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1. Coconut Oil Contains Fatty Acids With Powerful Medicinal Properties
Coconut oil has been demonized in the past because it contains saturated fat.In fact, coconut oil is one of the richest sources of saturated fat known to man, with almost 90% of the fatty acids in it being saturated However, new data is showing that saturated fats are mostly harmless. Many studies with hundreds of thousands of people have found no link to heart disease .Additionally, coconut oil doesn’t contain your average saturated fats, like the ones you would find in cheese or steak.They contain Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) – which are fatty acids of a medium length.Most of the fatty acids in the diet are long-chain fatty acids, but the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are metabolized differently.They go straight to the liver from the digestive tract, where they are used as a quick source of energy or turned into so-called ketones, which can have therapeutic effects on brain disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s.
2. Populations That Eat a Lot of Coconut Oil Are Healthy
Coconut is an exotic food in the Western world, primarily consumed by health conscious people.However, in some parts of the world, coconut is a dietary staple that people have thrived on for many generations.The best example of such a population is the Tokelauans, which live in the South Pacific.They eat over 60% of their calories from coconuts and are the biggest consumers of saturated fat in the world.These people are in great health, with no evidence of heart disease .Another example of a population that eats a lot of coconut and remains in excellent health is the Kitavans
Coconut Oil Can Help You Burn More Fat
Obesity is currently one of the biggest health problems in the world.While some people think obesity is only a matter of calories, others (myself included) believe that the sources of those calories are important too.It is a fact that different foods affect our bodies and hormones in different ways. In this regard, a calorie is not a calorie.The medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) in coconut oil can increase how many calories you burn compared to the same amount of other fats .One study found that 15-30 grams of MCTs per day increased 24 hour energy expenditure by 5%, totalling about 120 calories per day (
Coconut Oil Can Kill Harmful Mic
roorganisms
Almost 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil is the 12-carbon Lauric Acid.When lauric acid is digested, it forms a substance called monolaurin.Both lauric acid and monolaurin can kill harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses and fungi. For example, these substances have been shown to kill the bacteria Staphylococcus Aureus (a very dangerous pathogen) and the yeast Candida Albicans, a common source of yeast infections in humans
Coconut Oil Can Reduce Your Hunger, Helping You Eat Less
One interesting feature of coconut oil is that it can reduce your hunger.This may be related to the way the fatty acids in it are metabolized, because ketones can have an appetite reducing effect .In one study, varying amounts of medium and long chain triglycerides were fed to 6 healthy men.The men eating the most MCTs ate 256 fewer calories per day, on average .Another study in 14 healthy men discovered that those who ate the most MCTs at breakfast ate fewer calories at lunch .These studies were small and only done for a short period of time. If this effect were to persist over the long term, it could have a dramatic influence on body weight over a period of several years.
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