Worried about bird flu? Take coconut oil!

"Beneficial lauric acid in coconut

One possible reason that the saturated fat in coconut had no harmful effect on the islanders, Dr. Enig proposes, is the lauric acid. Approximately 50% of the fatty acids in coconut fat are lauric acid. Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, found naturally in mother's milk. Lauric acid has the beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the body to destoy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, and influenza."

http://www.templeofthai.com/cooking/coconut_and_cholesterol.php

I just started taking this for my thyroid but it has a ton of other health benefits!


http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Makes it kind of sweet but good anyhow!

Another post earlier this month said that kimchee or sauer kraut has properties that helped the Koreans stave off the flu there.

I will have to eat more often at the local Thai restaurant.

I've seen some stuff about vinegar helping with bird flu.

the lactic acid... couldn't find the thread.

Just a few thoughts about the negative posters on this thread... those of us who have gone the traditional medical route and received less than stellar or even damaging results have had the "opportunity" to seek out alternative ways of dealing with health issues.

I think our bodies are incredibly more complex than current scientific medical knowledge. We are bags of chemicals with some similarities between us and many dissimilarities and that is why, IMO, some medicines work for most and not for others.

For me, I do not trust anyone medically - either alternative or traditional. I have seen too much stupidity on both counts. What I do trust is my own experience - if vinegar, or virgin cold-processed coconut oil helps a health issue for me, what difference does it make to someone who is not in charge of my body?

Control issues here, folks. I am in control of me. Mind your own business or leave the thread if you disagree and can't stand people making up their own minds on their own bodies. We are talking about what works for us personally - not trying to diagnose you or anyone else.

I've had negative experiences with both traditional and alternative medicines. I've had positive experiences with both as well. My daughter would be dead if doctors hadn't treated her bacterial meningitis with traditional medicine. I would still have a uterus had I stuck with alternative medicine.

I'm beginning to know my body much better.

We need to pay attention to what works for us instead of looking to an outside expert who will tell us how we are feeling. We give away too much power over ourselves. Not advocating complete ignoring of medical advice - I do not have the education to do that! However, have numerous occasions when a doc tells me that what is going on is not important or even in one case, that I wasn't feeling as bad as I was with some prescribed medication (!!) that I have learned that, tho they probably mean well, all docs do not have omniscient powers to completely understand all that is happening in my personal sack of chemicals.

Fortunately, I don't have any major medical problems happening so I can afford to pick and choose what I can to help minor issues. I have had thyroid issues that I have treated with otc things rather than synthroid (which was prescribed for me) and I am doing fine and very close to normal levels or better than I was when first diagnosed.

about VCO and she said it is a terrific oil that has no negative affect on cholesterol. :)

I'll look into the coconut oil thang. I have a niece with thyroid problems and doctors that don't know what to do with her.

PS: I'm a huge fan of vinegar. I think it's one of the greatest discoveries ever, next to soap.

www.wilsonsthyroidsyndrome.com :)

By the way, got a big thumbs up from my doctor on the coconut oil so long as it is not hydrogenated, is virgin and organic. Said it wouldn't affect cholesterol levels. :)

That sounds very interesting and I'd like to investigate further. By the way, I agree with your note on the naysayers--well said.

results in Korea. Vinegar is very good topically for anti-viral uses... don't laugh, I put a diluted solution on my son's chicken pox and he was over it in less than a week - the sores healed quickly and were not itchy. And yes, he was too young to complain about the smell. Any older, I would never have gotten him to sit still for it.

I am not sure what made me try it - it was 12 years ago now.

Currently, I use a tbl diluted in water every morning for general health. I am guessing it helps keep my lower GI cleaner than if I didn't do it. And my 90+ year old great aunts used to swear that their love of vinegar helped them live to their ripe old ages.

I get mine from tropicaltraditions.com. It is also good for pets. I give it to my dog and my cats.

Mixed with food, eaten, etc?

dontcha' think?

She is 14 and about 22 lbs----how much would I give her?

your cholesterol?

I've been hearing about people using coconut oil as a health food but haven't been able to find any good information about it. I got some but haven't been using it regularly. I have discovered that it's very nice for frying things, but it's also pretty expensive to use that way.

She is SUCH a quack!

