27 Aug Coconut Oil – “A Functional Food”
There was a lot of misunderstanding after 1950’s , regarding coconut oil, that since it is a saturated fat, it increases cholesterol and hence causes heart disease. Now researchers of modern medicine have finally recognised the health benefits. They now have realized that even though it is a saturated fat it contains lauric acids which are short chain fatty acids that have numerous health benefits for the body,( this lauric acid is the same as present in the breast milk). Evidence is now emerging to prove that coconut oil can be regarded as functional food, meaning that it has numerous health benefits far beyond its nutritive contents.
Pure virgin coconut oil is actually a healthy fat that ignites weight loss, banishes infections, and heads off heart disease and a immune system builder (among other things).The therapeutic dose of virgin coconut oil daily is 3 and a half tablespoons. It is interesting to note that virgin coconut oil destroys CYTOMEGALO VIRUS AND CLAMIDEA PNEUMONIA which is now shown to initiate atherosclerosis. This means that taking virgin coconut oil regularly can actually prevent coronary heart disease! Contrary to what has been taught in modern medicine till now that coconut and coconut oil increases cholesterol causing heart attacks!
According to Dr Mary Enig a renowned lipid biochemist and an authority on fats says that her research on virgin coconut oil shows that it stabilizes cholesterol in humans, meaning those with high cholesterol being brought down and those with low cholesterol is hiked up to an optimum value which the body needs. Natural coconut oil, by increasing the good HDL cholesterol, may help prevent atherosclerosis and heart disease. Enig cited several other studies in her article that showed that natural coconut oil (not hydrogenated coconut oil, which is refined, bleached & deodorized by adding chemicals) had health benefits markers indicating that coconut oil was more beneficial in preventing heart disease than most vegetable oils. Coconut oil contains lauric acids which are converted to monolaurin in the body, which has antifungal, antibacterial,antiviral and antiprotozoal properties. Some of the pathogens reported by Enig to be inactivated by Monolaurin include HIV, measles, vercular stomatitis virus (VSV), herpes etc.
Detail mentioned above are as per the article published by Dr Sajeev Bhaskar