"Pure Virgin Coconut Oil: The Healthy Fat That Ignites Weight Loss, Banishes Infection, And Heads Off Heart Disease"

(Among Other Things ... )

The War is (Long) Over! You Can Have Your Coconut Oil Again!

The Japanese military occupied the Philippines and other South Pacific islands, where bloody battles were being fought.

The supply of coconut oil was effectively cut off from the United States.

Although coconut oil had been popular both as a cooking oil and ingredient in numerous food products, the occupation continued to interrupt the supply for several long years as the war slowly dragged on.

Enter good old American ingenuity (in this case, not so good for your health).

Manufacturers began to develop alternative sources of cooking oils, and the polyunsaturated oils phase was born. By the time the war was over, there was a lot of money at stake in the promotion of these polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

By the end of the 1950's, public opinion had turned totally against saturated fats like butter (and coconut oil). Saturated fats were blamed for raising cholesterol, and cholesterol was now viewed as the evil enemy, the culprit responsible for the steep rise in heart disease.

Butter, eggs and coconut oil were out.

The new vegetable oils were in ... and erroneously viewed as "heart-healthy".

Coconut oil continued to be demonized by the vegetable oil industry throughout the ensuing decades. Adding insult to injury, the soybean industry began to condemn the use of tropical oils, particularly coconut oil.

And I'm sure you realize the reason why -- competition ... and millions and millions of dollars.

Unfortunately, the tropical oil industry, centered in poorer nations like the Philippines and Indonesia, could not afford to counter the negative propaganda spread by rich American industrial conglomerates.

Science and good health took a back seat to profits, as they have on more than one occasion ...

The Hidden Truth About Coconut Oil

The truth about coconut oil is obvious to anyone who has studied the health of those who live in traditional tropical cultures, where coconut has been a nutritious diet staple for thousands of years.

Back in the 1930's, Dr. Weston Price, a dentist, traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.

Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that vascular disease was uncommon in both populations. There was no evidence that the high saturated fat intake had a harmful effect in these populations.

Sadly, it was not until our Western diet began to intrude on these coconut-eating cultures that residents began to experience significant problems with heart disease, diabetes, obesity and tooth decay -- the same problems that are so widespread today...

Why Coconut Oil Deserves Your Respect (and Your Body Deserves Coconut Oil)

So, now that you have heard the history behind coconut oil's unfortunate "fall from grace", you should also know today's good news: coconut oil is finally beginning to get the respect it deserves.

The numerous health benefits of coconut oil are finally again reaching the mainstream.

Benefits like:

Peek Inside My Pantry To See The Only Oil I Cook With ...

I must confess ...

If you could peek inside my pantry, you would find two oils that I use in food preparation.

The first, extra-virgin olive oil, is a healthy monounsaturated fat. It works great as a salad dressing.

However, it is not the healthiest oil to cook with. Due to its chemical structure, cooking makes it susceptible to oxidative damage and increases the risk of disorders such heart disease, among others.

And polyunsaturated fats, which include common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to use in cooking. Omega-6 oils are especially prone to this because of all the double bonds they have which are highly susceptible to heat damage.

Why?

Reason #1: Most people believe that frying creates trans fats. That is not the major problem; although some are created, they are relatively minor. There are FAR more toxic chemicals produced by frying omega-6 oils than trans fats.

Frying destroys the antioxidants in oils and as such oxidizes the oils and causes cross-linking, cyclization, double-bond shifts, fragmentation and polymerization of oils that cause far more damage than trans fats.

Reason #2: They contribute to the overabundance of omega-6 fats in your diet, and the imbalance of the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. As you know from my extensive writing on this subject, excessive omega-6 fats contribute to many chronic diseases and are essentially a prescription for poor health.

There is only one oil that is stable enough to resist heat-induced damage, while it also helps you prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol and even lose weight -- coconut oil.

So, whenever you need an oil to cook with, use coconut oil instead of butter, olive oil, vegetable oil or any other type of oil called for in recipes.

Curiously, coconut oil contains the most saturated fat of all edible oils. We continue to be inundated by media portrayals of saturated fats as dangerous, but now you know better ...

Surprise! Coconut Oil Is Good For Your Heart ...

FACT: Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. And heart disease is often a silent killer. The first sign of cardiovascular disease is commonly a heart attack, and sadly, over one third of heart attacks are fatal.

And despite the propaganda, the truth is this: it is unsaturated fats that are primarily involved in heart disease, not the saturated fats, as you have been led to believe.

The U.S. Department of Health and the FDA estimate that artificially hydrogenated trans-fats -- the type found in fast food, processed foods and your favorite pastries -- are ultimately responsible for a huge number of fatal heart attacks every year. These dangerous unsaturated fats are the ones you should ban from your diet, not naturally pure and healthy coconut oil, which contains very few fats with highly perishable double bonds and also has NO TRANS-FATS.