*sorry*

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2065043&dopt=Abstract

****

". . .This has led to speculation that coconut oil might have different effects on cholesterol levels and heart disease risk compared with other sources of saturated fats. Most controlled human studies, however, find significant cholesterol-raising effects of diets high in either myristic acid,7 8 9 lauric acid,10 11 or a combination of these two fatty acids,12 although this increase is usually a combination of both higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL; “bad”) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL; “good”) cholesterol.

Whether consuming coconut oil will result in unhealthy changes to blood cholesterol levels is controversial. In a double-blind study of young men with normal cholesterol levels, coconut oil was used to create a diet higher in both myristic and lauric acids, and this diet was compared with a similar diet with longer-chain saturated fatty acids. The coconut oil diet resulted in higher levels of both total and LDL cholesterol, whereas HDL levels were not significantly different.13 Most other controlled studies of healthy young adults have reported that coconut oil increases both LDL and HDL compared with either beef fat, palm oil, or vegetable oils high in unsaturated fats.14 15 16 . . .

http://www.deliciouslivingmag.com/healthnotes/healthnotes.cfm?

****

". . . Coconut oil-fed monkeys had elevated levels of plasma total cholesterol (217%), very low density lipoprotein plus low density lipoprotein cholesterol (331%), HDL-C (159%), and apo A-I (117%) compared with corn oil-fed animals. Although the addition of cholesterol to the corn oil diet significantly increased these parameters, no such effects were seen when cholesterol was added to the coconut-oil diet. . ." http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/6/1719

quacks on the web.

Check out the real doctors/scientists research.

There is no denying that coconut oil has SOME benefits, BUT - if you have high cholesterol - DON"T DO IT. If you're taking it, have your cholesterol checked regularly! That's all I'm saying.

why you feel Mercola is a quack? I check out his website ever so often. Is there something about him I may not know about? Thanks.

Most - though not all - of his claims are based on shoddy research, and/or uses a closed-knit circular self-referencing group of so-called "experts" - they proceed to all quote each other on their "research". He takes some bits of "real research", attaches it to obscure bits of information (usually taken out of context) and creates some whole new "theory".

I don't many specifics off the top of my head - though "anti-vaccination" comes readily to mind, along with this "diet" cures and other pseudo-scientific and pseudo-medical claims. Or, for instance this coconut oil thing - he claims it LOWERS cholesterol - which it patently does NOT do.

The biggest clue for me is, he's always trying to SELL you something based on his alarmist pronouncements.


Oh - and before anyone asks, I think the Weston Price Foundation (along with Sally Fallon) is a complete and total whacksite - bordering on outright FRAUD.

I have a hard time believing everything an overweight "health expert" has to say. Don't mean to offend any fans of his but he is not exactly a picture of health to me.

nih adhere to to the coconut is very bad mantra. I think this is due to the bad rap it has from when it used to be very highly refined and hydrogented to death. That is the kind that was used here before it was replaced with the trans fats we see in a lot of processed foods today. I have done a lot of reading on it myself and I believe it is good stuff. Just looking at my dog I know it is helping her. When I adopted her, her hair was dull and her skin all scratchy and itchy. She looks beautiful now. Do search under "virgin coconut oil." There is a lot of interesting info on it. And that is the kind I am referring to--virgin coconut oil, not the processed hydrogenated kind.

But I'll take a look.

any other opinions?

I take two teaspoon everyday during winter months to keep cold and flu away! If, I feel like I'm coming down with something, I increase double right away for few days.
You can also take Olive Leaf first sign of flu and cold.

BTW... Coconut oil is excellent for skin, hair and heart! Only take virgin ORGANIC oil... Cold Process only! Once oil gets heat treaded, it loose medicine benefits.

it affects cholesterol in a very bad way. (According to the legitimate research out there, anyway. I saw so many sites misquoting and misrepresenting the real research, it's hard to get at the truth.)

If you don't have high cholesterol, then don't worry about it, but I'd get my cholesterol checked more regularly if I was taking pure coconut oil on a regular basis.

...of hypothyroid people who've discovered the wonders of coconut oil. :) On those rare days I can't find a reason to cook with it, I swallow 2 to 4 tablespoons straight up. (Easier if you melt it, of course.)

