Coconut Oil results?

Coconut milk is VERY different than coconut oil. Just sayin

Haven't gotten to try the oil yet.
Either way you aren't going to see a difference between the two products.

I drink the milk so I can get medium chain triglycerides, I'd take oil but havent found it locally yet.

If you have a WalMart locally, it can be found in the pharmacy along with the vitamins and supplements.

I've heard about adding oils to food for health and weight management, but how do you add it. Should I make a sandwich and just spread oil on top? do I make a salad and just pour oil on it? What about steak? Do I dip my meat in it? lol Seriously I don't cook AT ALL so I was wondering if there is a special way to do it.....

Adding lots of fats, even healthy ones, to a traditional SAD diet is not a great idea. You're just adding fat on top of lots of other fat, both healthy and unhealthy. Same if you're eating a low cal but high carb diet. The high cals of fat will add up quickly, which might mean you're eating less food overall to stay at whatever your cal goal is and therefore not satisfied, and more likely to binge later.

A diet full of healthy saturated fats is a GREAT compliment to a whole foods/clean diet. This means you need to eliminate processed foods with all their sugars and PUFAs, and eliminate oils like canola, safflower, sunflower, and replace them with oils such as coconut, avocado, macadamia nut, etc.

Assuming you are eliminating/limiting unhealthy fats and sugars from processed foods, then your healthy sources of fat come from avocados, nuts, coconut oil, olive oil, and animal fat from pastured/healthy animals. I love to eat avo with my eggs cooked in coconut oil, I add a tsp of coconut manna to my coffee to give it a slightly sweet taste and a nice MCT boost, I cook with grass-fed butter, drizzle EVOO or avocado oil on tomatoes, and my favorite snack is apple with almond butter. I love full-fat cheeses and cream-top milk and half/half. Because most of my diet is veggies/meat/fruit for the most part, I have plenty of room for these full-fat options that taste great and keep me full.

Personally I would be very careful with coconut oil. I started experimenting with it last November on the advice of a friend. I ate it daily mostly replacing the olive oil I had previously used to pan fry the veggies I like to eat in the morning.

I gained about 5 lbs over 5 months and watched my LDL shoot to the sky (182). I switched back to olive oil and generally avoided most other saturated fat (mainly cheese) and my LDL came back down to 99 in about 6 weeks. The weight finally dropped back down after another 5 months. Although I will admit I really liked the taste of the stuff and probably used more than I realized.

Regarding good vs. bad LDL (large particle vs. small), from a practical standpoint there really isn't any good form of LDL. There is just bad and less bad. The link between heart disease and LDL is well established. Google familial hyperlipidemia if you want to know how doctors began to figure this out. There are other causes of heart disease (e.g., smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc), but high LDL is still a major factor.

If you want to know what the various types of fat will do to your cholesterol, this is a pretty good summery.

Effects of fats and fatty acids on blood lipids in humans an overview
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/60/6/1017S.long

Please note coconut oil is among the worst (see Table 2).

However you don't have to take my word on this. It is pretty trivial to run the same experiment I did. If your insurance won't pay for a cholesterol test, you should be able to find one for about $25 in many places. Contact your county health department or look online for a testing service. It takes about 6-8 weeks to see the results of a major diet change. If you can keep your LDL under 100 (assuming you are not taking any cholesterol meds), it is probably relatively safe to continue to eat it.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Coconut oil is saturated, and it is also one of the healthiest; ditto for animal fats (from healthy animals). Cholesterol in our bodies is not increased by dietary fat. The public has been misled about fats by all kinds of agencies and corporations for many years (follow the money); it's still happening but the misinformation is being challenged from many different reputable sources. It's best to do one's own research and then try different things and see if your health improves. I eat a diet based on fat, mostly from animals, coconut, nut oils, avocado, olive oil. I don't touch canola, safflower, cottonseed, soy oil and many others. More than weight loss, all of my health issues (there were lots!) have vanished since changing to a healthy fat-based diet (mostly saturated!).

With coconut oil, portion control is important, but it is very filling. I eat a high fat diet and I have difficulty consuming all my daily calories; I'm just not hungry! It's great to feel awesome, have no health issues, and to not struggle with being hungry all the time!

>Cholesterol in our bodies is not increased by dietary fat.

I used to believe this until I personally tested it.

Nov, 2011-May 2012

I added coconut oil to my generally high fat diet (50%-60% of calories - I estimate about 25% of calories were from saturated fat, about half from coconut oil).

LDL=182

June-July, 2012

I eliminated coconut oil and generally tried to avoid saturated fat (about 10% of calories) - overall diet still high in PUFA and MUFA (50%-60%).

LDL=99

Aug - Sept, 2012

Dropped saturated fat to about 6%-7% of calories - overall diet about 45% fat.

LDL=85

For the record, my HDL always stayed at about 60 and trigs were 54, 34 and 68 respectively. My physical activity was generally the same throughout. I tried to keep other parts of my diet roughly the same.

There has been extensive scientific research over the past 60 years on saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease (see above for a small part of it). A lot of that research was done long before statins and other cholesterol drugs were invented (eg http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5846902 ). From what I have seen, the results have been consistent. If you are aware of any major studies that contradict this, please post them.

Your body may have the ability to clear LDL quickly and efficiently and if so I am happy for you. As I noted, if you can keep your LDL under 100 I don't think you will have a problem. However the only way to know for sure is to test. High LDL rarely causes any symptoms until that first heart attack and being thin won't save you. I'm sure we would all benefit from knowing the results of your own experiment.

