The Coconut Oil Miracle Read online

  Coconut oil also seems to have a direct effect on the heart itself. In my practice, I have seen it help regulate heart function and lower blood pressure. For example, Maria, a heart disease patient, was told by her cardiologist that she had only five years to live. One of the common symptoms of heart disease is cardiac arrhythmia—an accelerated, irregular heartbeat. She suffered so severely from arrhythmia that her doctor insisted she have a pacemaker implanted in her chest. She refused. She tried many natural methods, but her symptoms persisted and worsened. I told her about coconut oil, and she began taking it like a dietary supplement—4 tablespoons a day. The very first day she reported that her arrhythmia had decreased by about 50 percent. She reported that it was the calmest her heart had been in years. Nothing she had ever tried before had worked this well. She continues to take coconut oil, and her heart is functioning more normally now. While I was overjoyed to hear of Maria’s success, it really wasn’t a surprise. People who are familiar with coconut have learned that it helps the heart. As they say in Jamaica, “Coconut is a health tonic, good for the heart.”

  Heart disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis account for nearly half of all the deaths in most developed countries. Statistically, nearly one out of every two people you know will die from one of these cardiovascular conditions. In contrast, those people throughout the world who eat the most coconut have the lowest rates of heart disease in the world. For example, up until a few years ago the people of Sri Lanka used coconut oil in all their cooking. Each person consumed the equivalent of 120 coconuts a year. Despite their large coconut oil consumption heart disease is relatively rare. Only one out of every 100,000 deaths was due to heart disease.

  In the coconut-growing regions of India the people were told to stop eating coconut oil because it caused heart disease. They began eating margarine and processed vegetable oils in place of coconut oil and within just a few years the heart disease rates tripled! Obviously coconut oil consumption did not cause the rise in heart disease. Researchers in India are now recommending the return to coconut oil to reduce the risk of heart disease.

  From this evidence alone, coconut oil should be viewed as heart healthy, or at least benign, as far as heart disease is concerned. Coconut oil, however, is not simply a benign bystander but a very important player in the battle against heart disease. The evidence is so remarkable that coconut oil may soon become a powerful new weapon in the fight against heart disease.

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  NATURE’S MARVELOUS GERM FIGHTER

  There’s nothing else we can do,” the doctor said as the 57-year-old kidney patient lay dying. For nine months Dr. Gibert had desperately tried one antibiotic after another, but nothing worked. The man’s blood remained flooded with bacteria, slowly poisoning his body.

  “We tried six or seven different medications. Some we didn’t think would work. But we had nothing else to try,” said Gibert, an infectious disease specialist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Even experimental drugs proved useless. Sometimes the man’s blood tested clean, but within days the infection came roaring back. One strain of bacteria would die, but a few antibiotic-resistant bacteria would take the place of their more vulnerable cousins. Then they multiplied by the billions. The patient sensed his doctor’s frustration.

  “I guess you’re going to tell me I’m dying,” he sighed discouragingly.

  “Nothing is working,” she confided. “There are no more options.”

  Antibiotics, the miracle drugs of the twentieth century, had been useless against this new strain of bacteria, and within days the man died of a massive bacterial infection of the blood and heart.

  Today people are suffering and dying from illnesses that science predicted 40 years ago would be wiped off the face of the earth. Infectious illnesses like tuberculosis, pneumonia, and sexually transmitted diseases, which were thought to have been conquered through the use of antibiotics, have made a frightening comeback. Infectious diseases are now the third leading killer of Americans, after cancer and heart disease, and are becoming a global threat. “The world’s population has never been more vulnerable to emerging and reemerging infections,” wrote Dr. Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel Prize–winner for research in the genetic structure of microbes, in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

