, we must ALWAYS consider the source (and examine it well!)
Even if advice seems to come from a perfectly respectable organization on the surface (like the American Heart Association) – research who they are, who funds their work, and what types of health claims they’ve made in the past. This is something I do when reading health-related articles – and in today’s age of political and industry propaganda and manipulations, it is imperative that you take this step to be your own health advocate.
Who was behind the headlines?
The American Heart Association released a new Presidential Advisory recommending that everyone AVOID coconut oil, stating that it is high in saturated fat and raises “bad” cholesterol levels – which they believe leads to heart disease. In their press release, the lead author of the report recommends that we all stop using coconut oil and cook with “canola, or corn oil or soybean oil, or extra virgin olive oil.” And, he thinks it’s perfectly healthy to deep fry your food… ummm, what?!…
“There’s nothing wrong with deep frying as long as you deep fry in a nice unsaturated vegetable oil” ~ Frank M. Sacks, lead author of American Heart Association’s Presidential Advisory.
Can you trust the American Heart Association with health information?
The American Heart Association (AHA) is the same organization who told us for years to eat margarine (which was notoriously high in trans fat) calling it “more heart-healthy” than butter because it contains “no dietary cholesterol”. They started this recommendation back in the 1960’s and continued it for decades while the primary ingredient in margarine was partially hydrogenated oil full of trans fat. Well, we now know that the trans fat in partially hydrogenated oils are responsible for upwards of 20,000 heart attacks every year – which spurred the FDA to finally ban it from our food (effective in 2018). It’s rare for the FDA to ban anything! Boy, I’d say the AHA was way off on that recommendation, wouldn’t you?
“Of the half million Americans who die prematurely each year from heart disease—the leading cause of death in this country—at least 30,000 are killed by trans fats.” ~ Harvard epidemiologist Walter Willett
AHA certifies food loaded with sugar as heart healthy!
Cans of Bruce’s Yams In Syrup with 18 grams of added sugar per serving, Prego “Heart Smart” Sauces made with added sugar and canola oil, Starkist Ranch Tuna Creations with added sugar and MSG, and Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Honey Wheat Bread with added sugar, soybean oil, and two additives that contain trans fats (DATEM and monoglycerides) all get their official seal of approval. In the past, they’ve certified Fat-Free Chocolate Milk, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, and Trix cereal… yikes.
Processed deli meats full of sugar, salt and preservatives (like heavily processed Boar’s Head!) get a big thumbs up from them as well. All of these products and dozens more insanely processed foods with the “American Heart Association Heart Check” Seal of Approval have each paid thousands of dollars in fees (up to $7,500 + annual renewal fees per product) to use the certified seal.
Processed deli meats and sugar are associated with dramatically increasing the risk of heart disease…but the AHA doesn’t call those foods out?
“Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that eating processed meat, such as bacon, sausage or processed deli meats, was associated with a 42% higher risk of heart disease” – Harvard School of Public Health, May 2010
“Over the course of the 15-year study on added sugar and heart disease, participants who took in 25% or more of their daily calories as sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as those whose diets included less than 10% added sugar.” – Harvard Medical School, Feb. 2014
They’ve even partnered up with “Healthy Dining Finder” which directs you to eat at Denny’s, Sizzler, and Red Robin… do they really believe these restaurants serve healthy food?
Think of all the people who relied on the AHA’s endorsements and ate foods full of sugar, nitrates, and trans fat for years – and ended up sick as a result. How many people are still being misled? It. Is. Sickening.
AHA and Big Food are longtime best friends!
This is not where the AHA’s ties to industry end. Over the years, their sponsors have included a who’s who list of the worst Big Food brands out there, who fill their foods up with soybean oil, canola oil, processed meats, and sugar:
- Kellogg’s
- Pepsico
- General Mills
- Nestle
- Mars
- Domino’s Pizza
- Kraft
- Subway
- Quaker
The AHA is also raking in upwards of $15 million dollars per year from drug and healthcare companies – including over $3 million from Pfizer (the maker of the statin drug Lipitor that reduces cholesterol). Could this be why the AHA recommends that millions more Americans be prescribed statins, even healthy older people with no history of heart disease? The members of their research committee are raking in industry dollars too… receiving tens of thousands from drug companies to fund research, make trial appearances, and serve as consultants – which is a blatant conflict of interest.
The authors of this new AHA Presidential Advisory that condemns coconut oil are riddled with conflicts of interest as well…
One author, Penny M. Kris-Etherton, discloses significant funding from Ag Canada, Canola Oil Council, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Could this be why she recommends “lean beef” as “heart healthy” and canola oil as a way to cut belly fat? In the past, she also served on the advisory board at Unilever (maker of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Country Crock, Brummel & Brown, and Imperial Margarine).
Another author, Jennifer G. Robinson, disclosed research funding from numerous drug companies, many of whom make cholesterol pills… Amarin, Amgen, AstraZeneca (maker of the statin Crestor), Eli Lilly, Glaxo-Smith Kline, Merck, Pfizer, Regeneron/Sanofi, and Takeda.
Various conflict of interest disclosures reveal that Frank M. Sacks (lead author) has been paid by the industry to testify in court cases involving POM Wonderful, Hershey, Unilever, and Keebler. He also testified for or has received consulting fees from several drug companies including Abbott, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Merck, Roche, Sanofi and has received lecture fees from AstraZeneca. These previous associations were not disclosed as conflicts in the AHA’s report, but I consider this significant, don’t you?
The AHA’s ties to the industry shouldn’t be ignored.
It’s important to recognize squarely where the AHA’s loyalty lies. They are protecting industries from which they receive millions of dollars. When their primary sources of revenue come from Big Food and Pharmaceutical companies, you’ve got to question the veracity of their opinions on what constitutes healthy food.
Is saturated fat really the enemy?
The AHA’s recent statement on the saturated fat in coconut oil is NOTHING NEW coming from them. They have long held the position that processed vegetable oils (like canola, corn, soybean oils) are healthy and discredit any information to the contrary, while demonizing all saturated fats as detrimental to our health.
This belief has persisted thanks to intense influence and lobbying by the Institute for Shortening and Edible Oils (ISEO), an industry trade group that protects the interests of vegetable oil manufacturers like Cargill, Bunge, and ConAgra.
