Coconut Surprises

While this item is focused on thebenefit of coconut oils for skin care, it also relays a lot of importantinformation that places coconut meat and milk high in anyone’s diet.  I have made it a habit to do as the Thai doand use the milk to provide the base for light curried sauces on most of what Icook up.

This article makes it clear thatit is a good idea to go a lot further. The take home on skin care is that rashes are plausibly induced by the cleaningprocess of soap and the curative is to rub in coconut oils.  Recall folks who are traditionally dirty neverhave such rashes because the natural oils are intact.

Since most of us do not want tosmell like a Tartar, we typically bathe daily and this tells us how this canmake us vulnerable.

Perhaps it is time to shake out afew more coconut recipes.

Coconut

April 15, 2011

When I traveled to Indiaand visited the home of Ayurvedic medicine, the world’s oldest health system,one of my favorite things I learned was their name for the coconut palmtree.

They call the coconut palm kalpa vriksha which means “the tree whichprovides all the necessities of life.” What a great name. The tree of life.

We have coconut palms here in South Florida,and seeing them always gives me the feeling of lazy afternoons at the beach,and warm tropical breezes.

I have coconut trees in my yard, too, and I love to eat coconut ...but it takes a bit of skill to get the darned things open. When I went toBrazil and ordered a drink with fresh coconut milk in it, a guy puts thecoconut down, takes a machete, and “whack!” opens it right up.

It wasn’t so easy when I tried it at home. It takes a little practice. I’ve gotit down now. I can’t open a coconut with one whack, but I can do it withouttaking a hammer and busting it to pieces.

What you have to have is a heavy machete, and it’s got to be sharp.

And it’s not easy to get the coconuts down from the tree, either. Climbing astraight, smooth coconut palm is a trick. You can tie your feet together with arope and shimmy up, and I’ve done that, but it’s not easy!

When I go to Jamaica,my friends have coconut palms on their property. They grow on both sides of theroad, and they have all the coconut you can eat. We make drinks from them, eatthe flesh, and when the coconuts are young, there’s a jelly inside that’s good,too.

Coconuts are an excellent way to get protein and natural fiber. They alsohave zero starch, and the brain-healthy nutrient choline.

In Jamaica,they also press the flesh of the coconut to make oil for their skin. It doesn’ttake too much. You can put it on a flat surface and just roll a round coffeecup over it and get some oil.

Cosmetic companies are starting to lust after coconuts like they’re goldbecause the oil is such an effective moisturizer and skin softener.

But coconuts have a secret skin ingredient that most cosmetics makers don’tknow about. 

It’s fat. 

But not just any fat.

Coconuts have a unique kind of fat you’ll find in less than a half-dozenfoods anywhere in the world. They’re called medium chain fattyacids (MCTs).

These fats – capric acid and lauric acid – are very rare. Theyare only found in human breast milk, cow and goat’s milk, and coconutand palm kernel oils (which is not the same as palm oil).

Why is this important to you? Because the outer layer of your skin is partlymade of fat. And keeping this layer of skin water-tight and healthy not onlykeeps your skin firm and smooth, but it’s your best defense against pollutantsthe modern world produces.

This skin barrier is called your “acid mantle.” It’s made up of skin cells and fatscalled sebum that protect you from environmental dangers like toxins, viruses,bacteria and other attackers.

This barrier also works as an antioxidant. It protects skin from water loss,and it maintains the correct hardness of the water-holding protein that makesup your skin called keratin.

The MCTs in coconut oil benefit your skin because they reinforce yourprotective barrier and increase your proteins that hold on to water.

MCTs also help maintain your skin’s ph balance. In order to staywater-tight and healthy, your skin needs to be slightly acidic (which is whythe barrier is called an “acid” mantle).

The problem with many so-called “mild” soaps and commercial products is thatthey damage your skin barrier by stripping away too much of your fatty sebum.What’s worse is that they reverse your skin’s natural ph so it’s nolonger mildly acidic.

These products then leave your skin open to infection, unable tokeep moisture and more prone to developing rashes and breakouts.

Also, most cosmetics loosen your keratin fibers to create gaps in theprotective covering, so they can artificially hydrate your skin.

This looks good for a little while, but when the artificial hydration wearsoff, it makes your skin even more prone to water loss, damage, infections andpollutants.

The MCTs in coconut oil, by comparison, react naturally with your skin to keepit hydrated and firm. They increase your acid mantle and keep yourskin protein intact. One study showed that MCTs significantly increased skinhydration compared to drugs and other mixtures.1

MCT fatty acids also gently dissolve dead skin cells, leaving behind a fresher,more even complexion. This will prevent wrinkles from forming and will help tosoften wrinkles that are already present.

Coconut oil can penetrate underneath your protective layer, too, goingdeep down to heal underlying skin damage. By massaging coconut oil into yourskin, you can improve the connective tissue deep below the surface. Coconut oilhas been proven in clinical studies to mimic the skin's natural repairmechanisms.2

Coconut oil protects against overexposure to the sun, too, which is why it’sused in suntan lotion.

Vitamin E is one of your primary skin antioxidants and is temporarily used upwhen you spend long periods in the sun. Coconut oil protects you by preservingyour vitamin E, and allowing you to absorb more of it.

In fact, scientists are looking at using coconut oil as a better vitamin Edelivery system than gel capsule supplements. In an animal study, researchersused oil made from coconut MCTs to see how well it could help vitamin E absorb.After only 24 hours, more than 65 percent of the vitamin E was absorbed, andhad already made it to the places that need it most like the heart and liver.3

Coconut oil works well as a delivery system because MCTs like lauric acid areeasily absorbed by your skin cells. Commercial skin care products usesynthetic versions of these acids, but the man-made versions aren’t even closeto being as effective.

For general health purposes, eating raw coconut is a great way to get protein,natural fiber and healthy fats.

One thing coconuts don’t have is a lot of vitamins.

Many so-called skin care and health experts keep telling you that coconuts arehealthy because they are “high” in this or that vitamin, but it’s just nottrue.

A cup of raw coconut only has .2 mg of vitamin E, 2 mg of vitamin C, no vitaminA, almost zero B vitamins, and .2 micrograms of vitamin K.3

What coconuts do have is lots of minerals. A cup of coconut has a good amountof iron, zinc, copper, selenium, potassium ... and especially manganese.

Manganese is what gives you iron-hard bones, nerves that can respond in aninstant and hormones that keep you calm and relaxed.

If you don’t want to eat raw coconut, you can use coconut oil. I recommendabout three tablespoons of coconut oil each day to improve your skin, hair andnails ... and for increased immune function.

The lauric acid transforms into a substance called Monolaurin that canstrengthen your immunity and fight infection from bacteria and viruses.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

[1] Wiedersberg, S.,Leopold, C.S., Guy, R.H., "Effects of various vehicles on skin hydrationin vivo," Skin Pharmacol. Physiol. Jan. 2009; 22 (3):128-30
[2] Nevin, K.G., Rajamohan, T., "Effect of topical application of virgincoconut oil onskin components and antioxidant status during dermal woundhealing inyoung rats," Skin Pharmacol. Physiol. June 2010;23(6):290-7
[3] Trevithick, J.R., Mitton,K.P., "Uptake of vitamin E succinate by the skin, conversion to freevitamin E, and transport to internal organs," Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int.March 1999;47(3):509-18
[4] "NutritionFacts – Coconut Meat, Raw," http://nutritiondata.self.com