As you saw earlier, countries that subsist on a coconut-based diet rarely have heart disease. Additionally, many medical studies indicate that heart disease patients who are fed coconut oil get better.

Although polyunsaturated fats encourage the formation of blood clots by increasing platelet stickiness, coconut oil decreases the tendency for platelets to stick together and form clots.

According to Mary Enig, Ph.D., the nation's leading expert on fats and oils:

"Coconut oil has a unique role in the diet as an important physiologically functional food. The health and nutritional benefits that can be derived from consuming coconut oil have been recognized in many parts of the world for centuries.

A review of the diet/heart disease literature relevant to coconut oil clearly indicates that coconut oil is at worst neutral with respect to atherogenicity of fats and oils, and in fact is likely to be a beneficial oil for prevention and treatment of some heart disease.

Additionally, coconut oil provides a source of antimicrobial lipids for individuals with compromised immune systems, and is a non-promoting fat with respect to chemical carcinogenesis."

A Fat Is A Fat ... Or Is It?

All fats are not equal.

And just so we're clear, the terms "fats" and "oils" are often used interchangeably, but fat is more correctly considered solid at room temperature, while oils are liquid ... but what's most important is the structure.

The unique health benefits of coconut oil are directly related to its chemical structure, or more precisely, the length of its fatty acid chains.

Coconut oil is comprised of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs.

Coconut oil is nature's richest source of these healthy MCFAs.

By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), also known as long-chain triglycerides or LCTs.

There are several reasons to explain why long-chain fatty acids are not as healthy for you as the MCFAs in coconut oil:

On the other hand, however, the MCFAs in coconut oil are healthier, because:

Coconut Oil Is The Dieter's Best Friend

If you live in the United States, you have a 55% chance of being overweight.

And, by now, I'm sure you're aware that obesity increases your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and other degenerative diseases -- effectively reducing your lifespan ... and your quality of life.

One of the best benefits of coconut oil lies in its ability to stimulate your metabolism.

Back in the 1940's, farmers found out about this effect by accident when they tried using inexpensive coconut oil to fatten their livestock.

It didn't work!

Instead, coconut oil made the animals lean, active and hungry.

Now, I'm certainly not comparing you to a farm animal ...

However, many animal and human research studies have demonstrated that replacing LCFAs with MCFAs results in both decreased body weight and reduced fat deposition.

So, by changing the fats in your diet from the unsaturated long-chain fatty acids found in vegetable or seed oils to the MCFAs in coconut oil, you may find yourself gradually losing those unnecessary pounds with little or no effort.

The reasons are simple:

1. The long chain fats nearly always go to fat storage, while the MCFAs are burned for energy
2. Since your metabolism speeds up with coconut oil, you will burn more calories each day, accelerating weight loss (and probably your activity & energy level)

Coconut oil has often been compared to carbohydrates in its ability to be "burned" for energy. However, since insulin is not involved in the process of digesting the MCFAs in coconut oil, you won't get those carb-related spikes in your blood sugar level. This is especially good news for those of you with diabetes or other blood sugar issues.

In fact, the ability of MCFAs to be easily digested, stimulate the metabolism and turned into energy has entered the sports arena. Several studies have now shown that MCFAs enhance physical or athletic performance.

Additionally, research has demonstrated that, due to its metabolic effect, coconut oil increases the activity of the thyroid. And you've probably heard that a sluggish thyroid is one reason why some people are unable to lose weight, no matter what they do.

Besides weight loss, there are other advantages to boosting your metabolic rate. The healing process accelerates. Cell regeneration increases to replace old, worn-out or damaged cells. And your immune system functions better overall.

Coconut Oil's Natural "Miracle" Ingredient: Lauric Acid

Yes, it's true.

Nature still has a few miracles up her sleeve.

You've probably heard that breast milk is jam-packed with nutrients and disease-fighting ingredients that help keep babies healthy.

Well, incredibly, coconut oil contains the same compound -- lauric acid -- as mother's milk! And lauric acid is the predominant type of MCFA found in coconut oil.

Fortunately for our health, lauric acid in both breast milk and coconut oil transforms when consumed into a substance called monolaurin, the actual compound responsible for fighting numerous types of infections.

Skeptical? So were a lot of scientists, who've proceeded to test the heck out of this substance.

In fact, a great volume of research has been done establishing the ability of lauric acid to fight dangerous micro-organisms -- things you don't want to deal with -- like viruses, bacteria, yeasts, fungi, parasites and molds.

What researchers found was that this medium-chain fatty acid derivative actually disrupts the lipid (or fatty) membranes of the offending organisms.

Numerous studies have indicated that many viruses are inactivated by medium-chain fats -- viruses like influenza, measles, HIV, herpes and cytomegalovirus.