“As far back as 1968, the ISEO was mentioned in an internal memo written by the medical director of the American Heart Association: According to the memo, the ISEO objected to the AHA’s intention to include a warning about trans fats in its dietary guidelines; subsequently, the AHA took it out.” ~ Mother Jones, August 2012
Furthering this belief, in the 1960’s the sugar industry funded research that would hide the link between sugar consumption and heart disease, while promoting the idea that fat is the real culprit. The public didn’t find out the truth until internal sugar industry documents were released in 2016.
Many health experts believe saturated fats DO NOT cause heart disease and may even be GOOD for you.
There is well documented evidence that saturated fats do not increase your risk of heart disease. A recent meta-analysis in the British Journal of Medicine came to this conclusion. Another meta-analysis of 21 studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has also come to this conclusion. Another meta-analysis published in 2017 found that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats (like corn oil) is not likely to reduce risk of heart disease. I could go on and on and on and on.
A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that saturated fats may increase risk of heart disease, but NOT if they come from fish, dairy, or plants – such as coconuts! If you look at the countries that consume the most coconut oil, they’ve also got the some of the lowest rates of heart disease… what does that tell you?
“For many years we have been told that to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD), we must lower our intake of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and instead eat more carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Backed up by the National Cholesterol Education Program, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Heart Association, the medical profession has promoted this idea eagerly, although the number of contradictory scientific reports is almost endless. There is in fact much evidence that doing the opposite is more relevant… There is no evidence that a lower intake of SFA can prevent CVD and a high intake of PUFAs without specification may result in a high intake of omega-6, which is associated with many adverse health effects. Because there is much evidence that saturated fat may even be beneficial, we urge the American Heart Association…to consider the aforementioned evidence when updating their future guidelines”. ~ The Questionable Benefits of Exchanging Saturated Fat With Polyunsaturated Fat, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, April 2014
If the AHA truly believes saturated fat is so bad, why do they have “heart healthy” recipes for beef and pork on their website, given these are the biggest sources of saturated fat in the American diet? Could it be because the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Board, Tyson, Hormel, and Smithfield have all paid money to have their meats and recipes “heart check” certified? This sure raises my eyebrows.
Cholesterol has been demonized, but wrongly so.
We now know that cholesterol does some amazing things for your body and isn’t all bad as once believed – but it’s highly complex. Even if coconut oil raises cholesterol levels, this doesn’t tell you the whole story. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, what you want to watch out for is the type of cholesterol that is getting raised and particle size, along with high triglycerides:
“As a doctor, I tell patients that abnormal cholesterol can become a problem when it is the small dense LDL particles, accompanied by high triglycerides. In fact small LDL particles actually triple your risk of heart disease. This is caused by high-carb, low-fat diets and is improved when you add fat back to the diet, including saturated fat.” ~ Is Coconut Oil Bad for Your Cholesterol? Mark Hyman, M.D.
It’s also been shown that saturated fat in coconut oil increases “good” HDL cholesterol and increases the size of LDL particles (making them less likely to promote heart disease). On the other hand, low cholesterol can be harmful, linked to increased risk of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and morbid depression.
What you really should be avoiding are refined “vegetable oils” like corn, soybean, and canola oil…
These oils go through an insane amount of processing with chemical solvents, steamers, neutralizers, de-waxers, bleach and deodorizers before they end up in the bottle. Corn and soybean oil are very high in omega-6 fatty acids which are known to promote inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is a real killer, increasing the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. These oils are also strongly linked to cancer and are typically derived from GMO crops contaminated with Roundup herbicide.
Despite all the evidence against it, the American Heart Association continues to tell people to eat these highly processed, inflammatory oils. Why is this?
It could be that the AHA is just stuck in the 50’s and can’t come to grips with all the new research out there. But I have another theory which seems more plausible – the AHA is protecting the profits of the drug industry (their sponsors) who rely on us being unhealthy enough to need a prescription and the food industry who prefers to use cheap oils in their food and doesn’t want to spend more money for healthy ingredients. It’s all about the bottom line.
It’s really no surprise that the AHA is trying to vilify coconut oil.
Now that the general public is learning the truth about saturated fats and sugar, the industry is freaking out. They needed to find a new angle. They need to win their way back into the public’s hearts… and what better way to do it than to scare us… “Hey, you know that coconut oil in your cabinet that you thought was healthy? Well, it’s going to give you a heart attack”.
It’s so outrageous for them to make this claim when you look at where we are today with our health.
For someone to die from a heart attack was virtually unheard of 100 years ago, it was extremely rare! In just a few short decades it became the leading cause of death in the ‘50’s and now heart disease remains as the #1 killer of Americans. The drugs pumped out by pharmaceutical companies and all those new “trans fat free” foods are doing nothing to stop this. What changed so dramatically during the last hundred years?
One of the most significant changes to our diets was the switch from natural fats to processed and refined vegetable oils. Americans moved away from eating real butter and fresh foods, while increasing consumption of sugary processed foods made with vegetable oils. Data shows that in the last several decades Americans cut the fat from their diets by 25% while increasing intake of carbohydrates by more than 30%. The majority of these carbohydrates aren’t healthy fruits and vegetables either – but mostly refined breads, crackers, cereals, pastas, and other low-fat processed foods packed with added sugar.
Where has cutting out the fat and gorging on refined grains and sugar gotten us? If you ask me, the health of our nation has tanked. It makes me incredibly sad, because I know most people are trying to eat right and do what their doctors and experts from organizations like the AHA tell them to do. No one wants to be overweight and sick, yet that is the reality for most Americans.
I personally love coconut oil and all of the health benefits it provides.
The tropical saturated fat in coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which have been shown to increase your metabolism and to REDUCE body fat (sources: 1, 2, 3, 4), while retaining muscle mass. It works to bring down chronic inflammation in the body and is an amazing source of energy. As a bonus, it’s also associated with increased antioxidant levels in the body that can slow aging!
I use a variety of cooking oils in my kitchen. Read my investigation with a list of which oils I personally like to use here. If you know anyone who is wondering if coconut oil is dangerous (or is trusting the American Heart Association for health information), please share this post with them and keep spreading the truth!
The debate continues…
Even two members of my Advisory Council, who are both physicians that I greatly respect, are on opposite sides of this issue and do not agree. Dr. Joel Kahn agrees with the American Heart Association’s conclusions (because he is generally against all oils) and Dr. Mark Hyman does not…
“My advice is to not get lost in the jungle of discussion over coconut and its oil. Without a doubt the AHA Advisors were responsible in highlighting the lack of data for a health benefit to adding coconut oil to the diet and the likely risks”. ~ Joel Kahn, M.D.