  Experts say our overuse of antibiotics is largely to blame: antibiotics encourage proliferation of drug-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined death records nationwide and found 65 deaths among every 100,000 people were caused by infectious disease, up from 41 of every 100,000 deaths 12 years earlier. In 1946, just five years after penicillin came into wide use, doctors discovered a staphylococcus bacteria that was not vulnerable to the drug. Pharmacologists developed new antibiotics, but new drug-resistant bacteria appeared. As new drugs were developed, new strains of bacteria arose. By developing new drugs to combat the new strains of bacteria, pharmacologists thought they would be able to stay ahead. Slowly, scourges such as tuberculosis, bacterial pneumonia, septicemia (blood poisoning), syphilis, gonorrhea, and other bacterial infections were vanquished—or so it seemed. People still died from these ills, but not so many. In recent years, disease-causing bacteria have been staging a powerful comeback. We are in a new age of germ warfare—the age of the “supergerm.”

  Today every disease-causing bacterium has versions that resist at least one of medicine’s 100-plus antibiotics. Some of these supergerms resist almost all known antibiotics. Drug-resistant tuberculosis now accounts for one in seven new cases. Several resistant strains of pneumococcus, the microbe responsible for infected surgical wounds and some children’s ear infections and meningitis, appeared in the 1970s and are still going strong. Thousands of patients are now dying of bacterial infections that were once cured by antibiotics. It isn’t that their infections were immune to every single drug but rather that by the time doctors found an antibiotic that worked, the rampaging bacteria had poisoned the patient’s blood or crippled some vital organ.

  While medications are still an important defense against bacterial infections, the emergence of supergerms has increased our vulnerability to many diseases we thought would soon be rare or extinct. While antibiotics are losing ground to infectious organisms, nature has provided us an antibiotic that germs cannot develop a resistance to. That natural antibiotic is in the form of the MCFAs commonly found in coconut oil.

  FOOD POISONING—A GROWING PROBLEM

  Another growing concern in recent years is the sanitation practices in the food-processing industry. Food poisoning caused by bacteria is becoming a serious concern. Meat is the most common source of harmful bacteria. It easily becomes contaminated in slaughterhouses and warehouses, where sanitary conditions are often deplorable. Because of the prevalence of contamination in meat, we are continually advised to cook all meat thoroughly before eating. Even a tiny speck of blood on a cutting board or knife can transfer the bacteria to raw foods, leading to illness or even death.

  The CDC estimate that in the United States up to three-quarters of all cases of food poisoning are directly linked to ground beef. A batch of ground beef might contain portions of meat from as many as 100 cows, any one of which may have been contaminated. It only takes a microscopic amount of meat from one infected animal to contaminate an entire batch of meat, and then this large batch of meat is divided and sent to dozens of stores and restaurants. The most notable outbreak occurred in 1993. Seven hundred people who ate Jack-in-the-Box hamburgers became ill, some sustaining permanent kidney damage, and at least four children died. E. coli, the culprit in the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak, kills an estimated 100 people a year in the United States and sickens 25,000 others.

  Even foods we normally regard as safe can be a problem. For example, we think milk that has been pasteurized is free from harmful germs, but contamination can occur after pasteurization. In 1994 a truck that was contaminated with salmonella from a previous cargo of raw eggs delivered tainted pas
teurized milk to an ice cream factory in Minnesota. The ice cream made from that milk was then shipped to stores in several states, causing an estimated 224,000 cases of food poisoning, the largest single food poisoning outbreak in U.S. history. Since then there have been over 50 major outbreaks in this country.

  Between 6.5 million and 81 million Americans experience food-borne illnesses each year, and about 9,000 die as a result. While most cases don’t end in death, food poisoning is far more common than we realize. Some experts estimate that as much as half of the flu cases that occur each year are actually reactions to food poisoning. The bout with the flu you experienced last fall may very well have really been food poisoning.