Bacteria like strep and staph, gonorrhea, helicobacter pylori, salmonella and clostridium botulinum.

And other "bad guys" like the yeast candida, even the ringworm fungus.

The results leave little room for doubt ... the lauric acid in coconut oil is one effortless way to protect yourself from many types of "bugs".

And, unlike the usual lauric acid content of 42-49% in many coconut oil brands, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil contains a whopping 57% of lauric acid.

If all this wasn't enough, coconut oil has even more tricks up its sleeve.

Why You Must Be Choosy About Your Brand of Coconut Oil

As you may know, there is a very wide variety in coconut oil due to factors such as the manufacturing process used to make the oil, the age and type of coconuts, and other issues that impact the quality, effectiveness and healthiness of your coconut oil.

Meeting such high standards is no small feat, but you should not settle for anything less if you want to experience all the health benefits of coconut oil without exposing yourself to unnecessary health risks. (If you are currently using or considering another brand, please make sure it meets the requirements below.)

The reason Mercola.com is now offering Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is that we made sure that it meets all these requirements of a healthy coconut oil, including:

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is made from fresh coconuts -- opened less than 48 hours after they are picked from the trees. These coconuts are grown and processed organically, without harmful fertilizers, additives or chemical solvents.

In contrast, most commercial coconut oils are made from copra, the dried up meat from coconuts. Using cheap copra-grade coconut means that the oil extracted is not sanitary, and certainly not suitable for human consumption.

It must not be refined or purified; in fact, this type of interior coconut oil is called RBD -- refined, bleached and deodorized.

Mass-producing coconut oil in this unhealthy manner typically uses nutrient-removing heat, chemical solvents, bleaching agents and sometimes even hydrogenating processes, which create dangerous trans-fats.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is made without heat processing. The fresh coconuts are first cold pressed to make a coconut emulsion. After being chilled to help pull out the oils, the milk goes through a centrifuge, where the pure oil spins away from the water layer. This results in a pure and natural, organic, unrefined and highly stable coconut oil.

Additionally, blindfolded taste tests confirm this coconut oil to have a fresh and mild, light coconut flavor -- and to consistently beat out other brands in taste. And of course, laboratory analysis continues to confirm the high quality of this extra virgin coconut oil.

Another 5 Reasons To Replace Those Other Oils With Extra Virgin Coconut Oil ...

The use of coconut oil is one of the healthy dietary measures I recommend to you in my bestseller, "Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program. "

The medium chain fats in coconut oil are so nutritious that they have been used in baby formulas, and in hospitals to feed the critically ill, those on tube feeding, and those with digestive problems.

Coconut oil is exceptionally helpful for pregnant women, nursing moms, the elderly, those with digestive problems or metabolic diseases like diabetes, athletes (even weekend warriors), those who are fighting infectious or chronic degenerative diseases, those with thyroid disease, and those of you who just want to prevent disease.

No guilt. No cholesterol. No disease-causing trans-fats. No downside ...

The light, non-greasy taste of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is so delicious, you'll want to use it nearly every time you cook. On Mercola.com, I have recommended some wonderful books, including "The Coconut Diet" by nutritionist Cherie Calbom, which contains many tasty recipes. Just to get you started, here are a few things you can do with coconut oil:

• Whenever you fry, stir-fry or sauté veggies, eggs, poultry, fish or whatever, use coconut oil for a healthy light flavor ...
• Toss some coconut oil into your smoothies or juiced drinks for a burst of lauric acid ...
• Make your own mayonnaise with coconut oil ...
• Use it on your salads for a tropical flair ...

Coconut Oil Is Not Just For Cooking & Eating -- Your Skin Likes It Too!

The benefits of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil don't stop in your kitchen. Professional massage therapists have used pure coconut oil to knead away tight stressed muscles for many years.

However, you don't have to be a professional massage therapist to gain the skin and tissue support benefits of coconut oil. Feel free to use this high-quality coconut oil as you would any lotion.

Coconut oil is ideal for skin care. It prevents the formation of destructive free radicals, and can prevent your skin from developing skin blemishes caused by aging and overexposure to sunlight.

In fact, physiologist and biochemist Ray Peat, Ph.D., considers coconut oil to be an antioxidant, due to its stability and resistance to oxidation and free radical formation, and also because it reduces our need for the antioxidant protection of vitamin E.

Like Dr. Peat, many experts believe coconut oil may restore damaged or diseased skin. When coconut oil is absorbed into the skin and connective tissues, it limits the damage excessive sun exposure can cause and helps to prevent sagging and wrinkling by keeping connective tissues strong and supple.

Coconut oil will not only bring temporary relief to the skin, but it will aid in healing and repairing. The coconut oil will aid in removing the outer layer of dead skin cells, making the skin smoother. It also penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin to strengthen the underlying tissues.

Source: Complementary Medicine,Piyavate Hospital,Bangkok