The Coconut Oil Miracle Page 3
Even now the cinders of this war still burn. Many ill-informed writers and speakers continue to condemn coconut oil as containing “artery-clogging” saturated fat. But who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the soybean industry, which has a huge financial interest at stake, or are you going to believe the research based on Pacific Islanders, who eat a great deal of coconut oil and have far better health than the rest of us, and residents of Sri Lanka, who eat lots of coconut oil but have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world? Personally, I believe those people who eat coconut oil and don’t have heart disease. In Western countries we eat very little coconut oil but consume a significant amount of hydrogenated vegetable oils. The result? Heart disease is on a rampage. It is our number one killer.
Studies have clearly shown that natural coconut oil as a part of a normal diet has a neutral effect on blood cholesterol. Nonhydrogenated, nonadulterated coconut oil has absolutely no adverse health effects. Epidemiological studies show conclusively that populations that consume large amounts of coconut oil experience almost no heart disease, as compared to other populations whose diets contain only a small amount of coconut oil. If coconut oil did have any adverse health effects associated with it, we would see it reflected in the morbidity and mortality in populations that are high consumers of coconut oil. Yet they are among the healthiest people in the world. Simple logic clearly refutes the ASA smear campaign. As you will discover in the following chapters, coconut oil offers so many health benefits it is correctly labeled “the healthiest oil on earth.”
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UNDERSTANDING FATS
In this chapter I describe the differences between saturated and unsaturated fats and explain the reason why coconut oil is different from all the rest. Since the uniqueness of each oil depends on its chemical makeup, I am forced to describe the differences in chemical terms. Unfortunately, when chemistry is discussed it is easy for those people who lack a scientific background to become confused. Please bear with me; I will make my explanation simple enough for the layperson to understand. If you get confused, that’s okay, skim through the material and go on to the end chapter. The purpose of this chapter is to provide you with a scientific foundation. You don’t need to know chemistry in order to benefit from using coconut oil.
TRIGLYCERIDES AND FATTY ACIDS
Doctors often use the term lipid in referring to fat. Lipid is a general term that includes several fatlike compounds in the body. By far the most abundant and the most important of the lipids are the triglycerides. When we speak of fats and oils we are usually referring to tri-glycerides. Two other lipids—phospholipids and sterols (which include cholesterol)—technically are not fats because they are not triglycerides. But they have similar characteristics and are often referred to as fats.
What is the difference between a fat and an oil? The terms fat and oil are often used interchangeably. Generally speaking, the only real difference is that fats are considered solid at room temperature while oils remain liquid. Lard, for example, would be referred to as a fat, while corn oil is called an oil. Both, however, are fats.
When you cut into a steak, the white fatty tissue you see is composed of triglycerides (cholesterol is also present, but it is intermingled within the meat fibers and undetectable with the naked eye). The fat that is a nuisance to us, the type that hangs on our arms, looks like jelly on our thighs, and can make your stomach look like a spare tire, is composed of triglycerides. It is the triglycerides that make up our body fat and the fat we see and eat in our foods. About 95 percent of the lipids in our diet, from both plant and animal sources, are triglycerides.
Triglycerides are composed of individual fat molecules known as fatty acids. It takes three fatty acid molecules to make a single triglyceride molecule. Fatty acids are linked together by a single glycerol molecule. The glycerol molecule acts as a backbone, so to speak, for the triglyceride.
There are dozens of different types of fatty acids. Scientists have grouped these into three general categories: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Each category contains several members. So there are many different types of saturated fat, just as there are many types of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Each of the fatty acids, regardless of whether it is saturated or not, affects the body differently and exerts different influences on health. Therefore, one saturated fat may have adverse health effects, while another may promote better health. The same is true of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. For example, olive oil has been hailed as one of the “good” fats because those people who eat it in place of other oils have less heart disease. Olive oil is composed primarily of a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid. However, not all monounsaturated fats are healthy. Another monounsaturated fatty acid, known as erucic acid, is extremely toxic to the heart, more so than perhaps any other fatty acid known (Belitz and Grosch). The difference between the two, chemically, is very slight. Likewise, some polyunsaturated fatty acids can also cause problems. On the other hand, the saturated fatty acids that are found in coconut oil have no harmful effects and actually promote better health. So we cannot say one oil is “bad” because it is saturated while another is “good” because it is monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. It all depends on the type of fatty acid and not simply on its degree of saturation.
No dietary oil is purely saturated or unsaturated. All natural fats and oils consist of a mixture of the three classes of fatty acids. To say an oil is saturated or monounsaturated is a gross oversimplification. Olive oil is often called “monounsaturated” because it is predominantly monounsaturated, but, like all vegetable oils, it also contains some polyunsaturated and saturated fat as well (see table 2.1 for the amounts of each kind of fatty acid found in different fats and oils).
