University Studies, Medical Journal Reports...For the Thomas in All of Us

I am not the kind that spews out facts. I don't care what subject it is, I go by heart and gut more than rote. So, I read, I pray, I become convinced by what I've read and how the Spirit leads. With book, materials and heart in hand, I gladly share what I learn...those things of which I have become convinced because of what I have read. Writing on my computer, I am much more direct because my references often sit at my elbow and I am very concerned about standing too strongly on just my own knowledge...There is wisdom in many counselors!

But when I am standing in conversation, what you get, more than cold hard facts and numbers, is heart. The things God has chosen to write there. The ways I have learned are better for me, so if you want to look into them you may find them better for you, too.

I am not, nor do I want to be, an accomplished oral debater. I've always taken great, great comfort in Jesus' promise to be there for me if I ever have to stand in court. (Good thing, that.)

I do understand the desire for the familiar when this traditional foods 'stuff' is new to a person. And so, what we find below is a plethora...the tip of the iceberg, mind you...of conventional medical journal and university reports regarding coconut oils in particular. They may bring some comfort to the skeptical...at least about coconut oil's goodness. If you take the time to look at these studies and reports, you will find yourself at least a little amazed. Or more likely, a lot amazed.

Just because mainstream media doesn't jump on it and tell the world, doesn't mean good, or even great, documentation doesn't exist. Never make the mistake, as many of the puffed up and proud have done, of belittling a person's work because of the paper they hold or do not hold in their hand.

I know real people with no mainstream education who have raised folks from the dead. That piece of paper means nothing to the ones raised, does it? I know that's an extreme example, but to a lesser degree, we find wisdom and knowledge continuously manifested in other areas by the degree-less.This is not to rebuff education or the educated...only the educated who put themselves above others. And for that matter, the uneducated who put themselves above the educated. Either way, it's wrong. Plain and simple. In fact, I really dislike using the word 'uneducated' at all...for there is no one walking who is uneducated in all things...just as there is no one walking who is educated in all things. We get so messed up worrying about junk like that!

So, if you're looking for some evidences and the abundance of information found at the Weston A. Price Foundation doesn't cut it for you...maybe you can take a look at the info below. It may help you, or a friend, come to a better understanding. Then, maybe you'll begin to look at the truths of traditional foods and food preparation in a different light.

When we veer off the road of conventional eating, we find a paradigm experience, this seeing the whole tree of truth rather than just some mythical splinters. We've been duped for so long and in so many areas regarding our food that the truth can actually be overwhelming. Confounding, even. Take it easy. Take it slow. Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Here are the reports...Some are written in laymen's terms, others...well, you'll see. I am especially fond of the testimony under the M.D. section written by Dr. Newport regarding Alzheimer's Disease. Prepare yourself...You may feel the urge to hold on to something.

 

Journal Reports:
 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46. Epub 2010 Jan 13.Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, Krauss RM.

Children's Hospital, Oakland Research Institute Oakland, CA, USA.

American Society for Clinical Nutrition Saturated fat prevents coronary artery disease? An American paradox, Robert H Knopp and Barbara M Retzlaff Northwest Lipid Research Clinic, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle

BMJ. 2003 Oct 4;327(7418):777-82.Dietary fat intake and risk of stroke in male US healthcare professionals: 14 year prospective cohort study.

He K, Merchant A, Rimm EB, Rosner BA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Ascherio A.

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. hpkhe@channing.harvard.edu

Endocrine Practice.Results of use of metformin and replacement of starch with saturated fat in diets of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Hays JH, Gorman RT, Shakir KM.

Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Cardiology Research, Newark, Delaware 19718, USA.

Biochim Biophys Acta.Dietary coconut oil increases conjugated linoleic acid-induced body fat loss in mice independent of essential fatty acid deficiency.

Hargrave KM, Azain MJ, Miner JL.

Department of Animal Science, C220 Animal Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.

Journal of the American Dietetic Assoc. 1997 Jun;97(6):605-11.Decreased fat and nitrogen losses in patients with AIDS receiving medium-chain-triglyceride-enriched formula vs those receiving long-chain-triglyceride-containing formula.

Craig GB, Darnell BE, Weinsier RL, Saag MS, Epps L, Mullins L, Lapidus WI, Ennis DM, Akrabawi SS, Cornwell PE, Sauberlich HE.

Department of Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Related Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294, USA.

