By Vimala Dharmala
Whenever we say a particular oil is fully saturated oil, then our concern is towards an
increase in blood cholesterol and in turn risk of heart diseases. Raise of cholesterol isn’t the
cause of heart attacks as once believed. We should know the liver makes up all the
cholesterol that is needed by the body. Contribution of dietary cholesterol is less than 20% of
total blood cholesterol. Even in the absence of dietary cholesterol, the liver compensates
based on tissue requirement. Coconut oil differs in structure when compared to other oils. It
is made up of medium chain fatty acids(MCTS) whereas the other polyunsaturated fatty
acids are made up of long chain fatty acids. The oils elicit different responses depending
upon their structure once they ingested into the human body.
Coconut oil metabolism :
Polyunsaturated refined oils contain long chain fatty acids, pass through the stomach to
small intestines before they get digested. The enzymes from pancreas and bile from liver are
required to convert long chain fatty acids to smaller molecule sizes. Then get absorbed and
mixed with lipoproteins and transported to various tissues in the body. Some of them may be
deposited into the fatty tissues in the body. Whereas the coconut oil contains MCTS which
were already broken down to smaller size molecules and directly can be absorbed into the
body without the help from bile and digestive enzymes. These molecules bypass the stage
of lipoproteins and hence can be utilised by the tissues without the help of hormones like
insulin or any other enzyme.
Coconut oil benefits:
- Brain is made up of cholesterol. Saturated fatty acids of coconut oil provide the
building blocks for new brain tissue. - High efficient form of energy by ketone bodies in the absence of glucose for brain
tissue. - It improves the oxygen delivery to the brain by restoring Nitric oxide levels.
- Coconut oil is used in low carbohydrate and high fat diet(keto diet)
- Many people who are on thyroid stimulating hormones will be benefited with the
coconut oil. - The high saturated fats in coconut oil prevents rapid absorption of sugars from the
gut after a meal. It increases the sensitivity of the tissues for insulin in diabetic
patients. - In Alzheimer’s disease the brain cannot utilise the blood glucose because of insulin
resistance. Significant and sustained improvement noticed with coconut oil therapy. - Ayurvedic medicine included coconut as an important ingredient in their system to
treat many ailments and even today many millions of Indains follow as a health
remedy.
Author :- Vimala Dharmala