Coconut oil and, to only a slightly lesser extent, palm kernel oil is far better for us than we have generally been led to believe.
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Coconut oil consists almost entirely of saturated fat -- about 92% -- which sounds pretty bad on the surface. But not all saturated fats are created equal. As the old saying goes, "some are more equal than others". Coconut oil actually helps you lose weight and stay healthy in ways that no other fat can match. In particular, note that:
· Coconut oil is good for cooking, because saturated fat is not harmed by heat -- unlike unsaturated oils.
· Coconut oil does not contain the trans fats that produce insulin-resistance, diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.
· Coconut oil does not contain the oxidized cholesterol (produced by hydrogenation and high-heat processing) that are responsible for heart disease and stroke.
· Coconut oil consists primarily of medium-chain fatty acids, which are metabolized very differently, so they're burned as fuel rather than stored as fat.
· Perhaps even more importantly, medium-chain fatty acids are potent anti-microbial agents.
· Coconut oil was used in food products for centuries. It was only replaced by partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (most often by hydrogenated soybean oil) in recent decades, during which time levels of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and obesity have reached epidemic proportions.
Notes:
· Coconut oil and fractionated palm kernel oil are very similar, and come from different parts of the same plant. They are stable at room temperature, so they don't need to be refrigerated.
· Throughout this article, "coconut oil" means virgin coconut oil -- oil that has not been refined, bleached, or deodorized. Although none of that processing is necessary, some manufacturers do it anyway, which produces the same problems as those associated with hydrogenated oils. (The 8% of unsaturated fats that coconut oil contains can be damaged by such high-heat processing.) So when you shop, look for virgin coconut oil -- oil that isn't bleached, refined, or deodorized.
It Melts In Your Hand
Coconut oil becomes a liquid at 76-degrees Fahrenheit. So on a warm day, it's liquid in the jar. On cool days, however, it's a white solid. When it's solid, it looks like one of those hard-to-digest fats that might clog up your arteries and end up around your middle.
But the difference becomes apparent when you pick up a little and rub it between your fingers. The fat "solid" turns into an oily liquid almost immediately. That reaction hints at how quickly it metabolizes -- how quickly it breaks down to produce energy in your even warmer interior.
It turns out that coconut oil is so effective at providing energy and at protecting the body from disease-causing microbes that it's used in baby formulas, intravenous fluids, and sports endurance snacks. Those uses, along with centuries of use by healthy indigenous cultures, are major clues as to just how good it is for you.
The Miracle Diet Pill
Coconut oil is metabolized from other fats. It breaks down quickly and is burned for fuel long before it can be stored as fat. That process makes all the difference in the world, not only to your weight. Tends to be Burned, Rather than Stored When we think about saturated fat, we generally think of the 18-carbon long-chain fatty acids found in meat and dairy products. But medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) are different. They contain 8, 10, or 12 carbons, and they are metabolized in radically different ways. Approximately 64% of coconut oil consists of medium chain fatty acids, so the difference is important.
Since MCFAs are shorter, they contain less energy. So instead of containing 9 calories per gram like longer saturated fats, they contain a little over 6 calories per gram. That's a bargain, right there. For the same satisfying taste, you save 1/3 the calories over meat and dairy products.
But that's just the beginning, because the medium-chain fatty acids tend to be converted into energy, rather than stored as fat. To understand how, see the sidebar, What Happens to Fat. (Or skip it to save yourself the gory details.)
What Happens to Fat
A large portion of the medium-chain fats are broken down by saliva. They are then packed off to the liver by way of the portal vein the moment they arrive in the upper intestine. Many of the free fatty acids are then converted into energy packets called Acetyl-CoA (Acetylcoenzyme A) in the liver and in the cells. (Converting those free fatty acids into energy packets is actually slightly simpler the conversion of glucose![Guyton, 22]) Mitochondria in the cells then convert those packets into energy.
Long-chain saturated fats, on the other hand, move into the intestines, where they are slowly broken down, absorbed, and synthesized into triglycerides (3-part fats). The triglycerides are then passed to the lymph system. From there, they move to the heart and are distributed throughout the body.[Guyton, 20, 842-843]
Of course, the liver synthesizes triglycerides as well, along with the phospholipids that are a necessary part of cell membranes.[Guyton, 885] But since coconut oil contains mostly medium-chain fats, the synthesized triglycerides are shorter -- that's why that have a little over 6 calories per gram, instead of 9 calories per gram like other fats. (Actually, medium-chain fats contain 6.8 calories per gram. But I think of it as "a little over 6" to simplify the math.)
However they are created, some triglycerides (generally too many!) go to the fat cells, where they are stored. Some go to internal cells, where they are used for energy. Others go to surface cells where they are emitted as skin oil and other forms of sebum (for example, in the sinuses). And some, when they return to the liver, are converted into phospholipids, lipoproteins, cholesterol, and Acetyl-CoA, all of which are necessary for your body to function.
When the medium-chain fats that aren't immediately used for energy are stored as fat, they only contain 2/3 the energy of the long-chain variety -- so when they're burned, they burn more quickly. You'll learn more about that beneficial side effect in a moment.
Meanwhile, the medium-chain fats that go to the surface cells in the skin, sinuses, digestive tract, and vaginal tract create an extremely potent defensive barrier against microbial invaders. You'll see how that process works later on.
The bottom line with respect to fat metabolism is that long-chain fats take longer to digest, and they tend to be stored as that "stubborn fat" you can't get rid of. Medium-chain fats, on the other hand, are immediately broken down into fatty acids, and tend to be burned for energy.
Those who combat fatigue on a daily basis may therefore notice an increase in body temperature (and blood pressure) when they consume coconut oil. It's the result of the increased metabolic rate as the medium-chain fatty acids are burned. Since you're more energetic, you feel more like working and exercising, which burns even more fat.
