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No mention of ms, but could be promising. My only concern is that coconut oil is a saturated fat.

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.a ... JO190v1_WS

Please don't be afraid of fats such as coconut oil. I used to follow a very low fat diet and always felt tired when I started including high quality fats such as coconut oil, butter (or ghee) I felt so much better. I know my experience might be different than others but I am concerned about this villification of fats. Coconut oil will also bring up your HDL-my doctor was amazed at the rise in my HDL. However, you don't want to down a bunch of it at once because it will cause stomach upset. You need to build up slowly. And for people who are prone to fungal infections you don't want to over do.

I am more concerned with rancid industrial seed oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower, etc.

Very intriguing! Thanks for posting.

I've been hesitant to try coconut, despite it's health claims, because of the high saturated fat content. But after doing more research I will try to include it in my meal plan. Thanks again!

SaraG--You may find this interesting:

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.a ... JO190v1_WS

Can it be that we have been duped by "experts" who have told us that fats are bad for us? Trans-fats, YES; but maybe not all the rest.

According to Gary Taubes in his book, Good Calories Bad Calories, the two macronutrients, protein and fats, are necessary for healthy human life; the third one, CARBOHYDRATES, are not necessary.

I think there is a book called Fats that heal, Fats that kill (Udo Erasmus) and apparantly that explains the differences between fats.
I wonder what his take is on coconut oil.....anyone got this book??

I do! I read it a long time ago, I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it, LR. I will check to see what he says.

Page 23: Palmitoleic Acid (POA) is found in tropical oils, especially coconut and palm kernel. Our body converts POA into several other members of the omega-7 family.

Page 40: More important is a MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid) with a 16-carbon chain and a double bond between carbons 7 and 8. It is called palmitoleic acid (POA, 16:1w7) and occurs in larger quantities in milk and also in coconut and palm oils. An excess of this MUFA can lead to health problems by interfering with the chemical conversion of essential fatty acids into hormone-like prostaglandins.

Page 170: Saturated fatty acids (SaFAs) form part of all membranes, but are mainly used as fuel. Our body breaks down SaFAs to produce the energy necessary to drive the chemical reactions that make life possible.....Short-chain SaFAs such as those found in butter anc coconut oil, 'burn' better than long-chain (16 or more carbon atoms) SaFAs found in beef, mutton, and pork. Long-chain SaFAs also interfere with important reactions involving EFAs (essential fatty acids), and lower our metabolic rate and our vitality.

Page 241: Butter and tropical fats -- coconut, palm, palm kernel, cocoa, and shea nut -- are safest for frying because they contain only small quantities of EFAs. The saturated fatty acids contained in oils are inert and therefore heat-stable. Heat does not destroy them in the same way as it destroys EFAs, which heat turns into poisonous breakdown products that interfere with EFA functions. Butter and tropical fats are best used unhydrogenated. Only small amounts should be eaten, as they are sticky, hard, saturated fattyacid-containing fats.
Tropical oils got a bad reputation for increasing cholesterol and triglyceride levels that supposedly cause cardiovascular disease. An unconfirmed rumor suggests that the soybean industry financed the successful campaign against tropical fats to kill imports and increase soybean oil sales. Tropical oils used in their country of origin have been shown in several studies to decrease cholesterol levels. The difference in results may be due to several causes: deterioration in tropical oils during storage (oxidation); processing (hydrogenation); differing experimental design; or a combination of the above. Raw topical oils are rich sources of vitamin E and tocotrienols, which help protect arteries from damage leading to CVD (coronary vascular disease).

And then there is this connection between coconut oil and Alzheimer's:

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.a ... JO190v1_WS

Maybe in a few years we will all be using coconut oil!

A physician finds that coconut oil improves her husband's Alzheimer's disease: http://www.coconutketones.com/WhatIfCure.pdf

And from a newspaper article:
"Additionally, ketones may be beneficial to those with Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Type I and II diabetes."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/article879333.ece

tzootsi--There is mention of MS in the newspaper article!

Yes, tzootsi and ikulo, coconut oil is a medium-chain saturated fat. According to the following article and a Dutch study, saturated fats may be better for us than we have been led to believe!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... _DNL_art_3

Have we been duped again?