October 24, 2007
When thinking of coconuts, most people imagine themselves sitting on some tropical island sipping pina coladas and soaking up the sun. The average person probably does not realize that not only are all parts of the coconut extremely good for you, but that they are all readily available for anyone stateside, without having to travel to some exotic locale. Let’s examine some of the tremendous health benefits of the coconut. You just might be surprised at what you are about to discover!!
While the flesh of a coconut tastes good and is a great source of essential fatty acids, the coconut as a whole is not that easy to find or to utilize here in the states. You have to find a way to crack it open, drain the fluid, dry it out, scrape the flesh, and so on. By the time you get to the point where you can eat it, you will probably be too exhausted to enjoy it.
There are two main components of the coconut that can be obtained easily, and those are the water and the oil. Both of these are extremely nutritious, and have a host of health benefits.
It is important to realize that when I speak of coconut water, I am not talking about coconut milk. That is the liquid that is derived from the meat of older coconuts. Natural coconut water is the water inside a young green coconut.
It is naturally filtered for nine months through the dense fibers of the coconut creating a nutritious, pure and refreshing isotonic beverage. Coconut water is natural and has five essential electrolytes, more potassium than a banana, no added sugars, no fat, no cholesterol and no preservatives.
It is excellent for replacing lost electrolytes from exercise and illness. It is a natural isotonic beverage – contains a similar level of electrolytes found in human blood.
It has 15 times the amount of potassium as most sports and energy drinks. Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and heart function. Coconut water regulates the functioning of the intestine which can help to promote digestive health. It can help promote smoother, more hydrated skin. It may help reduce problems for infants suffering from intestinal disturbances. It is an effective oral rehydration medium and keeps the body cool.
Coconut water is non-allergenic. It is cholesterol free and coconut water has shown to help prevent the formation of atherosclerosis. If you want to get some of this delicious water, or want to do more research, I recommend you get O.N.E. Coconut Water from OneNaturalExperience.com. You can order it from there and have it shipped to your home.
The second, and perhaps most beneficial, part of the coconut is the oil.
Virgin Coconut Oil is the naturally processed, chemically-free and additive-free product from fresh coconut meat or its derivative (coconut milk and coconut milk residue) which has not undergone any chemical processing after extraction. It is the purest form of coconut oil, water white in color, contains natural Vitamin E and with very low free fatty acid content and peroxide value. It has a mild to intense fresh coconut scent depending on the type of process used for production.
The most important component of coconut oil is Lauric Acid. Since 1984, an increasing number of literatures are appearing regarding the anti-viral; anti-microbial; anti-fungal and anti-protozoal properties of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA) (C8, C10, C12) with Lauric Acid (C12) and its monoglyceride form- monolaurin being mentioned as the most potent against lipid coated micro-organisms which are not normally cured by ordinary antibiotics. Among the vegetable oils traded in the world, coconut oil is the richest source of MCFA (64%) and Lauric Acid ( 48-53%). Apart from coconut oil, the only other source of lauric acid found in such high concentrations is in mother’s milk. Tropical oils and mother’s milk are by far the richest food sources of medium chain fatty acids available.
Any other vegetable oil is completely deficient in these MCFA’s. Lauric acid is the most important essential fatty acid in building and maintaining the body’s immune system. The medium chain fatty acids and monoglycerides found primarily in coconut oil have tremendous healing power. It is rare in the history of medicine to find substances which have such useful properties and still be without toxicity or even harmful side effects.
According to Professor Jon Kabara, Department of Pharmacology, Michigan State University who pioneered research on monolaurin: Monolaurin, as a dietary supplement has shown very good results as an antibiotic and antiviral agent particularly in its potency against lipid-coated /enveloped viruses. It does not cause resistance organism to appear and was also shown that it can reduce the resistance of germs to antibiotics.
When coconut oil is consumed, the body makes the disease fighting monolaurin. According to Dr. Mary Enig, a noted nutritional biochemist, formerly with the University of Maryland, published research has shown that natural coconut fat in the diet leads to a normalization of body lipids, protects against alcohol damage to the liver and improves the immune system’s anti-inflammatory response. The antimicrobial fatty acids and their derivatives are essentially nontoxic to man and they are produced in vivo by humans when they ingest those commonly available foods that contain adequate levels of medium chain fatty acids like coconut oil.
The medicinal properties of lauric acid and monolaurin have been recognized by a small number of researches for nearly four decades and this knowledge has resulted in more than 20 research papers and several US patents.
As you can see, the coconut is an amazing food with tremendous health benefit. Go out and get some Virgin Coconut Oil, order some Coconut water, and start benefitting from all that this wonderful food has to offer!!
Until next time, all the best, in health and life.
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*This article is designed to provide general guidelines only. Please consult with your physician before making dietary changes or beginning an exercise program. |