“First, there is not a single study showing that coconut oil causes heart disease. Not one. Second, the whole case against coconut oil is founded on a hypothesis that has been proven wrong”. ~ Mark Hyman, M.D.
I greatly appreciate this difference of opinion, and of course, I have my own.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments and please share this post with your coconut oil loving friends!
Xo,
Vani
I haven’t personally come to any conclusions about coconut oil, but I’d like to make a polite suggestion: Consider adding a Registered Dietician to your Advisory Board to lend more credibility to your position. I saw that your panel consists of several physicians and a “clinical nutritionist.” Most people would be surprised to learn that medical schools generally require startlingly few hours in nutrition education. Furthermore, nutritionists are not necessarily the same as Registered Dieticians, who possess the gold standard in nutrition education and training.
I appreciate your work and your investment in public health, but I do see that you could strengthen your argument by consulting with people who are collectively the most qualified to discuss nutrition.
I love coconut oil and it is has been a life changer for my health and memory. I do not agree with your comment in regards to Registered Dietitians being the nutrition experts. Dietician’s are schooled from the same studies described above and as a result present skewed nutrition plans full of processed and refined foods. Big thanks to Food Babe for keeping us all informed and up-to-date on the top political issues impacting our food.
As a 120 pound, fit 47 year old woman, with type 2 diabetes (genetic case), I am appalled by all the hype and misinformation there is out there. If the medical community can’t agree how are we to trust any information. I have been a diabetic for 11 years, 2 of those being gestational diabetes. I have had dozens of nutrition classes and from my understanding a Clinical Nutritionist is of the highest standard. The few I saw (and my current MD is also a Clinical Nutrionist) would not tell me to ingest any food that would be bad for my health in any way; outside of diabetes. Every RD I saw would tell me I can have artificial sweeteners and recommend drinks with food dye….hmmm….to cause me more problems?
With any profession and course of study the person retaining the information has to have their own work ethics and moral . You can not generally categorize all RDs beacause each individual is trained differently. A random person can not play doctor and the same thing stands for nutrition . These professionals spend countless hours learning chemistry a subject that can not be made up. The body is chemistry! Nutrition is chemistry ! And wellness is biology ! When two things meet and they cause a chemical imbalance within the body it takes full understanding of proteins ,lipids,carbohydrates,vitamins and minerals and to be able to interpret these analyses.Don’t get me wrong there are some people that know there stuff without a formal nutrition education : kudos to them , but you can not discredit a professional for what it is they do and are experts in . The goal for all individuals is to seek nutrition care from a dietitian that is suitable to your style of health and wellness.
RD’s have little actual knowledge of good nutrition. They order BOOST and ENSURE drinks full of sugar and synthetic vitamins. Now even diabetics are given pie and cake regularly on their trays. They freak out when people lose any weight even if its needed. I just don’t see any real knowledge going on here. In fact its strange.
I LOVE the Food Babe THANK YOU so much for getting to the BOTTOM our so called food that most people think is HEALTHY, not realizing that it ALL for a PROFIT they don’t care about your health like the Food Babe
You might want to check the facts. The coconut oil she partnered with is very high in saturated fat – each 1 Tbsp of coconut oil contains 14g of fat of which, 13g is saturated fat.
http://store.nutiva.com/coconut-oil/
I fully agree with you, Jami Darby and thanks for pointing that out
I would not trust a registered Dietician. Their schools are funded by the big food companies. The Canadian Government gets their health advise from Registered Nutritionists. That’s why our Government in Canada recommends Canola Oil and to eat more grains. Those are the two last things I want to consume.
It is prudent to be skeptical of registered Dieticians as they are a product of the system of misinformation, deceit and greed. Once heard of a study at Purdue U masters program in dietetics that studied and promoted Kraft cheese whiz. Funded by Kraft, naturally. Competent RDs need an epiphany of how they were educated.
So whole grain cereals are perfect
Ironic you should mention adding a clinical nutritionist to her advisory board. My niece just finished school to become a nutritionist and she thinks coconut oil is not good for a person to consume. I totally disagree with her but do not argue the point. It would seem that doctors and nutritionists and the like, are going to be taking the “side” of big pharma and corporations (Monsanto, Dupont, etc.) that fund universities, and dictate what students learn. Doesn’t give me much confidence in modern medicine.
Thank you for your precision and clarity in defining the role and importance of an RD . As an RD myself we use the clinical, lifestyle and chemical components to determine the best use of food in the body. I agree that any person without an RD needs a advisory group with such professionals because as the world changeS so does the world of nutrition and diseases. Again an RDs opinion along with other professionals creates the golden standard.
There are no long term studies to determine the effects of long term use of coconut oil. I love much of the work you do and the light you shed on the horrible additives in processed foods.
However, I also follow Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Esselstyn, and Jeff Novick, RD and all of them agree that there is no nutritional benefit of processed oils, including olive oil and coconut oil.
So, will have to agree to disagree on this one, Food Babe.
Yes! Yes! Yes, Louann Mallon! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Those at reputable, science-based doctors that are not fans of coconut (or any other) oil, and you shared your view without getting ugly or preachy.
People in the tropics, especially in the Pacific islands, have been consuming coconuts for thousands of years and have been healthy. They started getting sick when Western food took over their diet. A coconut diet seems like a fad in the US, but it’s part of a way of life in much of Asia and all of the Pacific. A long-term dietary study is not needed.
There are no long-term studies on the long term use of any traditional food. They are too expensive and nobody wants to invest in such studies because they cannot recover their investment.
Please make a list of all the food you consume and see how many of them have long term studies to back them up. (Personally I tend to be skeptical about foods that have studies to back them up because those studies are usually funded by the companies that make/sell them.)
For traditional foods (like coconut oil), the best evidence of long-term use comes from the populations that use them. In south India, there are millions of people who use coconut oil almost exclusively and they live a longer and healthier life than north Indians who don’t use coconut oil very much. Many south Indians I know have lived a healthy life well into their 80s and 90s.
Dr. Joel Furhman also does not recommend any oils… he recommends the whole plant… olives, avocados and coconut meat. I agree that whole food is best and what nature intended. I do though like salad, so I use a very expensive, small bottle of oil olive from the local co-op for my dressings, but not other oils. Instead, I will roast potatoes in the same pan with the chicken droppings, or use a bit of butter or water for sautéing.
