Coconut oil is made from the coconut palm fruit's wick, flesh, and milk Coconut oil is a white solid fat that melts at roughly 25°C, turning into a transparent thin liquid throughout the summer. Unrefined varieties smell wonderful and have a fresh coconut aroma. Coconut is incredibly healthy. Let's look at this amazing natural fat and how it can help with various health issues.
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family). This amazing “tree of life” as it is called is found throughout the tropic and subtropics and is well known for its incredible versatility as can be seen in the many domestic, commercial, and industrial uses of its different parts such as the husk, oil, water and copra. Coconuts are an important part of the daily diet of many people around the world.
Like garlic, you will inhibit the reproduction and even kill-off Candida particularly well if you include some coconut oil and coconut cream in your diet each day. Coconut contains fatty acids that inhibit Candida, and contains many beneficial properties that help prevent bacterial and viral infections. It is also a fabulous anti-fungal and it tastes great! It supports immune system function, supplies important nutrients necessary for good health and improves digestion and the absorption of nutrients from proteins and carbohydrates.
The saturated fat in coconut oil is easily digested and absorbed, unlike the unnatural man-made hydrogenated fats or oils that act just like plastic in the body. Coconut oil places very little strain on the digestive system and provides a quick source of energy necessary to promote healing.
The big difference is that coconut oil, cream and butter are absorbed into bloodstream directly from the intestines through the lymph system, whereas other fats require pancreatic enzymes and bile to break them into smaller units and then they transported to the liver, where they are processed before entering the bloodstream.
That is why these excellent saturated fats put very little strain on the digestive system, even for people who have had difficulty digesting fats, have gall bladder problems or if they do not have a gall bladder. I have found women who have had their gallbladders removed can easily tolerate coconut oil without the reflux or nausea experienced with other oils or fats.
When buying coconut oil look for one that is cold or expeller-pressed, unrefined, unbleached, un-deodorised and non-hydrogenated. Coconut oil is highly resistant to spoilage and has a long shelf life (2 years at room temperature), so it is not kept refrigerated. It is kept in the cupboard or on the kitchen counter. Many people freak out when I tell them to consume more coconut oil and cream, when in fact coconuts have been consumed for thousands of years by many cultures that lived long and healthy and productive lives. We have been led to believe that all saturated fats are bad for our health, which is far from the truth.
Like other saturated fats coconut oil goes solid when cooled below room temperature. Coconut oil has a high burning point and is the perfect oil for cooking. It can be used alone, or mixed with butter, a little lard or other good fats for cooking and frying. Coconut oil can be taken by the spoonful with meals to aid digestion or melted on cooked foods. The most common healing reactions are stomach upsets and diarrhoea because coconut oil is anti-fungal so it kills off candida and also helps clean out toxins. Stomach upsets are caused by candida being killed off, and diarrhoea is a way for the body to get rid of toxins. Other healing reactions may include increased mucus in the intestines, throat, nose, sinuses, lungs, etc.
Coconut oil and milk contain three principle fats (medium chained fatty acids, otherwise known as MCT’s): caprylic acid, capric acid and lauric acid. These three fatty acids have been shown to be anti fungal in action and are the prime reason why you should consider coconut oil (due to its higher content of the fatty acids) in particular in your anti-candida regime.
All of the MCTs found in coconut oil have the potential to kill yeast, viruses and bacteria, the most potent being lauric acid and caprylic acid. Capric and caprylic acid in particular have shown to exhibit the strongest anti-microbial and anti-fungal activities against candida species, and they do so by weakening and disrupting the yeast cell’s membrane. Once the membrane (the outer edge of the yeast cell) becomes weakened, the cytoplasm (the inside of the cell) becomes exposed to your immune system that can then attack it more effectively.
A good book to read on the topic of coconut and health is Naturopath Bruce Fife’s book entitled The Coconut Oil Miracle (New York: Penguin, 2004).
My two favourite anti-candida foods are fresh garlic and extra virgin coconut oil, and it makes a lot of sense for you to incorporate both of them into your diet each and every day. Regular supplementation with specialised anti-candida dietary supplements which contain allicin (garlic) as we as capric and caprylic acid (coconut) along with the daily consumption of foods containing these natural candida crushers makes a whole lot more sense.
Most of the health benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to its high content of medium-chained saturated fatty acids (MCT’S) such as capric acid, caprylic acid and lauric acid. Unlike most other dietary oils, coconut oil (if it is not hydrogenated) does not contain trans-fatty acids due to its low content of unsaturated fatty acids.
Research from years ago found coconut oil to be toxic or not good for health due to the research being based on hydrogenated products, and there are still people today who believe that coconut oil is “bad for the heart”. There are no polyunsaturated fatty acids in coconut oil, and it therefore does not contribute to heart disease.