Side note: I discovered something weird this week: I have been feeling GREAT since Thanksgiving. The only thing different is that I've been consuming inordinate amounts of leftover turkey. Thinking it was a shot in the dark, I Googled "health benefits of turkey" -- and guess what? It's chock full of selenium! And I've actually dropped a couple of pounds in the last five days, despite all the other fattening goodies I've eaten.

I am NOT offering any medical advice... but my fellow thyroid sufferers may want to check this out:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=125#healthbenefits

It's when I go off it (like, for the six weeks I was in Australia, and didn't bring my arsenal of oil & other supplements) that I realize how much good it really does do me. My weight stays manageable, and my (gasp! do I admit this on a public forum? here goes!) little goiter (about the size of a shooter marble; I'm very conscious of it, but no one else seems to notice it) actually shrinks when I'm doing the coconut-oil routine religiously. The typical hypothyroid "brain fog" seems to diminish, too.

Btw, I also chow down on a "sheet" of dried seaweed a day -- and the Omega-3 fish-oil pills help a lot, too. So does avoiding soy, and cow's milk. (I drink rice milk only.)

If you've been tracking your morning body temperature (I'm assuming you know about that), have fun and experiment with taking your body temp 10 to 20 minutes after swallowing a glob of coconut oil. Betcha your temp is significantly higher. :)

Necessary DU disclaimer: This is what my body does. Of course, your mileage may vary.

and was ready to take my WT3 therapy when my temps suddenly went back to normal. I was puzzled but 3 months ago I was put on bio-identical progesterone because I am also estrogen dominant and apparently, that can also resolve thyroid issues. I am still having the symtoms (other than low body temps) and am desperate to get my metabolism back on track. I work out on an elliptical 1.5-2.5 hours A DAY and the scale barely budges and I sometimes gain. This while on 1200-1400 or so calories a day. Very frustrating. My concern about the oil is my bad cholesterol is slightly high (though so is my good.

...PM me, and we can continue this off-the-record, where we won't ruffle any more feathers. ;)

"Proponents of these innovative, non-traditional therapies say that excess weight and eating too much cholesterol and other fats are risk factors for cancer. They say that fat appears to reduce white cell production, affecting T-cell and macrophage activity. Further, they say, obesity and a poor diet compromise the lymphatic system, making the body more vulnerable to infection and disease. Eating large amounts of protein, such as that found in animal products, they believe, contributes to these undesirable effects. Thus, their nutritional programs strictly limit proteins that come from animal foods and unhealthy fats. In particular, stick to the monounsaturated fats like canola oil and olive oil, and avoid saturated fats like coconut oil, palm oils, and animal fats."

http://www.breastcancer.org/immune_boost.html

Those islanders who eat coconut oils don't have breast cancers like westerners do, they have very low rate matter of fact! I'd been taking coconut oils 4 tablespoonful everyday for 15 years and I have no high blood pressure problems at all! I was at the doctor's office today and my blood pressure was 100/62. I am 50!

BTW... Remember, they told us to stay away from real butter and eggs because it was bad for us? They were all wrong!

butter substitute going. And no, it isn't Smart Balance, although that's very good for you, too. However, Smart Balance has zero taste appeal.

The one I'm talking about is Earth Balance. It's even healthier than Smart Balance, and it's ten times tastier. It really tastes like butter. On top of everything else harmful that it lacks, it also is lactose free. If you haven't tried it yet, check it out. Yummm.
http://www.earthbalance.net/product.html

Yes, you are right, it does tast like real butter.

Your post #25 seems to show you don't think butter is bad for you, and your target for substitutes is that they taste like butter. Why not stick to butter?

I find that about everything organic - tastes so much better and richer. It's impossible to go back after you've tried it!

The doctor who is making the coconut oil claims is Dr. Enig who so far in this thread has been called a quack.

