The Miracle of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is the Swiss Army Knife of food; it does everything. Even more amazing, it’s a wonder on the outside of the body, too.

Let me simply list many of the wondrous charms of this medium-chain saturated fat.

Inside the body, coconut oil:

• Revs up your metabolism, helping the thyroid and the waistline • Fights infections • Beats back viruses • Improves all your cholesterol numbers (Although I hate to mention that since cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease and isn’t really the ogre it’s said to be. Oh, well.) • Eases the work of the pancreas, good for pancreatitis and diabetes • Works to control blood sugar and improve insulin secretion, great for diabetics • Helps handle irritable bowel syndrome • Makes it easier for your body to absorb nutrition • Assists in preventing liver, kidney and gall bladder disease • Improves your bones’ mineral absorption • Fights the good fight against yeast and fungal infections

Outside the body, coconut oil:

• Protects skin sores and infections from airborne toxins • Speeds healing in bruises • Makes a fabulous moisturizer • Improves the condition of your scalp. Massage it in, wait a while, then shampoo • Kills cooties • Defrizzes your hair. Rub just a dab between your palms and quickly slick it down your tresses • Reduces joint and back pain. Just rub it in like a liniment • Softens skin • Reduces wrinkles • Removes bacteria from your hands without harsh, toxic chemicals • Fixes athlete’s foot and other fungi • Works well as a bath oil

One doctor, Bruce Fife ND, has testimonials from people whose thyroids have been restored to good function through adding coconut oil to their diet.

Another doctor, Mary Newport MD, markedly improved her husband’s Alzheimer’s symptoms by adding coconut oil to his diet. It works through ketones, so it would probably do good things for people with MS, Lou Gehrig’s, Huntington’s and both forms of diabetes.

Coconut oil and breast milk both contain a ton of lauric acid, a very good and nourishing thing. The adult equivalent of lauric acid that a nursing baby would get is 3.5 tablespoons a day.

Two Teaspoons of coconut oil

While recommended amounts vary, two teaspoons seems to be a minimum. There is no upper limit, so experiment to find what works best for you.

To get two teaspoons of coconut oil a day:

• Put a teaspoon in your coffee twice a day • Put two teaspoons in a bowl of oatmeal • Use it in your cooking • Add it to smoothies and protein drinks

You’ll find raw organic coconut oil recommended the most. My taste buds find that it makes everything taste like coconut, which is never my plan for scrambled eggs.

But if you like the taste of coconut, go for it. You can get raw organic coconut oil at health food stores. I keep raw coconut oil in the bathroom for my skin, nails and hair.

For eating, I prefer non-hydrogenated, expeller-pressed (processed with low heat) coconut oil. It has the same benefits, but no significant taste. I get mine at the grocery store. I put it in just about everything.

And coconut oil also contains Vitamin K, the next vitamin rock star.

What’s not to like? Try both kinds.

God is good,

Bette Dowdell  
Too Pooped to Participate

Copyright by Bette Dowdell. All rights reserved

P.S. Bette Dowdell is not a doctor, nor does she purport to be She’s a patient who’s been studying and successfully handling her own endocrine problems for more than 30 years. She offers introductory teleseminars and an in-depth 12-month subscription program, “Moving to Health” about living well with endocrine issues. She explains how things work-or don’t, discusses what things to avoid as well as the things that help, and she provides a lot of well-researched nutritional information. Subscribe to her free e-zine at Information is power.