Table 2.1. Composition of Dietary Fats
FAT
PERCENT OF SATURATED FATS
PERCENT OF MONOUNSATURATED FATS
PERCENT OF POLYUNSATURATED FATS
Canola oil
6
62
32
Safflower oil
10
13
77
Sunflower oil
11
20
69
Corn oil
13
25
62
Soybean oil
15
24
61
Olive oil
14
77
9
Chicken fat
31
47
22
Lard
41
47
12
Beef fat
52
44
4
Palm oil
51
39
10
Butter
66
30
4
Coconut oil
92
6
2
Animal fats are generally the highest in saturated fat. Vegetable oils contain saturated fat as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Most vegetable oils are high in polyunsaturated fats, the exception being palm and coconut oils, which are very high in saturated fat. Coconut oil contains as much as 92 percent saturated fat—more than any other oil, including beef fat and lard.
There are many factors that contribute to the healthfulness of each type of fat—its saturation, the size of the carbon chain, and its susceptibility to peroxidation and free-radical generation.
SATURATION AND SIZE
We hear the terms saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated all the time, but what do they mean? What is saturated fat saturated with? How does the degree of saturation affect health? Let me answer those questions. All fatty acids consist primarily of a chain of carbon atoms with varying numbers of hydrogen atoms attached to them. Each carbon atom can hold a maximum of two hydrogen atoms. A fatty acid molecule that has tw
o hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon is said to be “saturated” with hydrogen because it is holding all the hydrogen atoms it possibly can. This type of fatty acid is called a saturated fat. A fatty acid that is missing a pair of hydrogen atoms is called a monounsaturated fat. If more than two hydrogen atoms are missing, it’s called a polyunsaturated fat. The more hydrogen atoms are missing, the more polyunsaturated the fat is considered to be.
Wherever a pair of hydrogen atoms is missing, the adjoining carbon atoms must form a double bond (see the illustrations opposite), which produces a weak link in the carbon chain that can have a dramatic influence on health.
The concept of saturation can be described using the analogy of a school bus full of kids. The bus could represent the carbon chain and the students the hydrogen atoms. Each seat on the bus can hold two students, just as each carbon can hold two hydrogen atoms. A bus filled to capacity so there are no empty seats would be analogous to a saturated fat. No more students can fit on the bus. If two students get off the bus and leave one seat vacant, that would be analogous to a monounsaturated fat. If four or more students get off the bus, leaving two or more empty seats, that would be like a polyunsaturated fat. A school bus that is only half filled would be like a fatty acid that is very polyunsaturated.
Figure 1: Saturated fats are loaded, or saturated, with all the hydrogen (H) atoms they can carry. The example shown above is stearic acid, an 18-carbon saturated fat commonly found in beef fat.
Figure 2: If one pair of hydrogen atoms were to be removed from the saturated fat, the carbon atoms would form double bonds wtih one another in order to satisfy their bonding requirements. The result would be an unsaturated fat. In this case it would form a monounsaturated fatty acid. The example shown is oleic acid, an 18-chain monounsaturated fatty acid that is found predominantly in olive oil.
Figure 3: If two or more pairs of hydrogen atoms are missing and more than one double carbon bond are present, it is referred to as a polyunsaturated oil. The example illustrated is linoleic acid, an 18-chain polyunsaturated acid. This is the most common fat in vegetable oils.
The length of the fatty acid chain, or size of the school bus, is also important. Some fatty acids contain only two carbon atoms, while others have as many as 24 or more. The two-carbon fatty acid would be like a bus that has only two seats, so that it can carry a maximum of four students—two in each seat. A fatty acid with 24 carbon atoms would be like a long bus with 24 seats, accommodating 48 students.
Acetic acid, found in vinegar, has a chain only two carbon atoms long. A longer acid chain may have four, six, eight, or more carbon atoms. Naturally occurring fatty acids usually occur in even numbers. Butyric acid, one type of fatty acid commonly found in butter, consists of a four-carbon chain. The predominant fatty acids found in meats and fish are 14 or more carbon atoms long. Stearic acid, common in beef fat, has an 18-carbon chain. The 14-to 24-carbon fatty acids are known as long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) range from 8 to 12 carbons, and short-chain (SCFAs) range from two to six carbons. The length of the carbon chain is a key factor in the way dietary fat is digested and metabolized and how it affects the body.
When three fatty acids of similar length are joined together by a glycerol molecule, the resulting molecule is referred to as a long-chain triglyceride (LCT), medium-chain triglyceride (MCT), or short-chain triglyceride (SCT). You will often see medium-chain triglyceride or MCT listed as an ingredient on food and supplement labels.
Both the degree of saturation and length of the carbon chain of the fatty acids determine their chemical properties and their effects on our health. The more saturated the fat and the longer the chain, the harder the fat and the higher the melting point. Saturated fat, like that found in lard, is solid at room temperature. Polyunsaturated fat, like corn oil, is liquid at room temperature. Monounsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature, but in the refrigerator it begins to solidify slightly and becomes cloudy or semisolid.
