Coconut Oil is in a “class of its own”

Why Saturated Fat is a Vital Ingredient for a Healthy Body

Over the last 20 years of pioneering virgin coconut oil, we at Niulife have had to find answers to a lot of questions. When it comes to nutrition nothing is more confusing than the topic of fats and oils. This short video will help you understand how we have been duped into believing that coconut oil and other saturated fats are bad for us. Take two minutes to watch “Big Fat Lies” below…

Dr Bruce Fife ND, author of numerous books on coconut oil, including the popular Coconut Cures, used to believe like everyone else that coconut oil was an “artery-clogging saturated fat”.
“I started thinking differently after meeting with a group of nutritionists. One of them stated that coconut oil was one of the good fats, it didn’t cause heart disease, and it had many health benefits. At first I was shocked. This went against everything I’d heard in the past. This nutritionist backed up her statement and referred to studies that showed coconut oil had many important nutritional and medical uses. I learned that coconut oil, in one form or another, was used in hospital parenteral formulas to nourish seriously ill patients, was an important ingredient in infant formulas and was recommended for people with digestive or nutritional problems. I began to wonder: if coconut oil is so bad, why is it fed to hospital patients, newborn babies and those with digestive concerns? It didn’t make sense. Was coconut oil the evil villain or not? I had to find the answer.

“I began looking in libraries and on the Internet, but I couldn’t find anything specifically on the health aspects of coconut oil. At the time, there wasn’t any such information. I did find lots of articles on oils and nutrition and most of them would mention coconut oil, but without detail. All they said was “coconut oil is a saturated fat and causes heart disease.” I saw that statement repeated over and over again, but not a single author ever backed it up with facts, figures, or references to the medical literature. It became obvious that the doctors and nutritionists making this statement actually knew nothing about coconut oil. They were simply repeating what someone else had said, who in turn repeated someone else’s words, and so on.”
(Extract adapted from Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Coconut Oil by Dr Bruce Fife ND.)

According to Dr Sinatra, a Cardiologist with over 30 years’ experience; “Coconut oil is good for the heart and the entire body. One of the greatest attributes of coconut oil is that because it is a saturated fat, it doesn’t oxidize. Saturated fats used to be thought of as bad for the heart, but the truth is that saturated fats are perfectly okay because they are very resistant to oxidation. Even though omega-3 essential fatty acids are good for heart health, if they become oxidized they can be as toxic as the most ugly fats of all – trans fats. Omega-6 oils such as corn, canola, and vegetable oils are very prone to oxidation and can be very toxic to the body if over-consumed. Coconut oil also contains monolaurin, which supports the immune system. So consider coconut oil as a good option to boost heart health and immune health.
“I’ve become convinced that the root cause of heart disease is low-grade inflammation within the body. And I’ve seen that directly attacking inflammation with the right diet, natural supplements, and lifestyle changes is, in fact, the best way to treat and prevent heart disease”
The new fats issue coming to light is the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Polyunsaturated fats are classified by their structures into omega-3 and omega-6. You need both types; these are called the essential fatty acids because you cannot make them in your body and must get them from your food.

For most of the time humans have been on earth we have eaten whole foods such as grains, beans and other seeds, and seafood containing omega-6 and omega-3 in a ratio of about 2:1. Our modern industrial diet now includes huge amounts of oils extracted from plants and used for cooking or in prepared foods. These oils (such as canola, corn, safflower, cottonseed, peanut and soybean oils) are primarily omega-6. Over the last 50 years this has seen the ratio change from 2:1 to between 10 and 20:1
A little research reveals that eating too much omega-6 and too little omega-3 has some ugly results. It causes clots and constricts arteries to increase risk of heart attacks, increases swelling to worsen arthritis, and aggravates a nasty skin disease called psoriasis. It may block a person’s ability to respond to insulin, causing high insulin and blood sugar levels and the modern epidemic of obesity. It increases hormone levels of insulin like growth factor-1 that causes certain cancers.

To make matters worse, in an attempt to replace saturated fats, the processed food industry created hydrogenated oils full of trans-fats. In this process hydrogen atoms are pumped into polyunsaturated vegetable oils to straighten out the fatty acid molecules so that they pack closer together and make the vegetable oil go solid like lard. Hydrogenated oils are widely used to make margarine (with yellow dye added so it looks like butter). They are also used to prolong the shelf life of bakery products, snack foods, imitation cheese, and other processed foods.
(You can read more about the problems with trans-fats and the rise of Coronary Heart Disease in the 20th Century in The Oiling of America by Mary G. Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon).
The really good news is that you can beat the bad fats and bring your ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 back into balance. And you guessed it: introducing virgin coconut oil into your pantry does the trick! Coconut oil is free of omega 6 so when you choose to use it in place of other cooking oils you reduce your net omega 6 load – which improves your ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. And for really good coconut oil – the best tasting organic and fair trade extra virgin coconut oil – you can’t go past Niulife!
Six ways to include coconut oil in your diet:
1. Try the chicken salad recipe below
2. Baste your roast vegetables or drizzle it over steamed veggies
3. Spread it on toast or bagels in place of margarine
4. Bake with it (delicious in muffins)
5. Stir a spoonful into wholesome porridge for a healthy (and low cost) breakfast
6. Use it for stir fries and curries
I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. You can also find more recipes on our website.
Richard.
www.niulife.com

Coconut Chicken Salad
Fry 500g of diced chicken thigh or breast in 2 tablespoons of Niulife extra virgin coconut oil.
Add fish sauce, coconut sauce (or soy sauce) and chilli sauce to taste (all optional)
Serve warm on a bed of mixed salad greens and sprinkle with a seed mix, a few crushed nuts (cashews or almonds – which can be roasted beside the chicken) and some shredded coconut.