Good luck and I wish you continued success on your journey.

There are many major studies and experts that refute the fat insanity that we've all been led to believe. It's out there and so is lots of research that says the opposite. It's easy to only look for research that support one's existing views; it's a mistake that many of us make, including scientists. Since I work in the science field, I am able to read scientific reports on all kinds of issues and deduce how the study was influenced, funded, what the agenda was and whether the research is valid. Researching food and nutrition is difficult due to the impossibility of isolating all factors. We are human, we do lots of different things, we eat lots of different things. Much of my dietary research involves history and anthropology too which a lot of researchers have neglected to consider. I have strong opinions that are mostly based on observing my Inuit neighbours and through experimenting on myself. How my health reacts to a diet is ALWAYS going to mean more to me than someone else's research and peer-reviewed paper. Remember, our peers are subject to all the misinformation that we are too.

If you experienced problems with coconut oil and you were able to isolate it to just the one factor; great, I accept that and you shouldn't eat it. However, I still think your information is wrong overall considering what I have researched for the last number of years, and especially in light of my own health improvements from consuming a high fat (including saturated) diet. There are many people who share my views, including some here on MFP.

>It's easy to only look for research that support one's existing views; it's a mistake that many of us make, including scientists.

It's called confirmation bias - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias . I am aware of it and try to do my best to avoid it by seeking out sources of information that contradict my current position. As I noted above, I used to believe a lot of what you currently believe. I changed my mind based on new information I discovered (some of which I have pointed to) and my own personal experiments. If you have access to better information, please share it so we can all learn.

>Much of my dietary research involves history and anthropology too which a lot of researchers have neglected to consider.

I would be quite interested in learning what you have discovered. The following are a few articles that I have found helpful. I am always looking for more.

The ancestral human diet: what was it and should it be a paradigm for contemporary nutrition?
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=814476

The food and nutrient intakes of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/32/4/905

The Okinawan Diet: Health Implications of a Low-Calorie, Nutrient-Dense, Antioxidant-Rich Dietary Pattern Low in Glycemic Load
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20234038

I have heard there have been at least a few studies of the traditional Inuit diet, but I haven't had time yet to look for them. If you can point me at some of the more significant ones, I and I'm sure others would appreciate it.

> However, I still think your information is wrong overall considering what I have researched for the last number of years, and especially in light of my own health improvements from consuming a high fat (including saturated) diet.

It is quite possible that I might be wrong. But you have yet to offer a single piece of evidence that refutes what I have said. You have stated several times that you have done extensive research, but you continually refuse to share it. What books and articles have you read? What video's have you seen? Who are the experts that you look to on this matter?

You have stated that your health has improved by consuming a lot of fat. How has it improved? How do you know you are benefiting from eating saturated fat? How much fat are you eating and what kind of fat? How do you measure your improvement? It would be particularly helpful if you would share the results of a recent cholesterol test so we could figure out why your results might be different than mine.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but if you are going to attack someone as being " wrong, wrong, and wrong", I don't think it is unreasonable to expect you to at least take a little time to provide a few reasons why.

There are many major studies and experts that refute the fat insanity that we've all been led to believe. It's out there and so is lots of research that says the opposite. It's easy to only look for research that support one's existing views; it's a mistake that many of us make, including scientists. Since I work in the science field, I am able to read scientific reports on all kinds of issues and deduce how the study was influenced, funded, what the agenda was and whether the research is valid. Researching food and nutrition is difficult due to the impossibility of isolating all factors. We are human, we do lots of different things, we eat lots of different things. Much of my dietary research involves history and anthropology too which a lot of researchers have neglected to consider. I have strong opinions that are mostly based on observing my Inuit neighbours and through experimenting on myself. How my health reacts to a diet is ALWAYS going to mean more to me than someone else's research and peer-reviewed paper. Remember, our peers are subject to all the misinformation that we are too.

If you experienced problems with coconut oil and you were able to isolate it to just the one factor; great, I accept that and you shouldn't eat it. However, I still think your information is wrong overall considering what I have researched for the last number of years, and especially in light of my own health improvements from consuming a high fat (including saturated) diet. There are many people who share my views, including some here on MFP.

Can you please show me some actual studies on this? Not articles, but studies. Thank you!

I love coconut oil. It's a healthy fat even though it's saturated fat.

I use it on my hair and skin more than I eat it. In fact, I don't use commercially produced facial cleansers anymore. I just mix equal parts coconut oil and baking soda and wash my face with it. I also use it as a leave in conditioner. My hair and skin have never been better.

bump

Is this safe to use with latex??!

Yes. It is. That is what we use it for. :-)

I bought a jar of Extra virgin Coconut Oil from Holland & Barrett...at £16 I was a little shocked at the price. However, I have been taking 1 tblsp dissolved in a little hot water, every morning and in the evening for over 2 weeks and I have to say...my usually very bloated stomach is significantly flatter!!!! and I have lost 3lb, after weeks of struggling to lose anything! I have tried plenty of 'the latest crazes'...hot water and lemon, blueberries etc and never seem to have any results, but I have to say the coconut oil is working for me!
I think everyone needs to make sure they are using the solid Extra Virgin oil and not the liquid form which you can buy in supermarkets...maybe this is why some people are not seeing any positive results.