I couldn’t disagree more, Stephanie. Even many Registered Dietitian’s have been fed conventional wisdom. In my book, it’s people like Vani and others who are just as qualified because of their extensive research.
sadly that many not help as some of them say HFCS is perfect safe and same as sugar so we need real doctor on that board that have something to lose if they lie
I recommend listening to Michael Gregers’ videos about coconut oil on NutritionFacts.org.
You won’t find a better researcher on 1,000s of nutrition related topics. He cuts through all the food industry hype.
Susan Keleher RD, CDN
Does Coconut Oil Clog Arteries?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM February 11th, 2013 Volume 12
Sellers of coconut oil use a beef industry tactic to downplay the risks associated with the saturated fat in their products.
The coconut oil she partnered with is very high in saturated fat – each 1 Tbsp of coconut oil contains 14g of fat of which, 13g is saturated fat.
http://store.nutiva.com/coconut-oil/
Peter – all coconut oil is high in saturated fat. Its still good for you. Its one of the healthiest fats you can consume
Great point!
I don’t know but now I’m more confused than before.
Don’t be……just listen to your body. Eat coconut oil in moderation. Use high quality organic olive oil…. In Asia, coconut consumption is a way of life and their heart disease is very low. You have to eat real food, real butter, real grass fed beef …. just real food. Remember when the AHA American Heart Assoc. had everyone buying fake butters back in the 80’s that were full of toxic hydrogenated oils? If you want to be healthy do not listen to doctors advice. Do not take pharmaceuticals. I’m in my 50’s and I’ve reversed my aging process. I’ve been told I look mid 30’s. It can be done with a massively structured disciplined lifestyle with real food. Trust yourself and do not be led by the industry standards on anything and you’ll be fine.
YES – listen to John!
I think that your suggestion may have political merit, but your point of view as to the meaning of their qualifications may not be as accurate as you believe. I practiced chiropractic for over 40 years, with clinical nutrition as a key element in my education which was continued and expanded within my practice. As my original training, prior to chiropractic, was as a PhD, quantum, rocket, scientist from one of the nations top academic institutions, I have the background and training to evaluate both the quality and meaning of research.
My observations and conclusions are that much of the research in nutrition that Registered Dieticians have been and are still being taught isn’t accurate or relevant, because it is based on incomplete and often inaccurate assumptions that tend to skew the conclusions in ways that beg the question. Unfortunately, some of the better research was ignored and therefore lost over the years, and the less meaningful research of dubious value, that had meaning mainly because it forwarded someone’s private agenda was retained and taught as truth.
Using coconut oil is an example. All one would have to do to generate misleading research studies on coconut oil would be to utilize anything but, unrefined, extra virgin coconut oil in a study. If you really want don’t realize that it would make a difference, or actually want to make it a misleading study, utilize the new, modified version of coconut oil, that has had most of the beneficial fatty acid fractions removed in order to have oil that stays liquid at room temperatures. Then no matter what your study shows, it won’t be demonstrating the attributes of coconut oil. Just not using extra virgin coconut oil would be enough to possibly terminally skew a study’s findings if they were to be looked at carefully. To cap off a bad study, allow participants into the study,whose bodies are being continuously damaged by cumulative trauma that is associated with severe, continuous stress due to high levels of environmental toxicity, a bad diet of processed food that includes chronically super high levels of omega-6 fatty acids from nuts, seeds, and polyunsaturated fats, to guarantee that their bodies will be in a state of chronic inflammation, a chronic intake of both prescribed and over the counter pharmaceutical agents, most of which are known poisons to specific body processes, and then pretend that this study has meaning as to the benefits or non-benefits of including coconut oil, in general, in one’s diet..
This type of study is absurd, yet this is the essence of much of the nutritional information that has been and continues to be spoon fed to Registered Dietitians so that they will be confused and continue spout the correct party line, that will then confuse and confound their clients and the public.
Having said this, I will state that the Registered Dietitians that I’ve met are sincere in their beliefs and are trying very hard to provide sound advice to their clients. I’ve talked about the above concerns with some of their instructors, who quietly acknowledge that they have to teach the party line if they want to keep their jobs and they want their students to pass their national competency tests to become registered.
I will add a comment in support of utilizing coconut oil in your cooking. My studies have convinced me that It is one of the healthiest fats that a person can utilize in their diet.
I use two types of oil in my personal diet, coconut oil, and organic butter. If I make ghee I make it from organic butter, and I slowly cook it as is traditional, a process which takes about 5 hours. If I had easy access to beef tallow from cattle raised exclusively and finished on non-polluted grass growing on healthy, non-toxic soil, I would use it with gratitude that it was available.
The voice of Truth !
I disagree! I bet you Vani knows more then most dietitians of Any Type. What they teach you in school has little to do with the real world.
You are delusional. You are basing your faith on how many degrees years of study to make YOU feel safe on what you can and cannot eat. What about all the western doctors with YEARS of study and most of them treat their patients with toxic prescription pills??? Even with this, this usually treats the SYMPTOMS and may cause other health problems due to the side effects of these pills.
So please stop putting so much emphasis on degrees. Eating wholesome organic NATURAL foods is enough for me to be convinced that these are better than processed man made foods.
corn oil a man made junk oil versus a natural extra virgin coconut oil??? Hands down I go with the natural.
The problem with registered dieticians is that they have swallowed the AMA bull crap hook line and sinker. They regurgitate the AHA guidelines almost verbatem. I don’t trust them any more than doctors where actual nutrition advice is concerned.
Hello Stephanie,
I think you have your conclusions distorted. Registered Dietitians are unfortunately the last people I would take dietary advice from. Certified Clinical Nutritionists are far better trained and have a more in depth understanding of food and its biochemical effect on human physiology. In addition, I have seen the most unhealthy, wildly obese dietitians in practice. The most egregious were employed in hospitals.Vani is well aware of the extremely limited nutritional education, if any, that is available in med schools. If they want to learn about it, they either get further training to become a CNS or embark on their own personal health education. Regardless of all the research out there, we really do not have absolute certainty, regarding the effects of coconut oil and dietary intake in general.
This is an amazing article. Thank you <3
Great article Vani! You´re on a right track to a healthy life. It is sickening to see what people and organisations are willing to do in order to make money. Avoid highly prosessed GMO-products like corn oil and use coconut oil instead. Then you will flourish 🙂
I have listened to Dr. Mark Hyman discuss this topic on podcasts and it’s very intriguing. The majority of people who have heart attacks don’t even have high cholesterol.
It is the inflammation that causes the heart attack.
Oils ruin the line of our vessels and create an inflammatory response.
Bingo!!!!