Journal of Investigative Dermatol. 2009 Oct;129(10):2480-8. Epub 2009 Apr 23.Antimicrobial property of lauric acid against Propionibacterium acnes: its therapeutic potential for inflammatory acne vulgaris.

Nakatsuji T, Kao MC, Fang JY, Zouboulis CC, Zhang L, Gallo RL, Huang CM.

Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California, USA.

Annals of Surgery Protective effects of medium-chain triglycerides on the liver and gut in rats administered endotoxin.

Kono H, Fujii H, Asakawa M, Yamamoto M, Matsuda M, Maki A, Matsumoto Y.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12560783?dopt=Abstract

Philippine Journal of Cardiology, July-September 2003, Volume 31 Number 3:97-104 COCONUT OIL: Atherogenic or Not?(What therefore causes Atherosclerosis?)

Journal of Medicinal Food: University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria (Dept.of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology)-In vitro antimicrobial properties of coconut oil on Candida species in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Lipids

Volume 44, Number 7, 593-601, DOI: 10.1007/s11745-009-3306-6

Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity

Antigenotoxicity of Dietary Coconut Oil - University of the Philippines - Institute of Chemistry, College of Science; Science Diliman, Vol 4, No 1 (1992)

 Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2010;23(6):290-7. Epub 2010 Jun 3.Effect of topical application of virgin coconut oil on skin components and antioxidant status during dermal wound healing in young rats.

Nevin KG, Rajamohan T. Department of Biochemistry, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India.

Dietary fatty acids and oxidative stress in the heart mitochondria. Mitochondrion. 2011 Jan;11(1):97-103. Epub 2010 Aug 5.

Trop Doct. 1997 Oct;27(4):215-7.The role of coconut and coconut oil in coronary heart disease in Kerala, South India. Kumar PD, Department of Medicine, medical College, Kerala, South India.

J Indian Med Assoc. 1998 Oct;96(10):304-7.Choice of cooking oils--myths and realities.Sircar S, Kansra U.Department of Medicine, Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi.

M.D.'s:

Alzheimer's Disease-A Case Study by Dr. Mary Newport

COCONUT OIL IN HEALTH AND DISEASE: ITS AND MONOLAURIN’S
POTENTIAL AS CURE FOR HIV/AIDS*
Conrado S. Dayrit, MD. FACC. FPCC. FPCP**

Links:
Research on Coconut Oil
Peer-Reviewed Research
Research on Saturated Fats
Research on Cholesterol

Coconut/Coconut Oil/Saturated Fat & Cholesterol: Myth Buster #2

Everybody knows that when cholesterol is found in high levels in the blood, heart disease is just around the corner. We know it because that's what we've been told. Again and again and again. Is there evidence to support this? Well, there is evidence that disagrees with this idea. Let's look.

The Framingham Study:  This study spanned 40 years, beginning in 1948. It was government-sponsored and the first heart disease study of its kind. Five hundred Framingham, Massachusetts residents participated in the study. Early in the study, high cholesterol was thought to be a risk factor for heart disease, but 16 years later, the follow-up showed that half of the participants who had suffered heart attacks had LOW cholesterol. And overall, there was very little difference in the levels of cholesterol of those with and without heart attacks.

Thirty years later, another portion of the study showed there was no difference in cholesterol levels in men aged 47 and older who had died. This same study gave some more shocking evidence...Those who had lowered their cholesterol had a greater risk of death than those whose cholesterol levels had increased. Sound crazy? Here's a direct quote: "For each 1mg/dl drop in cholesterol, there was an 11 percent increase in coronary and total mortality." [Italics mine.]

Here's the sad political twist to this truth, however. In 1990 the AHA and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute used this same information and published it with a definite 'twist', (I would call it something else, actually), in Circulation:
"The results of the Framingham study indicate that a 1 percent reduction...of cholesterol [corresponds to] a 2 percent reduction in CHD [Coronary Heart Disease] risk."
This is nearly unbelievable evidence showing how facts that disprove the 'almighty' lipid hypothesis, (see last post), are twisted to appear to support it.

The International Atherosclerosis Project spanned 14 nations and autopsied 22,000 bodies in 1968. Whether the people of each region ate a lot of fatty animal foods or were more vegetarian, there was the same amount of fatty plaque blocking arteries. Even in comparing high cholesterol to low cholesterol in these corpses, the artery blockage was the same. These worldwide populations included areas where heart disease was prevalent, areas where there was little, and areas where there was none.

