Coconut Oil and Weight Loss

There are many reasons why it is helpful to incorporate Coconut oil into your diet to enhance weight loss. Naturopathic Doctor Bruce Fife, who has written several books on the huge benefits of coconut oil for our wellbeing, says the following on coconut oil and weight loss in his book The Coconut Oil Miracle:

When people go on diets to lose weight, the foods that are restricted most are those that contain the most fat. Why is fat singled out? Because of the way it is digested and utilized in our bodies, it contributes the most to body fat. The fat we eat is the fat we wear – literally.

When we eat fat, it is broken down into individual fatty acids and repackaged into small bundles of fat and protein called lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are sent into the blood stream, where the fatty acids are deposited directly into our fat cells. Other nutrients, such as carbohydrate and protein, are broken down and used immediately for energy and tissue building. Only when we eat too much is the excess carbohydrate and protein converted into fat. As long as we eat enough to satisfy our energy needs, fat in our food ends up as fat in our cells. Only between meals, when physical activity outpaces energy reserves, is fat removed from storage and burnt for fuel

However, medium chain fatty acids like those found in coconut oil are digested and utilized differently. They are not packaged in lipoproteins, and do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats. Instead, they are sent directly to the liver, where they are immediately converted into energy – just like a carbohydrate. But unlike carbohydrates, MCFAs do not raise blood sugar, so coconut oil is safe for diabetics. Many people report that coconut oil helps them to control sugar cravings and reduces hypoglycaemic symptoms. So when you eat coconut oil, the body uses it immediately to make energy rather than storing it as body fat. As a result, you can eat much more coconut oil than you can other oils before the excess is converted into fat. It has been well documented in numerous dietary studies, using both animals and humans, that replacing long chain fatty acids with MCFAs results in a tangible decrease in body weight gain, and a reduction in fat deposition.

These studies have scientifically verified that replacing traditional sources of dietary fat, which are composed primarily of long chain fatty acids, with MCFAs yields meals with a lower effective calorie content. So MCFAs can be a useful tool in controlling weight gain and fat deposition. The simplest and best way to replace long chain fatty acids with MCFAs is to use coconut oil in the preparation of your food.”

Coconut oil has got very many positive benefits for our wellbeing. It is very easy to incorporate into your diet as it is such a versatile oil to use. You can buy it either as full flavoured coconut oil or alternatively as aroma free oil. Whichever way you want to use it is an easy dietary change.

Dr Bruce Fifes books. The Coconut Oil Miracle and Coconut Cures, are both very interesting to give you an understanding of the potential benefits of coconut oil for many common ailments. It gives you a resume of the latest research and many examples of people that had benefited. Of course we are all different, and our metabolisms are all different so results gained by some will not necessarily be replicated. However as far as coconut oil and weight loss is concerned it is certainly worth considering.