  Contamination has become a growing problem not just with meat but with all types of food. Our fruits and vegetables aren’t even safe. Unpasteurized apple cider, lettuce, and strawberries have also caused widespread outbreaks of food poisoning. While cooking destroys disease-causing bacteria, many fruits and vegetables are eaten raw. The only other thing you can do is wash your produce and hope you’ve cleaned it adequately enough. Then if you do become sick, antibiotics and your body’s own recuperative powers are your only defense. But what if you’re infected with one of the supergerms—say a strain of staphylococcus that is resistant to most antibiotics—what do you do? You’d better hope your immune system is strong enough to overcome it.

  ALL VIRUSES ARE SUPERGERMS

  Antibiotics still work for most bacterial infections; viruses, however, are another matter. They are all, in a sense, supergerms because there are no drugs that can effectively kill them. Antibiotics are only useful against bacteria, not viruses. To date, no drugs have been developed that can effectively eradicate viruses and cure the illnesses they cause. Antiviral drugs may reduce the severity of the infections but do not eliminate them completely. That is why there is no cure for the common cold—a viral infection. When you get a viral infection such as a cold, flu, herpes, or mononucleosis, there is little the doctor can do for you. The doctor’s only option is to help you feel a little more comfortable by reducing the severity of the symptoms while your body fights the infection.

  The most effective weapons against viruses are vaccines, but these are used to prevent disease, not treat it. Vaccines use dead or weakened viruses that are injected into the body. The body recognizes a vaccine as a viral infection and mounts a feverish attack by producing its own “antiviral” compounds, called antibodies. These vaccines, however, have the potential to cause infections and other illnesses, so they aren’t completely safe. Viruses are continually mutating and new strains emerging, so vaccines for most of them aren’t available. The only real protection against viral infections is our body’s own natural defenses.

  Because there is no cure for viral infections, they can become deadly, especially in individuals with depressed immunity. Many children and elderly die each year from flu that ordinarily would not be fatal. One of the most hideous outbreaks in modern times is AIDS, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus attacks the cells of the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infection by any number of opportunistic organisms. Infection by these organisms eventually causes the victim’s death. As yet, none of the antiviral drugs can stop it.

  When you catch a cold or get the flu, how long does it stay around? For most people it lasts several days to a week or more. There is no medicine, no cure, for the common cold or the flu. When you get sick, you have to let your body fight its own battle. That’s why it takes so long to get rid of it.

  Not too long ago an associate of mine said she felt like she was coming down with the flu. She had the beginnings of a sore throat, sinus congestion, and inklings of fatigue. I told her, “Take two to three tablespoons of coconut oil mixed in a glass of lukewarm orange juice with every meal.” She looked at me inquisitively, as if to say “You’ve got to be joking. How is coconut oil going to help?”

  From earlier discussions, she knew coconut oil had many nutritional benefits, but she doubted it would help with her infection. I didn’t tell her it would cure her or that it would even make her feel any better. “Trust me,” I said. “Take it and see what happens.”

  During the first day the symptoms got worse, as they usually do with seasonal infections. Normally, the flu gets progressively worse for the first few days until the body has had time to rally its defenses sufficiently to fight the invading infection. The next day, instead of getting worse, the symptoms started to go away. By the end of third day the symptoms were all but gone. Three days—that’s all it took. She was surprised. “I never had an infection that lasted only three days,” she said.

  We are in the age of supergerms, and our environment is teaming with microorganisms. They are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink, and they even live on our skin. Many of these germs cause disease. Some have become drug-resistant supergerms. Fortunately, nature has provided us a number of medicinal plants to help protect us from attack by these harmful pests. Coconut is one of these. Medications can’t be relied on to protect us against all infectious organisms. We need something more to boost our immune system and help us fight these troublesome invaders—a super antimicrobial.

  COCONUT OIL: A SUPER ANTIMICROBIAL

  When coconut oil is eaten, the body transforms its unique fatty acids into powerful antimicrobial powerhouses capable of defeating some of the most notorious disease-causing microorganisms. Even the supergerms are vulnerable to these lifesaving coconut derivatives. The unique properties of coconut oil make it, in essence, a natural antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiprotozoal food.