I have grow up in the little village in the Philippines, my family and the rest of the villagers eat coconut and rice from breakfast to dinner, everyday,young coconut to older coconut. We also used the older coconut meat to condition our hair and skin. There was never known heart attack or stroke in the village. People died of old age. Now that I have learned to eat refined oil,starch and sugar, my body had grown ill. 3 months ago, my husband subscribed food babe and introduce coconut oil, and my health got restored. Thank you.by the way I am 65 yrs old and feel healthy.
Stay Healthy Po !
Vani, keep fighting the good fight. You are doing great things.
Growing up in a tropical country, coconut oil was the only one used in preparing food. As you mentioned, it was unheard of people having heart attacks. I am so happy that we can purchase coconut oil ( I love Nutiva) now, and my cholesterol levels are fine! Understanding how big pharma, and many big corporations do their work…. 🙁 I happily keep using coconut oil for healthy food and for body care.
I disagree! How many coconuts does it take to make one 12 oz jar of coconut oil? Is it processed by man? Why do we need coconut oil? We should be eating food in its natural state as God intended. One coconut at a time. Get back to eating food they way we should…raw and unadulterated by man. As Jack Lalane once said “if man made it, don’t eat it”
I agree.
The good coconut oil is expeller pressed and not refined at all
I was feeling very confused. Good article. Thanks, Vani, for clearing this up for me. Continue with the research and keeping us informed!
Thank you for your thorough research and exposing an industry association that does not have the best interests of consumers in their hearts. I did a double take when I saw the industry statement but then I recalled the whole margarine recommendation as you outlined and decided I would wait for your rebuttal on the matter. Please continue with your efforts and helping people live healthier longer life.
The AHA’s ( like most archaic, dynastic, establishment orgs/charities) main goal is not health, but funding. To get the funding to survive it has to appear to be relevant so it issues biased research to counter popular trends that break from related special interests. Kind of like directing the “herd back to the fold”.
Dr. Mary Newport (Medical Doctor) used coconut oil to treat her late husband Steve for an aggressive form of Alzheimer’s disease. She was amazed how it reversed some of his issues and actually added quality to his life and valuable time to their marriage. It worked rather quickly as well. No drug could promise the same results and all without dangerous side effects.
The only issue with coconut oil as with other “healthier” oils (e.g. olive oil) is rancidity. When these oils turn rancid they cause inflammation in the body if consumed. The difficulty is detecting the earlier stages of rancidity when the taste and smell appears to be fine.
My Mother died eight years ago of Alzheimer’s and, consequently, I am drawn to anything concerning a cure for Alzheimer’s. I was astounded when I found this a video (and many others, albeit accidentally) on YouTube about Dr. Mary Newport and her findings concerning the use of coconut oil to improve the life of a person with Alzheimer’s or a possible preventative measure against obtaining Alzheimer’s. I have used coconut oil as a supplement ever since. I have also shown the CBN.com video (also on YouTube) to many people (including those working in an Alzheimer’s care facility) who have never seen the video before or heard about Dr. Mary Newport’s findings.
Vani, with all the GREAT work you are doing with nutrition and health related issues relating to food, I was somewhat disappointed that this was not also mentioned in your report, which is why I needed to say something. Since my Mother died of Alzheimer’s, it no longer surprises me that something like this is not picked up by those who should at least be aware of its potential. For anyone interested, enter “Dr. Mary Newport” or “Coconut Oil Touted as Alzheimer’s Remedy – CBN.com” on Google and/or on YouTube.
We have tested Cold Processed Without Heat Virgin Coconut Oil for Moisture Content & FFA ; from our experience so far , Virgin Coconut Oil is stable and doesn’t go rancid easily if it’s stored properly .
The latest research studies have demonstrated that even though coconut oil raises LDL to some extent, it also raises HDL to a much higher extent as well. Thus, the overall LDL to HDL ratio will decrease or trend towards a more healthier ratio. One should be paying attention to the ratio of LDL to HDL, and not just looking only at one absolute value of a single component. Secondly, although the LDL concentration does rise a bit, however, what is even much more important is that the research studies also demonstrated that the LDL particles increased significantly as well! Now, an increased particle size distribution of LDL makes LDL less likely to stick to the arterial inner walls or linings. The larger the particle size, the less likely that there will be any clotting problems or tendencies to occur. So my conclusion is that coconut oil not only raises the LDL to HDL ratio significantly which is healthier but also increases the overall particle size of LDL particles within the blood stream. That to me is a double home run for cardiovascular health!!!
Thank you Michael Berman, Your comment give me great encouragement, and hope. I have given up all oils, except for Coconut oil and Avocado Oil. After this latest news release, I thought I was going to have to give up Coconut oil.
Thank you for this synopsis! This is great. I will use this to help others understand the issue.
When will there be one honest and educational place to go. I heard about the coconut oil thing a couple weeks ago from a couple integrative medicine doctors.Seems we can’t even trust our government and associations.
This article came just in time! I was wondering why all of the sudden they are making coconut oil look evil…My skin, my face, my hair and body have greatly benefit from Coconut Oil. I will continue using it!
xoxo
It’s good for your skin and hair. It’s not good when ingested. Just a ton of mostly empty, extra calories that also harm your endothelium. Don’t extract the oil from the foods (olives, corn, soya, coconut, etc.) thereby skipping the nutrients and fiber. Instead, eat the whole food.
Looks like this Dr is trying to get the WHOLE story out too!