Here are the doctors who work for breastcancer.org who say avoid coconut oil:

Marisa Weiss, M.D., President and Founder
Robert J. Allen, M.D
Jennifer Armstrong, M.D.
Katrina Armstrong, M.D., M.S.C.E.
José Baselga, M.D.
Norman Berk
Kimberly L. Blackwell, M.D.
Cecilia M. Brennecke, M.D.
Aman U. Buzdar, M.D.
Robert Carlson, M.D.
Carol Cherry, R.N.C, B.S.N., O.C.N.
Sara Cohen, OTR/L
Emily Conant, M.D.
Kenneth H. Cowan, M.D., Ph.D.
Mary Daly, M.D., Ph.D.
M. Maitland DeLand, M.D.
Dianne Dunkelman
Beth Baughman DuPree, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Francene M. Fleegler, M.D.
Silvia C. Formenti, M.D.
Thomas G. Frazier, M.D.
Patricia A. Ganz, M.D.
Ronda Gates, M.S., R.Ph.
Paul B. Gilman, M.D.
Mindy Goldman, M.D.
William J. Gradishar, M.D.
Julie Gralow, M.D.
Generosa Grana, M.D., F.A.C.P
Jennifer Griggs, M.D., MPH
Dawn Hershman, M.D.
Clifford Hudis, M.D.
Philip M. Johnson, Ph.D.
Rosalind Kleban, M.S.W.
Lydia Komarnicky, M.D.
Robert Lindsay, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D., F.R.C.P.
Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D.
Kathy D. Miller, M.D.
Anne Moore, M.D.
Larry Norton, M.D.
Kutluk Oktay, M.D.
Ruth Oratz, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Susan Greenstein Orel, M.D.
Joyce Ann O'Shaughnessy, M.D.
Edith A. Perez, M.D.
Martine Piccart-Gebhart, M.D., Ph.D.
Kurt Possinger, M.D., Ph.D.
Barbara Rabinowitz, Ph.D., M.S.W., R.N.
Barbara Ralston, M.Sc.
John Reed, M.D., Ph.D.
Nicholas Robert, M.D.
Evelyn Robles-Rodriguez, RN, MSN, NPC, AOCN
Anne Rosenberg, M.D.
Hope S. Rugo, M.D.
Jennifer Sabol, M.D.
Laura Sayegh
Sandra F. Schnall, M.D.
Stuart Schnitt, M.D.
Leslie R. Schover, Ph.D.
Andrew D. Seidman, M.D.
Lillie Shockney, RN., BS., MAS
Tamara Shulman, Ph.D., FAACP
George Sledge, M.D.
Alan Stolier, M.D.
Maria Theodoulou, M.D.
Cyndi Thomson, Ph.D., R.D.
Bruce Weiner, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Lisa Weissmann, M.D.
Beverly Whipple, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN
Eric Winer, M.D.
Kristen A. Zarfos, M.D., F.A.C.S.

But of course these ^ people are all wrong? Right?

coconut oils!!! Heat treated coconut oils, is very bad for you! I am talking about NONE heat treated pure virgin organic cold process coconut oils! There's huge difference!

coconut oils.

Nobody's offering medical advice, and nobody's claiming coconut oil (or anything else) has any "miracle" properties.

Rather than insinuate we're all a bunch of idiots, how about offering something helpful to this thread -- besides negativity?

The pocketbooks of the medical establishment. Could that be why they dish out negativity and fear whenever something that could actually be beneficial is discussed?

I've got a lot of answers for that, but I'm not gonna post 'em. (I HATE seeing my posts deleted! LOL)

And... Welcome to DU, moriverrat! :hi:

and herpes, and HIV ... that looks like medical advice to me, bordering on the 'miraculous'.

...if someone posts something about a way of preventing bird flu that you agree on, it is ok. BUt when it is something you don't agree on, then it just so happens to look like medical advice. Hence not allowed on DU.

Why the double standard? Why have their been several threads with ideas, yet this one is the one that is attacked?

that do not seem to have any evidence for them. This is just another. I apologise if we didn't find every single one. I don't think this would count as medical advice that would get the thread removed from DU (because that's more about specific problems that individuals have) - but it did imply that taking coconut oil would prevent bird flu. Any claim like that deserves challenging for some evidence.

The implication that coconut oil also helps fight herpes and HIV really demands some proper science to back it up. So far, I've found one study of 15 people with HIV that, to an untrained eye, looked fairly dubious (no control group, some patients contracted AIDS during the study). I've also found a warning letter from the FDA from earlier this year telling Tropical Traditions to remove from their website earlier claims that coconut oil could help treat HIV, influenza and other conditions - claims which they now seem to have removed.