  Fatty acids are essential to our health. We must have them in order to supply the building blocks for tissues and hormones. Every cell in our bodies must have a ready supply of fatty acids in order to function properly. Nature put fatty acids in our foods for a purpose. Your body recognizes them and knows what to do with them; MCFAs are natural substances the body knows how to use for its benefit. They are harmless to us while they are deadly to certain microorganisms.

  Most bacteria and viruses are encased in a coat of lipids (fats). The fatty acids that make up this outer membrane or skin enclose the organism’s DNA and other cellular materials. But, unlike our skin, which is relatively tough, the membrane of these microorganisms is nearly fluid. The fatty acids in the membrane are loosely attached, giving the membrane a remarkable degree of mobility and flexibility. This unique property allows these organisms to move, bend, and squeeze through the tiniest openings.

  Lipid-coated viruses and bacteria are easily killed by MCFAs, which primarily destroy these organisms by disrupting their lipid membranes. Medium-chain fatty acids, being similar to those in the microorganism’s membrane, are easily attracted to and absorbed into it. Unlike the other fatty acids in the membrane, MCFAs are much smaller and therefore weaken the already nearly fluid membrane to such a degree that it disintegrates. The membrane literally splits open, spilling its insides and killing the organism. Our white blood cells quickly clean up and dispose of the cellular debris. MCFAs kill invading organisms without causing any known harm to human tissues.

  Our bodies have many ways of protecting us from harmful microorganisms. The strong acid excreted in our stomachs, for example, kills most of the organisms that we may eat with our foods. In our bloodstream, microorganisms are attacked and killed by our white blood cells. Our first line of defense against any harmful organism, however, is our skin. In order to inflict harm, microorganisms must first penetrate the skin’s protective barrier. While the skin is permeable to some degree, it is also equipped with chemical weapons to help it ward off attack. One of these weapons is the oil secreted by our sebaceous (oil) glands. Sebaceous glands are found near the root of every hair. This oil is secreted along the hair shaft to lubricate the hair and skin. Some have described this oil as “nature’s skin cream” because it prevents drying and cracking of the skin. It also has another very important function: It contains medium-chain f
atty acids to fight invading microorganisms. A thin layer of oil on the skin helps protect us from the multitude of harmful germs our skin comes into contact with each day.

  Besides being utilized on our skin to shield us from infectious intruders, MCFAs are found in mother’s milk, to protect and nourish babies. They are nontoxic to us and create no toxic byproducts. They are completely safe and natural. The lipid researcher Jon J. Kabara, Ph.D., speaking of the safety of using fatty acids for medicinal purposes, says: “Fatty acids and derivatives tend to be the least toxic chemicals known to man. Not only are these agents nontoxic to man but [they] are actual foods and in the case of unsaturated fatty acids are essential to growth, development, and health.”

  While MCFAs, like caprylic acid and capric acid, demonstrate antimicrobial properties and have no undesirable or harmful side effects, lauric acid has the greatest antiviral activity. Coconut oil is composed of 48 percent lauric acid (a 12-chain saturated fatty acid), 7 percent capric acid (a 10-chain saturated fatty acid), 8 percent caprylic acid (an 8-chain saturated fatty acid), and 0.5 percent caproic acid (a 6-chain saturated fatty acid). These fatty acids give coconut oil its amazing antimicrobial properties and are generally absent from all other vegetable and animal oils, with the exception of butter.

  LAURIC ACID

  Technically speaking, coconut oil as it is found in fresh coconuts has little, if any, antimicrobial properties. Coconuts can be attacked by fungi and bacteria like any other fruit or nut. I know this sounds contrary to what I’ve said earlier, but the beauty of this is that when we eat the oil, our bodies convert it into a form that is deadly to troublesome microbes yet remains harmless to us.