Notes:
· If are under treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure), you should use coconut oil sparingly -- and you may want to discuss it with your doctor first.
· The increased endurance and energy levels that MCFAs provide is the reason that coconut oil is included in sports snacks. It's most effective over the long term, however, as your body's hormones adapt to use the free fatty acids as an energy supply. So a single serving won't do much good, but a steady supply will do wonders.
· Sports drinks often contain medium-chain triglycerides in the form of MCT. They're effective for generating energy, but they contain only 2 of the 3 medium-chain fats. The one they're missing is the critical medium-chain fatty acid for health -- lauric acid. You'll learn more about lauric acid in a moment. For now, the take-home message is that coconut oil in a sports drink is vastly superior to MCT.
Burns Stored Fat, Too
Replacing other fats with coconut oil means that the rate at which your body stores fat slows down, because more of your dietary fat is metabolized for energy. But beyond that, coconut oil actually increases the rate at which you burn stored fat, even beyond the extra fat you burn simply because you exercise more and work harder.
As you grow accustomed to your new energy levels, you'll tend to eat less sugary and starchy foods, because you don't have as much need for them. It's not something you'll have to try to do, either. Your body will make the adaptation naturally. (For an example, see the sidebar, How Your Appetite Can Change.)
How Your Appetite Can Change
Once upon a time, I fell into the habit of running every day -- generally for half an hour, often for an hour or more. After two months of that, I walked into my regular steak house, and I vividly remember passing the salad bar and salivating at all those luscious red and green vegetables. Then I walked up to the grill, where the steaks and baked potatoes, previously so enticing, no held no interest for me at all. The smells weren't even exciting! I simply could not wait to get through the line and get to the salad bar.
I relate that story, because it showed me in clear detail how the body's desire for food -- and the foods it has an appetite for -- result from what we're doing and what we're eating. If we exercise a lot and eat decent foods, the appetite doesn't just go down, it changes to prefer things that are healthy.
In my case, my diet hadn't changed during the previous two months. I had been eating my normal assortment of salads, meat, potatoes, and cookies, with the occasional vegetable thrown in. Somehow, my body knew which of those foods it really needed, and it took control of my taste buds to get them!
The Standard American Diet (SAD) generally defeats the body's wisdom, because the nutrients it needs are nowhere to be found. So the body is just generally hungry for anything and everything it can find, in hopes of finding the nutrients it needs. When you give it the right stuff, it will quickly adapt and make it your favorite food.
When you eat less sugar and starch -- especially refined starch like white flour and white rice -- you'll have less glucose (blood sugar) in your blood stream. The brain runs on glucose exclusively (except when fasting), but the rest of your cells will tend to alter their hormonal balance to metabolize the additional fatty acids that are arriving for energy, instead of sugar.
The lack of glucose, in turn, causes fat cells to release fatty acids instead of storing them. It's an interesting mechanism. When sugar is present in the blood, fat cells tend to store fat. But when it's absent, fat cells tend to release fat. They're simply optimizing things in attempt to keep your energy levels constant. The fats are then burned, in a process known as hydrolysis.
Note: The prefix hydro- means "water". The process requires water, so be sure to drink plenty of it.
So one interesting and useful effect of replacing other fats in your diet with coconut oil, over time, is to increase the amount of fat that is released as result of the lowered glucose levels -- even though your energy level is still high from the medium chain fatty acids you're burning for energy. In essence, your body is reacting to the low-sugar state that triggers it to burn fat, only you aren't experiencing the fatigue and hunger you normally associate with low blood sugar.
But wait. There's more!
When you've been consuming coconut oil for a while, most of the fat you've stored only contains 2/3 the energy of long-chain fats, because you've been storing medium-chain triglycerides. So whenever your body goes into fat-burning mode as a result of exercise or waiting to eat, it has to burn 1/3 more stored fat to deliver the same amount of energy! It's like getting 60 minutes of exercise for the price of only 40 -- another great bargain.
The process might take less time, than you think, too. Fat stores are actually dynamic. Fat doesn't just sit there like a lump. Every day, your body releases the fatty acids it contains and replaces it with new fatty acids it receives. So the fat in your body actually turns over every 2-3 weeks!
Of course, most of us tend to keep putting on a little more than we're taking off, but that has a lot more to do with the partially hydrogenated soybean oils in our diet than it has to do with saturated fat. Just eliminating the trans fats tends to stabilize your weight. But when the majority of your fat comes from coconut oil, your body will tend to take off more than it puts on.
The process will be slow at first, because most of your stored fat will probably be of the long-chain variety (and worse, ugly trans fats). But it will speed up over time, as more and more of your stored fat becomes medium-chain triglycerides. People have reported losing 20 lbs. in 6 months without making any other changes in their diet or exercise regimen. With a healthy diet and exercise, of course, your changes will come that much faster.
Doesn't Interfere with Thyroid Function (unlike soybean oil)
The origins of the American obesity epidemic can be traced to the 1970's when a concerted campaign against "harmful tropical oils" by the American Soybean Association led to the elimination of coconut oil in virtually all commercial cooking.
The coconut oil was in the main replaced by partially hydrogenated oil, which interferes with insulin activity and causes other health problems but "partially hydrogenated oil" on a food label generally means soybean oil, and soybean oil adds an additional problem of its own -- it inhibits the thyroid's ability to produce the hormones we need to burn fat, generate energy, and carry on the processes of life.
When the thyroid isn't operating properly, your body's metabolism is lowered, so you store fat instead of burning it. And you don't want to exercise, because you don't have the energy. So you just naturally gain weight.
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