Front Porch Fridays
July 18, 2008
Editor's note: This is the fourth in an eleven-part series exploring coconut oil in depth from Canadian chef, Lori Nichol-Davies. Check it out and come to your own conclusions.
Coconut oil / Coconut Milk / Coconut Flour, Pt. 5
by Chef Lori Nichols-Davies
Coconut oil protects the heart
Many people have been misguided that coconut milk and saturated animal fats will give them a heart attack. The truth is the opposite is true. Coconut products actually prevent heart attacks. It does not clog the arteries, as some doctors and dieticians who refuse to dig deeper into the evidence will continue to say. “Saturated fats lower Lp (a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.” G. H. Dahlen, et al, J. Intern Med. 15 (1996): 325-339; B.A. Clevidence, et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc, Biology. 17 (1997):1657-1661. P. Khosla and K.C. Hayes, J. Am College Nutrition, 15 (1996.)
Consider the Polynesians and Bicolanos (of the Philippines) who have included coconut oil in their natural daily diets for centuries. The Empirical evidence shows that civilizations using coconut oil have low serum cholesterol levels and little coronary heart disease. When saturated fats are part of an essential fatty acid-rich diet, there is little or no change seen in serum cholesterol levels. What increases high blood cholesterol is white sugar, not fats, as insulin triggers the liver to produce more cholesterol.
The crusaders for extra virgin coconut oil
A most extensive collection of scientific evidence proves coconut oil’s safety in the Weston A. Price Foundation at Washington, D.C. In 2007, this activist organization has forty thousand members and chapters are located all over the world. Go to www.westonAPrice.org Interestingly, the founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation is a woman named Sally Fallon. She was born in the same hospital on the same day that Weston Price died. This is to me like the voice of God who loves us and watches over us. Dr. Price’s research thrives to this day to help us remember the wisdom of our forefathers. It is the antithesis of global corruption which has its grip in the global food chain. The Information Age is on the verge of killing the people with rising autoimmune disorders. As of 2002, WHO has found death by autoimmune disorders exceeds death by infectious disease. We have entered into a new world. Are corporate profits more important than human health?
Sally’s book, Nourishing Traditions, 1999, by New Trends Publisher, gives us the “big picture” in food history. For example, she writes, “Products of the coconut form a dietary staple in many nations, particularly Southeast Asia, the tropical regions of Latin America and East Africa. Marco Polo referred to coconut as the “Indian nut.” Vasco de Gama used the word “coquos” in his Roteiror (1498-99) and Pigafetta, the official chronicler of the Magellan expedition to the Philippines, used the Italian form of “coche” (plural “coca”) around 1522.”
Then there are other authors, such as Cherie Calbom and John Calbom, in their research with The Coconut Oil Diet, Warner Wellness, 2005, New York, that shows more research on how essential coconut oil is to human health. They offer 70 delicious recipes in their book. Bruce Fife, ND, author of six published works shares his clinical research on the health and medical uses of coconut oil. He considers coconut oil as the healthiest fat on earth. His most recent book, Coconut Cures (Piccadilly Books, 2005) shows how it prevents heart disease and cancer by protecting blood vessels from free radical damage. Mary Enig’s work, co-authored with Sally Fallon, Eat Fat, Lose Fat, A Plume Book, 2005, writes of ten ways to consume coconut - including cream, vinegar and coconut rum tonic – to lose weight.
Continued next week...