Table 2.2 lists the most common fats found in foods. The fats found in animal tissue, as well as our own bodies, are mainly the triglycerides consisting of stearic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat. Stearic and palmitic acids are saturated fats. The saturated fats found in food consists of a mixture of the different types. Milk, for example contains palmitic, myristic, stearic, lauric, butyric, caproic, caprylic, and capric acids. Each of the fatty acids exerts different effects on the body that are governed by the length of the carbon chain and the degree of unsaturation (number of double bonds).
Saturated fatty acids with up to 26 carbon atoms (C:26) and as few as 2 carbons (C:2) in the chain have been identified as constituents of fats. Of these, palmitic acid (C:16) is the most common, occurring in almost all fats. Myristic (C:14) and stearic (C:18) acids are other common saturated fatty acids.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are relatively rare. The most common sources are vinegar and butter. Milk contains tiny amounts of the shorter-chain fatty acids. These fats are concentrated in the making of butter and comprise about 12 percent of its total fat content. Medium-chain fatty acids are also relatively rare but found in moderate concentrations in some tropical nuts and oils.
Long-chain fatty acids are by far the most common fatty acids found in nature. They provide the most efficient or compact energy package and thus make the best storage fats in both plants and animals. Fat cells in our bodies and those of animals are almost entirely long-chained, as are the fats in plants. The vast majority of the fats in our diet are composed of long-chain fatty acids. There are only a few good natural sources of the shorter chain fatty acids. The best source by far is coconut oil.
TROPICAL OILS ARE UNIQUE
Coconut oil and its relatives, the palm and palm kernel oils, are unique in that they are the best natural source of medium-and short-chain fatty acids, giving them their incredible health-promoting properties.
Palm oil contains only a small amount of medium-chain fatty acids. Coconut and palm kernel oils are by far our richest dietary sources of MCFAs: palm kernel oil contains 58 percent MCFAs and coconut oil 64 percent. Because they are both composed predominantly of MCFAs, their effects on health are characterized by the chemical and biological properties associated with these fatty acids.
Most fats in our foods, if not used immediately as an energy source, are stored as fat tissue on our bodies. Coconut oil, being composed primarily of medium-and short-chain fatty acids, has a totally different effect on the body from that of the typical long-chain fatty acids (both saturated and unsaturated) found abundantly in meat and vegetable oils. Medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are broken down and used predominately for energy production and thus seldom end up as body fat or as deposits in arteries or anywhere else. They produce energy, not fat. Medium-chain fatty acids do not have a negative effect on blood cholesterol and help protect against heart disease.
FREE RADICALS
Research over the past three decades has identified free radicals as a key player in the cause and development of degenerative disease and aging. Simply put, a free radical is a renegade molecule that has lost an electron in its outer shell, leaving an unpaired electron. This creates a highly unstable and powerful molecular entity. Free radicals will quickly attack and steal an electron from a neighboring molecule. The second molecule, now with one less electron, becomes a highly reactive free radical itself and pulls an electron off yet another nearby molecule. This process continues in a destructive chain reaction that may affect hundreds and even thousands of molecules.
Once a molecule becomes a radical, its physical and chemical properties are permanently changed. When this molecule is part of a living cell, it affects the function of the entire cell. Free radicals can attack our cells, literally ripping their protective membranes apart. Sensitive cellular components like the nucleus and DNA, which carry the genetic blueprint of the cell, can be damaged, leading to cellular mutations and death.
The more free radicals
attack our cells, the greater the damage and the greater the potential for serious destruction to vital organs, joints, and bodily systems. Free-radical damage has been linked to the loss of tissue integrity and to physical degeneration. As cells are bombarded by free radicals, the tissues become progressively impaired. Some researchers believe that free-radical destruction is the primary cause of aging. The older the body gets, the more damage it sustains from a lifetime accumulation of attack from free radicals.
Today some 60 or so degenerative diseases are recognized as having free-radical involvement in their cause or manifestation. Additional diseases are regularly being added to this list. Research that linked the major killer diseases such as heart disease and cancer to free radicals has expanded to include atherosclerosis, stroke, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, hypertension, wrinkled skin, dermatitis, arthritis, digestive problems, reproductive problems, cataracts, loss of energy, diabetes, allergies, and failing memory.
We are exposed to free radicals from the pollutants in the air we breathe and from the chemical additives and toxins in the foods we eat and drink. Some free-radical reactions occur as part of the natural process of cellular metabolism. We can’t avoid all the free radicals in our environment, but we can limit them. Cigarette smoke, for example, causes free-radical reactions in the lungs. Certain foods and food additives also promote destructive free-radical reactions that affect the entire body. Limiting your exposure to these free-radical–causing substances will reduce your risk of developing a number of degenerative conditions. In this regard, the types of oil you use have a very pronounced effect on your health, because many oils promote the formation of free radicals.