The Coconut Diet: The Secret Ingredient for Effortless Weight Loss. Cherie Calbom

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СКАЧАТЬ of arthritis, Sjogren’s, osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia. I feel like the combination of my good diet, the virgin coconut oil, and exercise is the key to my success.

       Sharon

       About Fats and Oils

      Fats and oils are technically known as “lipids.” If a lipid is liquid at room temperature, it is called oil. If it is solid, it is called fat. Fats can be found in many food sources in nature: meat (such as tallow and lard), fish (fish oil), vegetables and fruits (olive, avocado, and coconut oil), nuts, seeds, and legumes (walnut, sesame seed, peanut, grape seed, and soybean oil), and whole grains (wheat, rice, rye). Grains must contain all of their components, which we call whole grains, to benefit from all the oils present. A diet rich in natural foods will be a high-fat diet. It is virtually impossible to eliminate fats from our food unless we refine them. Fats are an essential part of life. Without them, we could not survive.

      Four vitamins—A, D, E, and K—are fat-soluble vitamins, meaning they are soluble in fat and fat transports them in our body. When fat is removed from a food, many of the fat-soluble vitamins and other compounds are also removed and the carrier of fat-soluble vitamins is unavailable.

      Fat also gives rich flavor to food. It adds satiety to a meal—a feeling of having had enough to eat. Fat-free and low-fat foods are one of the reasons some people over-eat carbohydrates, which really packs on the pounds. These people just don’t feel like they’ve had enough to eat many times, even when the volume has been more than ample.

      One very good reason to add coconut oil to your diet for weight loss is that it satisfies hunger better than any other fat, as well as most other types of food. For this reason, many people say they feel full eating less food at a meal and can go for longer periods of time without getting hungry. This helps prevent unnecessary snacking.

       I am marveling over and over about how this coconut oil is working! By the time I finished my first quart of virgin coconut oil, I could tell my hypoglycemic hunger cravings were subsiding, and my taste for coffee and chocolate was changing. I feel like a “born-again believer.”

       Beverly

       I have been on virgin coconut oil for the past two months (4 tablespoons daily) and feel better than I have in a long time! My energy levels are up and my weight is down. I am never hungry any more, and have incorporated a daily exercise routine. I have lost 20 pounds.

       Paula

       The Benefits of Saturated Fats

      Saturated fats have not only been a major part of our forefathers’ diets, they have been a big part of the diets of traditional cultures. Tropical diets, for example, obtain much of their fats from coconut and palm oil, which are rich in saturated fats. As we discussed in Chapter One, these cultures have not had the obesity problems that we see today in our culture, even though they’ve had a diet high in saturated fats.

      Saturated fats have a long history of use in traditional cultures because they are very stable fats that do not easily oxidize (turn rancid). Virgin coconut oil, for example, will not turn rancid at room temperature in the tropics for several years. Conversely, the refined oils that many of us use are very unstable and turn rancid (oxidize) quickly. Oxidized oils are very toxic to the body and they can cause widespread free-radical damage.

      In addition to their shelf stability, saturated fats have many important roles in the body’s chemistry: For example:

       Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50 percent of cell membranes. They give our cells necessary firmness and integrity.

       Saturated fats play a vital role in the health of our bones. For example, at least 50 percent of our dietary fats need to be saturated for calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure.5

       They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.6

       They protect the liver from the toxic effects of alcohol and certain drugs.7

       They enhance the immune system.8

       They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.9

       Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated.10 The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.

       Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

       Toxic Oils

      Walk into any major grocery store or retail food chain and visit the cooking oil section—you will not find much in the form of saturated fats. Liquid vegetable oils, known as polyunsaturated oils, have replaced saturated fats in modern cooking.

      Unfortunately, polyunsaturated oils are not stable; they are very prone to oxidation. These commercial vegetable oils are a recent addition to our diet since World War II, when manufacturers developed a process to make them shelf stable by using hydrogenation. Hydrogenating, or partially hydrogenating, these oils also makes them more solid (mimicking saturated fats) and useful for baking and deep-frying.

      The most common polyunsaturated oils commercially processed in the U.S. containing trans fatty acids are soy, corn, cottonseed, rapeseed, and safflower; 90 percent of all margarines are made from soy oil and are loaded with trans fatty acids. Research shows that the processing of these polyunsaturated oils creates a whole new subclass of fats called trans fatty acids. These trans fats are not found in nature and are very toxic. Studies are now showing that trans fatty acids are linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

      In January, 2004, Denmark became the first country in the world to ban the manufacture of trans fatty acids in its foods.¹¹ In Europe, the consumption of trans fatty acids is decreasing. In the U.S., the FDA is requiring all food manufacturers to list trans fatty acids on the nutrition panel of their labels by the year 2006. Their website gives the following warning:

      On July 9, 2003, FDA issued a regulation requiring manufacturers to list trans fatty acids, or trans fat, on the Nutrition Facts panel of foods and some dietary supplements. With this rule, consumers have more information to make healthier food choices that could lower their consumption of trans fat as part of a heart-healthy diet. Scientific reports have confirmed the relationship between trans fat and an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Food manufacturers have until Jan. 1, 2006, to list trans fat on the nutrition label. FDA estimates that by three years after that date, trans fat labeling will have prevented from 600 to 1,200 cases of coronary heart disease and 250 to 500 deaths each year.¹²

       Which Fats Make Us Fat?

      The fatty acid chains in polyunsaturated oils are long chain fatty acids (LCTs) while the fatty acid chains in coconut oil are medium chain fatty acids (MCTs). It has been known СКАЧАТЬ