In fact, virgin coconut oil has been shown to reduce total cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, LDL, and VLDL (the bad) cholesterol levels and increased HDL (the good) cholesterol in serum and tissues. It is important to remember that only extra-virgin and unadulterated coconut oil should be used if you want to achieve the best effects for your health, whether it be for your heart health, weight-loss or to cure your yeast infection.
100 grams of coconut oil contains:
Like coconut oil, the health benefits associated with coconut milk and cream are attributable to their content of caprylic acid, capric acid and lauric acid, but in this case there are much less of these active therapeutic acids present in coconut milk and the cream on a gram for gram basis. Coconut oil is therefore a much more potent anti-candida product and the logical choice when it comes to inhibiting and killing your yeast infection. Coconut milk is nevertheless still worth having, and a great way to take in coconut milk and cream is to use it when making curries or smoothies. It is delicious when blended with ice cubes and berries (use a blender) and served on a hot summer’s day
100 grams of coconut milk contains:
Are you desperate to get rid of your yeast infection, desperate enough to want to attempt the Coconut Detox? This is NOT the way to go if you have a yeast infection and want to beat it. With this diet you consume 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO) every two hours, and take up to 12 or 14 tablespoons of EVCO daily. Nothing else. One website stated that the author had a severe case of candida and did the Coconut Detox and experienced “the most horrible healing crisis to date, I experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, racing heart, shivering, severe bouts of pain, massive insomnia and severe anxiety” and went on further to say “I imagine a heroin withdrawal to be like this”. Well folks, this is NOT how to get rid of candida from your body and certainly not a method I endorse, it is almost as crazy as the Lemon Detox Diet.
Crazy and extreme diets will only give you crazy and extreme results, and by following my dietary recommendations I can assure you that you will certainly not experience the extreme reactions that the gentleman did as mentioned above! Interestingly, he mentioned that even after the severe reaction he is still not well and is seeking another method to get rid of his yeast infection.
The best way as I have mentioned many times in my writing is to stick with a clearly defined plan and stick with it long enough to see it through. You should experience minimal (if any) aggravations and notice a slow but steady improvement initially and a full and complete recovery in time.
Some patients I see are also interested in losing weight. Is that you? Are you interested in dropping a few pounds and dress sizes? If you are, then I’d like you to sit up and pay attention to learning this “secret” about coconut oil. There are many studies that have discovered that coconut oil (not the cream or milk) helps you to lose weight due to the concentration of MCTs.
Not all saturated fats are “bad”, and even though 1 tablespoon of coconut oil contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat it can actually aid in weight loss believe it or not!
Those on a low-calorie diet will find that coconut oil is an excellent way to boost up their calorie intake and whether you are slim or carry a little too much weight, coconut oil will help to maintain your metabolism and maintain your regular and natural weight more easily. You should lose weight naturally (if you are overweight) but if not, see your health-care professional; your thyroid or adrenal glands may need attention. For those who are underweight, they will find that coconut oil will help them maintain their weight more easily.
Cooking with coconut oil is an excellent way to consume more of this incredible oil. Use it as a substitute over other types of fats and oils you may use in cooking. This oil is especially stable at high temperatures and will not readily break down into those unhealthy trans fatty acids. You will find that the best coconut cooking oils are the extra virgin and organic coconut oils, see your health food shop.
Do you like coconut oil? You may want to develop a taste for it, because coconut oil contains 7500mg of caprylic acid per 100 grams and is an excellent adjunct in your anti-candida diet approach, along with caprylic acid supplementation. To minimise healing reactions or die-off start taking coconut oil at a low dose (1/2 to 1 teaspoon 3 times a day) and gradually increase the amount every 4-5 days, or more depending upon your die-off symptoms, until you reach the maximum therapeutic dose of 5-6 tablespoons per day. It is also important to take coconut oil in divided doses during the day and not all at once. Try it in a drink or smoothie, with a fruit meal or dessert or just on its own, the way I like it.
My recommended therapeutic dose for anyone who is unhealthy is 3-6 tablespoons per day, in divided doses, preferably with meals that contain protein. Remember, since coconut oil (like fresh garlic and oregano oil) is a potent anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, antibacterial and antiviral, etc. it may create die-off or healing reactions in people who are very unhealthy and toxic, but it may be particularly pronounced in severe candida sufferers, so go easy when you first start to take this food into your diet, particularly if your system has never had coconut oil in it previously.
Start slowly and gradually build up over a week or two. You will soon become a coconut convert like I have years ago. The taste and smell are amazing and before you know it you may go nuts for coconuts!
Doctor, two questions
1. Is Emu oil good against psoriasis?
2. Is Jojoba oil good against psoriasis?
Hi Fausto, YES – emu oil is very good indeed, probably better than jojoba oil. Emu oil is especially good for hard-to-shift plaque patches. Try it!