http://www.drperlmutter.com/is-coconut-oil-still-healthy-the-truth-behind-the-recent-headlines/?utm_source=DrPerlmutter.com+Newsletter&utm_campaign=13faef4ddf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e059546f6-13faef4ddf-99365937&mc_cid=13faef4ddf&mc_eid=05fb5f65ea
Goodness gracious. There is so much dis/misinformation out there that the run -of- the- mill reader of information can only end up bewildered. This country has so many diploma mills cranking out PhD’s like there is no tomorrow, I am not even sure if I can trust any of them when they start writing and they can barely spell. To top that, the editor of a prestigious scientific journal wrote that most of the so-called “scientific studies” are fraudulent, custom-made and paid for by whoever needed the supporting “scientific data” to sell their products, etc. To hone my bullsh_t radar, I read a few hours every day anything and everything that I can get my hands on. I recommend reading both sides of any story. English is only a second language to me, but with perseverance I am able to read faster and with better understanding. I do not even trust my expensive private education. As I read, I find myself chuckling, guffawing and questioning what I was taught in our highly programmed educational system. These days, we really should all be questioning everything. Growing up in Asia and having grandparents who owned acres of coconut plantation, we ate coconut everyday in every way possible. We ate fresh coconut mostly My grandparents lived into their early 100’s. I remember, with the introduction of canola oil touted as better than the deadly coconut oil, the coconut industry was getting destroyed. I always wondered about the deadly high saturated fat that was connected with the coconut, and many years ago, I emailed a researcher at Harvard asking about their current study about this very topic, and to my surprise, I received an email telling me that coconut actually has medium chain fatty acids which is very good for our health. I definitely do not trust anyone associated with promoting canola oil as better than coconut oil. Another source I read speaks about how cooking oil is produced by applying “excessive heat” to the nuts or plant that is the source of the oil, and that excessive heat once it reaches over 118 degrees Fahrenheit ends up causing the oil to produce free radicals which damages our body in so many ways. This is the basis of the selling of unrefined, cold-pressed oils. And only coconut oil can stand heat better than any other oil, and the suggestion was to cook with coconut oil using medium heat so as not to destroy the MCFA’s and create free radicals. Our body produces its own cholesterol and we also add to that via our food intake. Big Pharma starts selling lipitor, etc., to lower our cholesterol level. Statins are very bad for your liver, but the makers will not say so because last year alone they made billions of dollars selling you their statin products. Many years ago, I read a very short article talking about a study where a person could be admitted into a hospital and get an intravenous drip medication which would virtually clean one’s arteries of plaques. I was at my job one day and I was recalling this article that I read, and to my surprise, one of the MD’s I worked with commented that his brother was actually involved in that study. I asked, “What happened to that study? I can’t find any update at all”. His reply was a cynical, “Everyone has been bought or killed”. Now, if any of you are open-minded enough to watch some videos which you may learn a lot from, watch the three-part interview of Dr. Pete Peterson with Project Camelot. In there is a gem of an information about halides (fluoride, chloride, bromide). While you are at it, you should also watch Dr. Paul Connett’s videos on fluoride. You will be shocked, especially if you are still brushing with fluoride toothpaste. The videos are in YouTube. Lastly, there was also a study done many years ago on individuals in Italy with cholesterol levels of 400-500 mg/dl yet they did not have cardiovascular diseases. Their water supply was not fluoridated or chlorinated. And how many of you know that even our flour is chlorinated and brominated? Even Gatorade has bromine oil to supposedly create a homogeneous dispersion of color in the product. They always have a “good rationale” for every poison they add to our food products. Why is baking powder with aluminum? They will not tell you because they want you to have Alzheimer’s, but they will tell you the aluminum is there as a desiccant. I can go on and on, but instead wish all of you well in your search for the truth. My love to all of you. And Vani, thank you for all that you do. You do a lot of good.
Cecille, English is your second language? Nobody would ever guess that! From your writing it is obvious that your command of English far exceeds the vast majority of people who grew up with it as their first language. It is delightful for me to have someone as articulate and just plain intelligent as you contributing to our online discussions. Thank you for your comment.
I agree Greg – very well said Cecille! And in agreement at every point you make. Thanks for sharing.
THANK YOU for your comment! I KNEW that coconut oil is healthy. You are RIGHT there is so much misinformation you DON’T know who to believe!
The coconut oil she partnered with is very high in saturated fat – each 1 Tbsp of coconut oil contains 14g of fat of which, 13g is saturated fat.
http://store.nutiva.com/coconut-oil/
Happy the latest studies out, coffee is something I enjoy.
Bottom line I will make my own food decisions.
Thank you Vani for this article!!! I had emailed you a few weeks ago with a coconut oil question when the story broke, and you didn’t reply, but maybe you were waiting to release this.
I can tell you that Coconut Oil helps my teeth. I do oil pulling and I believe in it 100%. I have tmj and no money for dentists so I tried this and it really works for me. It takes some getting used to but after a little while swishing oil for 20 minutes is easy.
Thanks for sharing this information! I question everything in the ‘so-called’ news lately as drama is the game and truth is a shame!
You are simply GREAT. I thank God for truth and no grinding axes! Wish you nothing but success and God Speed. Am proud and thankful to have followed you some time. Enjoy the short time you are on this earth with you family, i.e. husband and children since this is the family YOU have started.
You are a blessing and PRIZE.
C Duran
Tampa,Fl.
Michael Berman, your comments about the LDL and HDL ratios are exactly what I have experienced in adding more coconut oil to my diet, based on blood work that I’ve had done over a 3 year period. I feel am overall much healthier than I was before using coconut oil and eliminating vegetable, canola, and some other cooking oils. Yes, both types of cholesterol have increased, but the HDL has increased much more than the LDL.
The TRUTH is cholesterol does not cause NO HEART DISEASE its the sugar and man made process carb. foods that cause heart disease NOT eating animals period!
PLEASE watch the YouTube video A VEGAN DIES of a heart attack AT 40 YEARS OLD, a born vegan.
100 years ago Americans use to eat 1 lb. of sugar per person a year, TODAY Americans eat about 1/4 to 1/2 lb. of sugar EVERYDAY! FAKE margarine and man made oils cause heart disease. I have a book of a patient that had a cholesterol of 660 she is 80 years old, back in the 50’s Doctors were not concern about cholesterol, this patient was clogged up from not have normal bowel movements after the colon cleanse her cholesterol went down to 440. There are MANY factors why someone’s cholesterol is high. PEOPLE with the LOWEST blood cholesterol gets hearth attacks and strokes.
My wife has an MS and. PhD in animal nutrition. She is also a Veterinarian, boarded in both Medicine and Nutrition. She is one of maybe 100 boarded Veterinary Nutitionists world wide. She has authored several hundred research papers and a couple books. She speaks internationally on Nutrition issues, often alongside human MDs and researchers.
Without equivocation of any kind she will tell you Coconut oil is evil, as are most trans fats….and run a close second only to sugar in its evil-ness.
That’s enough for me! Beats the musings of some uneducated, here.
The “educated” are usually the “indoctrinated” here in the states. Medicine is industry driven and has been from the beginning ( dubious history, read about Morris Fishbein and the history of the AMA, the fluoridation is good for your teeth myth, cigarettes being indorsed by MDs, etc. etc.).
The American public at large have no clue, and are easily duped by degreed propagandists, most of whom are also dupes. Read Dr. Burton Birkesen’s story. He was actually a college professor before he became an MD. Or read Dr. Jennifer Daniel’s story. Or, read Dr. Joel Wallach’s story. Innovators or independent thinkers are often severely punished by the medical-pharmaceutical-insurance cartel.