I'm worried that many sites trying to sell coconut oil have huge claims for its anti-viral properties, and yet the studies to show this seem invisible.

Australian kids have grown up on little treats made using coconut oil (copha as we call it down under) for generations and they haven't harmed us any. Hell statistics show that we actually live longer than you guys. (Side note: chocolate crackles and white christmas are just two things made using copha that come to mind.)

Plus our breast cancer rates are comparable to those seen in the U.S.

Double plus, we also happen to smoke more, drink more, eat more red meat, and live almost directly under the ozone layer.

:sarcasm:

Isnt posting medical advice against the rules?

ourselves. Did you see my google list? There are many out there singing its praises. One in particular I found interesting was this one:

http://www.newstarget.com/002692.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c2coff=1&safe=off&q=coconut+oil+cholesterol

...what the people in this thread do affect YOU?

We are talking about people who seek an alternative form of healing in order to fix some problems their bodies have. That doesn't affect you at all.

So what joy do you get from being sarcastic here? Or is it that you just enjoy pissing on people's parades?

It's your choice.

Who you gonna trust - science or the latest medical craze?

Sorry, but I'm listening to the advise of the experts and scientists.

But maybe I'll drink some melted heavy metals now...

...but your scare tactics don't wash with me.

I happen to come from a country where kids grow up on treats made from coconut oil.

You can listen all you want to the so called experts (those same experts that keep changing their minds about whether or not a potato is good for us) but I will go with personal experience.

I wouldn't have expected that from you.

Western medicine is not the be-all and end-all. Nobody says YOU have to follow any of this.

Would you fault PWA's for trying alternative routes when all the "accepted" methods fail?

This works for ME. Nobody is jamming it down your throat.

Just so you know, you're still one of my all-time favorite DUers. I love ya anyway. You just ticked me off here.

.... that coconut oil is included in these folks "avoid" list becuase of the saturated fat levels.

How many times have doctors changed their minds about this stuff? 30 years ago, fats were the root of all evil. In the fullness of time, that has been refined to "trans fats" or other offenders. Used to, if you ate eggs, you were sure to have crazy cholesterol levels. We now know that genetics is the largest determiner of serum cholesterol, not diet - I eat 4 eggs a day, my numbers are fine.

I take all of this stuff with a huge grain of salt (another food where they all had it wrong). The fact is, there ARE foods that have components that can help with this or that problem. The fact that a food might be good in some ways and bad in others is not much of a stretch.

The amount of oil we are talking about here I doubt is medically significant - I wouldn't eat a pound of french fries fried in coconut oil however.

Nice choice.

however, star anise is an interesting herb. that's what they use to make Tamiflu.

I'll have to start taking it myself.

:kick:

organic coconut oil does not raise your cholesterol. It is also very healthy and she gave me the big thumbs up on using it. She is an MD.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=55353&col=82

I got this link while researching the cholesterol debate and came across a forum for those infected with HIV who are using VCO to fight the virus (with success!). One post there also mentioned his LDL DROPPED. Interesting...

A bit from the article:

Human Face : VCO as bird flu remedy?

First posted 04:59am (Mla time) Nov 03, 2005
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on Page A13 of the November 3, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


NEWS FLASH.

If coconut oil has proven effective for HIV-AIDS cases, it might also be good as a H5N1 (bird flu) remedy. Studies must now be made on the oil's efficacy against this new disease that threatens to become a worldwide epidemic.

This urgent proposal came from Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit who helped make virgin coconut oil (VCO) a popular dietary supplement and medicine here and abroad and helped remove it from the "bad oil" list.

Dayrit, hale and active at 86, is a known pharmacologist, cardiologist, internist, science researcher, author and University of the Philippines professor emeritus. He was former president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, the highest scientific body in the country.

The team Dayrit directed in the early 1990s proved that HIV-AIDS cases responded to coconut oil. The highly promising results are now the bases for continued trials meant to alleviate the suffering of millions of HIV-AIDS patients in many countries, especially those in Africa.

<snip>

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=55353&col=82

another thread but it is "missing". Please don't let this one die. It is important. Thanks DU!