Why we should use our coconuts

Oil’s right with our coconut. For the longest time, coconut oil has suffered the shady reputation of being the "bad guy."

Myth: Coconut oil is saturated fat. (92 percent of its fatty acids are saturated, thus it’s the most highly saturated of dietary fats.) Saturated fat is known to raise cholesterol, which increases one’s risk for heart disease. Ergo, coconut oil is bad for the health.

Fact: The meat of the matter is, while it is true that some saturated fats increase blood cholesterol, natural coconut oil, says coconut authority Bruce Fife, ND in his oil-probing book Coconut Cures – Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut (available at Nature’s Blessings office, Philippine distributor of books written by Dr. Bruce Fife, with telephone numbers 635-5030 and 631-9443), "when used in a normal diet does not have a negative effect on cholesterol."

(Coconut oil is one of the richest sources of medium chain fatty acids. The liver metabolizes it as fast as it is taken in; it does not form cholesterol in the liver and does not settle in the coronary blood vessels as bad cholesterol does.)

All this has been proven as far back as 1959, when researchers added coconut oil (up to 21 percent of daily calories; according to the American Heart Association, we should limit total fat intake to 30 percent of calories, of which no more than 10 percent should come from saturated fat) to the diets of hypercholesterolemic men (with high cholesterol) but did not raise the latter’s cholesterol levels. Fact is, the men’s blood cholesterol even dropped by an average of 29 percent.

Another absorbing study, according to Fife, put a hundred men with a documented history of heart disease, on a fat diet of 28 percent of total calories for all of five years. The men were divided into two treatment groups and a control group. One treatment group got a 50/50 mixture of corn and safflower oils (both sources of polyunsaturated fat) while the other got a 50/50 mix of coconut and peanut oils). At the end of five years, the treatment groups both registered a plunge in total cholesterol, lower than that of the untreated control group.

Want more proof?

Oil right, here’s more. Two Polynesian islands were the focus of a study because of the inhabitants’ high coconut consumption (up to a chunky 50 percent of their daily calories came from coconut oil). Findings show that the Polynesians, despite a diet laden with coconut oil, did not have elevated cholesterol levels and were not likely candidates for heart disease.

Another heartening tale tells of a man who lowered his blood pressure immensely by spiking his morning tea with virgin coconut oil and then opening a capsule of CoQ10 and putting its contents on top of the oil.

Stories pointing to coconut oil as indeed a "good guy" can fill a book. Coconut Cures is just one of many by Fife who also wrote The Coconut Oil Miracle; and then there’s Rx: Coconuts (The Perfect Health Nut) by Vermen Verallo-Rowell, MD, but more on this next week.

There are a thousand and one reasons to use our coconut, which Mother Nature has so generously blessed us with.

For starters, Fife writes, "It is reported to have 1,000 uses. Every part is used for some purpose (meat, water, milk, cream, oil, etc. etc.). From this tree you can derive everything necessary to sustain life. It is a source of food and drink to nourish the body, medicine to maintain and restore health, and materials to build shelter, clothing, and tools to provide the necessities of life ..."

A man named Porfirio "Paul" Sorse certainly knew his coconuts – and lived to a ripe 102 years old advocating the use of coconut oil. If there breathed a man who was really nuts about coconuts, it was Paul. To him "and his vision of spreading the knowledge of the healing properties of coconut throughout the world" Fife, himself loco over coco, dedicated his book Coconut Cures.

Born in the Philippines on Oct. 2, 1895, Paul was probably the best walking advertisement for coconut oil. He was a picture of perfect health – and wrinkle-free, too, according to Fife who first met Paul when the latter was only in his 70s in his little shop off Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island.

Fife describes his good friend Paul: "Paul never had any body odor or bad breath. what was amazing to me was that in the 25 or so years that I knew him, he never showered or took a bath with soap and water. Instead, every day, he would massage himself with his oil from head to toe. He would drink a little of it and if he wasn’t feeling good, he would drink a lot of it ...

"He didn’t drink or smoke, but ate almost anything, although he avoided most junk foods. He felt you could eat anything if your bowels were working properly and could move it out of your system quickly. He would say ‘clean the plumbing,’ and to do this he made a concoction of stewed prunes, coconut milk, apricots, and ginger. He would puree it and put it on desserts, ice cream, cake, or just eat it plain. It was delicious! He was a fabulous cook. Everything he cooked was incredible. I sure miss his cooking."

Paul sure knew his onions. But though he was an excellent cook and his shop looked like a deli, Fife adds that Paul did not sell food. Then again, there was always good, warm food on the table for the cold and hungry who would tread a familiar path to Paul’s doorstep. Always the perfect host, Paul would offer his guests a beverage of coconut milk, saying, "Good for health. Not like Coke."

As if the food and drinks weren’t enough, Paul would give his hurting guests a coconut oil massage and, yes, free samples of his Copure all-purpose pure coconut oil.

According to Fife, this little guy (only 5’1 and 120 pounds) certainly had a big heart.

Needless to say, Fife was also a recipient of Paul’s boundless generosity. Fife relates, "I own two dogs. One of them developed a lump next to its eye. The veterinarian said it looked like a tumor and recommended immediate surgery because it was dangerously close to the eye. I figured if coconut oil was good for humans, it should be good for animals as well, so I began applying the oil to the lump on the dog’s forehead. As time passed, the lump grew smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared. It never returned. We avoided the surgery."

Paul left behind a rich legacy of coconut cures. Here’s one of Paul Sorse’s favorite recipes.

Paul Sorse’s Bowel Cleanser

1 cup dried or fresh apricots

1 cup dried pitted prunes

1 cup water

1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 cup yam (camote), cooked

1 cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons sucanat (raw sugar) or honey

Soak dried fruit overnight in water. Steam or bake yam until soft and set aside to cool. Place fruit and ginger in a pot, adding just enough water to almost cover the fruit. Do not use too much water. Simmer until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Put the fruit into a food processor or blender and add coconut milk, yam, and sucanat or honey and puree until you get the consistency of a thick smoothie or a pudding. Add more yams to thicken if needed. Serve warm. You can serve it like a pudding or use it as a topping on fresh cut fruit, pancakes, banana nut bread, oatmeal, etc.

Other wonders that this wonder oil does: It does not promote cancer, controls diabetes, supports immune system function.

In his foreword to Fife’s book, Dr. Conrado Dayrit tells the story of a woman who developed a very malignant breast cancer. "She had no family hereditary cancer history, avoided coconut oil and saturated fats and took only what her doctors advised her – hydrogenated soybean oil and corn oil. Are the ‘good’ vegetable oils, chosen for the Food Pyramid Program, the real culprits in America’s ongoing health crisis of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer?"

(But of course, Fife gingerly points out in the copyright page: "The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision.)

Want more – or should we say, less? Since coconut oil supplies fewer calories than other fats, it helps in weight loss, too. In the US, it’s called the coconut slimming diet (more on this and much more next week).

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