DID YOU KNOW that high cholesterol in women is a good thing? Again...I KNOW! In light of the information we've been fed through the years, this sounds absolutely absurd. But ALL studies that include women in regard to cholesterol and heart disease show that high levels do not make women at risk for heart disease. A workshop held at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute concluded that low cholesterol is more dangerous to women than high cholesterol! The report was given in the journal, Circulation, in 1992.

The Lancet published a study based in Paris in 1989. This study found that old women with high cholesterol win in the race of longevity. Once again, low cholesterol showed itself to be a problem. Women with low cholesterol had a death rate five times higher than those with high cholesterol.

In 2003, the British Medical Journal reported the conclusion of University of British Columbia research...Are you ready? Well, you may or may not know that statin drugs are used to lower cholesterol. This study showed that these drugs are useless in preventing heart disease in women.

Canada: According to1990 research of the Quebec Cardiovascular Study, while there is a slight, link between high cholesterol and the risk of heart disease in American men...for some reason, even this slight risk is non-existent in Canadian men. The study followed nearly 5,000 middle-aged men in good health over a span of 12 years. Unfortunately, these results were once again twisted, (because they were not the results they had hoped to find), via a lame explanation that it takes more than 12 years for the effects of high cholesterol to manifest. However, the previous Framingham study proves this explanation invalid.

Russia:  You know how we are told to keep our LDL ('bad cholesterol') levels down? Sure you do. Anyone over 30 knows. Or at least has heard something about it. Circulation published the results of a study by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in 1993. This study showed that those low levels we're shooting for are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
And you know how we've been told that there is 'good cholesterol', (HDL)?  Apparently, this is supposed to make us less at risk. But this same study showed that the people with the low LDL and high HDL...which should be a good thing according to what we've been taught, were the ones with the increased risk of heart disease. In short: "Low cholesterol = Increased Risk". 

So, what does U.S. Government have to say about the LDL factor? There are many reports beyond what's spoken of here that refute the lipid hypothesis. Still Diet and Health maintains that LDL is the greatest risk factor for heart disease. It really pushes the envelope by referring to cases as supporting this theory when they in fact, do not. One example of this is the use of the Framingham study. They actually say that this study supports the theory that high LDL levels are dangerous. However, that study, in reality, showed that "LDL ...is a marginal risk factor for people over 50"...and that "...women over 70 had a greater risk of heart disease if their LDL was low."

The Honolulu Heart Program: Covering 20 years of research, scientists compared cholesterol concentrations with mortality from all causes. The final conclusion of this study? "Our data accords with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and show that...the earlier that patients start to have lower cholesterol concentrations, the greater the risk of death..." These findings tell us that the earlier we start eating low-fat diets as prescribed by government agencies, the greater our risk of death from all causes.

By now, you have either decided that this information is balderdash or you have decided that maybe it's time to make some dietary changes. But, what if you're on a cholesterol-lowering drug? Arm yourself with information and talk to your doctor. Studies over more than the past 15 years, concentrating on cholesterol-lowering drugs and whether or not they are effective, reveal the following: Whether a patient was taking Lipitor, other cholesterol-lowering drugs, or nothing, the death rate was identical. Identical. IDENTICAL. Think perhaps it was a half-shod study? Think again. It covered 44 trials with nearly 10,000 patients and was apparently considered news-worthy enough to be published by the American Journal of Cardiology in 2003.

Across the world, eyebrows are being raised...the unquestionable question is coming into play...Is cholesterol really linked to heart disease? Is it's presence a precursor to coronary issues?

I think the answer is, "I think not."

So is that expensive bucket of unrefined coconut oil really a good buy?
No.
It's a great buy.
Get it.
Use it.
Enjoy it.
Your body will love you for it. And while you're at it, get the lard. And the tallow. And the butter. Just get the best quality you can. Toxins are stored in the fat of animals so don't get lard from conventionally raised pork. Don't get or make tallow from the fat of conventionally raised beef. All these products need to come from animals that are raised without hormones and antibiotics. They need to be eating in real fields with real, green, pesticide-free grass. Green grass is a major component. It cleanses the animal's system and raises it's nutrient value exponentially.

Yes, eat your saturated fat. Know you're doing yourself good when you do. Throw your fat phobia out the window.

There now...One less thing to worry about...Isn't that better?





'Myth Buster' information from today's post, as well as the last post, comes mostly from that found in "Nourishing Traditions" and "Eat Fat, Lose Fat". I highly recommend them to any wanting to dig deeper.