These are the facts. Doctor Oz had a well publicized (attempted) lynching by the power structures of industrial medicine hiding under the structure of the university.
Thanks for letting me know my wife’s 40 year education, experience, and dedication to truth and science pale in the face of your opinion and belief….clueless and ignorant as they are! No surprise that you are duped by the drivel here, too!
CLA is a trans-fat. Is that evil? CLA is found in organic milk and is a very healthy dietary trans-fat.
I don’t know what specific animals might eat coconuts as their natural food, so it might not be a good idea to put it into animal feeds.
This doesn’t mean that coconut oil is unhealthy for human consumption, especially since it’s been a traditional food of a number of viable cultures for a very long time. Though research on animals is often assumed to be equivalent to research on people, this is not always a good assumption. For starters most animals make their own vitamin-C internally, while people can’t.
I use a lot of coconut oil in my food preparation. However, coconut oil, while it has a relatively low omega-6 fatty acid concentration compared to other vegetable fats, it provides essentially no omega-3 fatty acids, so I regularly include either ground and hydrated, chia or flax seeds in my diet to provide sufficient omega-3 fatty acids to compensate for it. To me this appears to be a much healthier approach than ingesting oils that are loaded with super high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, and may also be derived from GMO crops.
Canola oil is a GMO and is not allowed in baby food and turns into a saturated fat in the body. Coconut oil is very good. Get the truth from a scientist.Get the book. KNOW YOUR FATS by Mary G Enig, Ph.D
Yes Mary’s book is the gospel on fats as she is the world renowned expert. Mary shows clearly that all natural fats are mixtures of several saturated and unsaturated varieties. MCT’s in coconut oil are the closest to human breast milk available. All the manhandled and man-made fats are unfit for any consumption. Their plan (big AG) all along is to confuse per their own internal marketing docs. They are focused on one thing, optimize profit, everything else be damned. So your health is in your own hands. Do not believe anything from the profit interests. Pretty much anyone dependent on money from Pharma or AG are parrots for their masters.
Thank you for caring and sharing!! You are love in action!
Thanks so much for posting this! I appreciate the research and passion you have. I like to use the information on nutrition I receive on myself! As a nurse, I have always pursued the truth to avoid being unhealthy like my mother and other family members. TO avoid getting diseases my patients had.
The idea that coconut oil is bad is unbelievable!! I think some are trying to increase sales for a dying food industry who have lied to us and mislead us for the last 60 years! As well as feed us GMO oils to cause more cancer and other diseases to help sell medications! Like the whole low fat is good for your heart thing!!
I have been ingesting coconut oil everyday for the last 5 years and my LDL cholesterol and triglycerides have been VERY low ever since I have been eating low carb – no wheat nor starchy veggies. My doctor told me my lab work was “perfect!” In fact I eat lots of saturated fats from red meat along with fish and chicken. I even have bacon once a week. I eat an avocado and walnuts along with green veggies everyday too. All organic, non GMO foods.
I have been on a low carb diet for 15 years and ONLY using butter and olive oil. Lots of butter and lots of heavy cream in my coffee and macadamia nuts! Since then, after losing 40 pounds, it kept my weight in the normal range too.
My family has a history of heart disease and high cholesterol but I KNOW it was due mostly to a their diet of lots of starchy carbs and sugar and using Crisco!
I should have heart disease, high cholesterol and pre-diabetic like my mother was at my age of 47, but I don’t!!
Good for you, Janice. You are spot on. I have a diet like yours, avocado, walnuts, beef. I look years younger… people need to stay away from industry standards and believe in themselves more. Why go to others when you can start trusting your own body’s dietary needs? Trust your God given knowledge about diet. It’s so often the blind leading the blind out there. Peace to everyone and good health. Now, I’m going to eat a big dollop of coconut butter and relax. 🙂
I’m gonna go with Dr. Hyman, he was my doctor many years ago & I continue to trust his judgement.
HERE IS HOW TO GET THE TRUTH [at least for individuals]
Someone experienced with muscle testing can test for coconut oil on a number of people without telling them what they are being tested for.
There must be people here that could do that and report back here.
I personally, still believe, it is really healthy
You really have to be your own judge. For us, proof is using coconut oil,avocado oil,butter, taking sugar out of our diet and limiting our carbs only to 20g or less a day and getting them mostly from the veggies we eat. My husbands levels have dropped his good cholesterol went up and he is no longer type 2 diabetic and no longer has high blood pressure. He is off all meds.
Money talks. So often the loudest voices have the least to say when it comes to speaking the truth.
I’d rather listen to someone whose vested interest is in promoting health.
And Food Babe fits the bill!
Great article!
I care for some babies at a nursery. The mother of a very small child said he was supplimenting her baby food with coconUT oil to increase calories to help her baby gain weight. Does coconut oil cause weight gain?
You stated that you should look where someone gets their money in order to determine if they are being honest about the information that they provide. With that said, isn’t one of your biggest corporate sponsors Nutiva, whose main product is coconut oil?
I am still pro coconut oil, but you do have a legitimate question.
Good point… I still like coconut oil though.
Hi Vani..what are your thoughts on avocado oil??
Thank you for your time
Hi!! Vani so is that true? Is coconut oil good or not and thanks for keeping as informe god bless you hope some one answers my questions because I been really sick and I try to eat healthy I have diabetes type 2
The AHA is not the only organization taking money from sponsors that are a gross conflict of interests. I recently watched the documentary called What the Health. The American Diabetes Association, Susan G Komen, and American Cancer Society all have sponsors that make products that are known to cause the ailments these organizations are supposed to be trying to end!!! It’s disgusting that our government allows this to happen and we are all sick as a result of it.
Thank you for the work you do. We all have to be vigilant and really investigate what is best for us to be eating to be healthy!
Thanks for clarifying, but I LOL’d when I saw that headline about coconut oil. Eat a ketogenic diet. Carbohydrates are gluey– they are what’s responsible for blockages in your brain and heart (heart attacks, strokes…). Healthy oils and fats lube up your body and help things to flow! Take all the advise from the AHA and do the opposite, and you’ll be just fine. End of story.
Rule of thumb: If the government, MSM, and/or those fraudulent Associations (AHA, etc) say something, chances are the exact opposite is true. 99.9% of the time.
Monsanto and the seeds they have developed for corn.(Pesticides) I would highly recommend not to use any corn oils.
Thank You for your information. I do not use coconut oil. Although I use it for my hair and skin.
I stay with Flax seed oil or olive oil.Organic only.
It depends what coconut oil you are using, whether it’s healthy or toxic. Obviously it’s dangerous to consume NON-organic! Next I purchased some organic coconut oil from the health store once and consumed it in a recipe. It gave me severe indigestion. I found out that oil I had purchased should not be consumed. That oil was as bad as others like say organic canola. It was “REFINED” organic coconut oil. Not good. I put the jar in the bath and used as a body lotion. I then ordered: UNREFINED-RAW organic coconut oil for internal use. Tried the recipe again and all was well w/ my tummy this time. Dr. Mercola did a big article on that and taking his recommendation on type of coconut oil to buy made the difference.
So it all depends what type of coconut oil we are talking about whether it’s a healthy superfood or some sort of toxic waste.LOL
Fake news was my first thought, then it was the canola industry… corn too. Not only do the powers that be want our money, they also want us sick and unhealthy!
Oftentimes, you can trust your own observations when you’re not sure which ‘scientific’ or ‘official’ information to trust. I know from the time period in the past when I was using vegetable oils how they used to make me feel. My body was in so much pain I could barely walk up the stairs. I never feel that way eating coconut oil. It was stuff like canola oil that I was using back then (I don’t recall what other oils I used back then, but they were the standard vegetable oils).
Oh yeah, even weirder, I never drink skim milk anymore – when I do drink milk, I get some kind of organic milk, or if I can get to the store that sells it, I get whole raw goat milk. Anyway, a few weeks ago I bought skim milk on a whim. The week when I was drinking that skim milk, would you believe I started having chest pains. My only explanation for this is something discovered by the Feingold Diet researchers – that when they add synthetic Vitamin A and D to skim milk, they also add some kind of other substance that contains oxidized cholesterol. I can’t recall if it was a preservative or what – I would have to go find this again. It’s a secret ingredient not listed anywhere. Oxidized cholesterol is supposedly one of the worst things for your heart. It’s actually safer to drink whole milk with all of its fat than skim milk with some kind of weird powdered oxidized cholesterol. I think it was powdered milk that was added.
Although palm and coconut oil do not contain cholesterol, they are very high in saturated fat; because of this it is probable that they accelerate the cholesterol-raising properties of other foods that do contain cholesterol -a potential problem if you are blood type O and are using animal protein as a basis of your diet. Saturated fat will increase serum cholesterol even if there is no cholesterol in the diet (as in a vegan diet). Most of the cholesterol in the blood is not cholesterol that has come from the diet, but rather is cholesterol which has been synthesized by the body. Evidence suggests that saturated fat has this effect because it causes a reduction in the rate that liver cells synthesize LDL receptors, which are molecules responsible for removal of cholesterol from the blood. Thus, a vegan diet that was high in coconut oil would be expected to significantly elevate serum cholesterol relative to a vegan diet without the coconut oil – a potential problem if you are blood type A (proclivity to elevated cholesterol) and are using a low fat strategy as a basis for your diet. Lauric acid has a reputation of possessing anti-viral activity, and had been studied against vesicular stomatitis virus, arenavirus and a few others. However virtually all studies have been in-vitro, using concentrations which if taken by mouth would certainly produce massive digestive upset. For this reason it has been used by many individuals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, though no studies exist that support the use of lauric acid against Epstein Barr virus or Herpes virus. The same basis by which lauric acid gains anti-viral activity is also the mechanism by which it may promote additional sensitivity to dietary lectins. This phenomenon is called ‘receptor capping.’ In essence, similar charges tend to keep cell surface receptors (like the blood group antigens) uniformly spaced apart from each other. Since lauryl acyl chains act as a type of emollient/detergent on the cell wall (which is why they put it in soaps) they can disrupt the surface tension of the cell surface, thereby causing cell antigens to aggregate, potentially disrupting many cell-to-cell functions.
Vanni,
Thank you, THANK you, THANK YOU for your time, passion, intelligence and wisdom in sharing your research with me (us). When I started reading this, I thought it was a relatively short article, until I scrolled down…and WOW! I was pleasantly surprised! About 20 yrs. ago, somebody told me to take something (grape seed exstract) for my headaches instead of alopathic meds. and I did and that lead to trying a total body cleanse, and now I’m part of the movement doing my cleanses yearly, taking supplements, and avoiding artificiality in my diet, and now people (even girls) are thinking I look like mid 40’s, and I’ll be 64 this Nov. I play online chess, Olympic table tennis, bike all year round and even mountain bike in the mountains (here in Utah). When I saw your picture (now) I thought, you are gorgeous now dearie, but wait until you get fat! Then I saw the picture of you when you WERE fat (did I say that?!! oops!), and I knew this girl practices what she preaches. YOU ARE gorgeous, INSIDE AND OUT! (you don’t happen to have a single twin sister do you?!!) Are you the only one like you?!!
Oh, I almost forgot, I wanted to share this with you…I called Kroger foods within the last 6 weeks, and they told me there is FLOURIDE in ALL OF THEIR (drinking, spring, and distilled) WATER…un-freeking-believable!!! And they don’t even list it on their label. What gives them this right?!! How many other company’s do this? Are they mandated by (what?) law to violate us in this manner?!! (watch the documentary ” FLUORIDEGATE : An American Tragedy” – a David Kennedy film ZeFkyHAQnDc 1:05:04
(52:35 – 54:04) Clearly explains how flouride is an industrial waste by-product
Well, I know what beers are good,and now I stick with micro-breweries…but what about wine? I would appreciate you sharing what you know in this area.
P.S. – Idea…Why not have speaking ingagements across the U.S.? HMmm?!! (What did you say your age is again?!!)
Thanks for this informative article Vani.
Coconut Oil ALL the Way !!
definitely….!
Watch “What the Health”, there is much truth to who or what is behind all these guidelines we are told to follow.
The Coconut Industry wishes to thank Vani Hari for this detailed and informative analysis , Many Blessings from Millions of Coconut Farmers and their Families !
Vani, I love it when you nail their ass to the wall. Good for you! Kick them on the shins once more for good measure.
I was doing some research on coconut oil for our website: http://www.BulkHerbsandSpice.Com and have to say that this is the best information I have found so far. Sharing your research on the AHA has me again questioning our governments role in deciding what is actually good for us when it comes to food and I will definitely be sharing this article with our customers directly…Thanks for speaking the truth!