Coconuts, coconut oil

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Jan18
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Coconuts, coconut oil

Post by Jan18 »

Found this at Healthline and am wondering what the definitive answer about coconut oil is. First we are told it's good, then we are told it's bad. Anyone?

"Even so, populations that consume large amounts of coconut do not have high levels of heart disease, and are in excellent health (40Trusted Source, 41Trusted Source)."

Darn, the links to NIH articles didn't translate. So here is the webpage: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10 ... TLE_HDR_10

And what are your thoughts on this evidence-based article: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/to ... oconut-oil

Really appreciate knowing if we can use coconut oil, coconuts, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut water.....

Thanks!
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

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Jan18 wrote:Found this at Healthline and am wondering what the definitive answer about coconut oil is.
I think there is no definitive answer for all, a body's ability to process is different given genetic status (and maybe other influencers). This article doesn't even mention APOE once.

Have you read our wiki on coconut oil? Coconut Oil, MCT oil, and other Ketone/Cognition Boosters (salts, esters)

I use coconut oil topically (on skin), as a toothpaste ingredient, and for oil pulling, but not for consumption, but that's because of my ApoE4/4 status and my biomarkers when I consume too much saturated fat, if I wasn't a 4, it might not matter.
-Theresa
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

Post by Jan18 »

Thank you, Theresa.

My problem is I just cannot get enough fat without eating saturated fat. I track everything on cronometer.com and just eating salmon, eggs, olives, olive oil, walnuts and avocado, the foods they basically tout for the apoe4 version of keto, I'm either going way over on protein to get enough fat or practically the drinking olive oil...not to mention it is so boring and restrictive! (I detest anchovies and sardines and most other fish...)

I need some pure fat sources to reach my daily percentage of fat! But we aren't "allowed" butter, heavy cream, etc.

I'll reread the section you suggested, but right now I am kind of at my wit's end on how to get that fat consumption up.
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

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Jan18 wrote:My problem is I just cannot get enough fat without eating saturated fat.
It is impossible to eliminate saturated fat altogether. I consume saturated fat, I just try to moderate consumption and stay away from sources that are high in percentage of saturated fat.
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

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Jan18 wrote:I need some pure fat sources to reach my daily percentage of fat! But we aren't "allowed" butter, heavy cream, etc.

I'll reread the section you suggested, but right now I am kind of at my wit's end on how to get that fat consumption up.
It really depends on how you and your body responds. I'm a Steven Gundry MD patient. Metrics he looks at include sdLDL. If I eat too much sat fat, my sdLDL increases materially (his target is < 30 mg/dL). Years ago, a poster here had an appointment with Dr. G & we talked about it later. Her sdLDL was 12. So obviously not an issue for her.

What are your overall objectives? Does your blood sugar strongly react to starchy carbs? Aussie engineer, Marty Kendall, is married to a T1 diabetic wife. Working with her and looking at her insulin/blood sugar data has led him to an approach that prioritizes nutrient density. Fat is generally nutrient poor. With his approach, people typically end up eating less energy but cover all their micronutrient needs. Dr. Terry Wahls put her very severe MS in remission getting most of her micronutrients covered from diet. We have a podcast with her.

I maintain mild ketosis with time restricted eating and exercise along with a low carb, but not "keto" diet.

As to exercise, the salient points of this Peter Attia/Iñigo San Millán (researcher and head coach of this year's Tour de France winner) interview is that when you train at a Zone 2 level, you can increase mitochondrial density 4x as well as increase their size. This increases a) fat burning metabolism, b) ability to move glucose into muscles without insulin, c) lactate clearance, d) glucose processing. Zone 2 is defined as serum lactate at 2.0 mmol/L. The easy, lay person's way to work out at Zone 2 is to follow Phil Maffetone's MAF approach, with a heart rate monitor. When I do this, my serum glucose readings will decline, rather than increase during the exercise (Attia notes this also, wearing a CGM).

Attia also interterviews Maffetone

Article by a journalist runner who went to San Millán's lab for analysis.
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

Post by Jan18 »

TheresaB wrote:
Jan18 wrote:My problem is I just cannot get enough fat without eating saturated fat.
It is impossible to eliminate saturated fat altogether. I consume saturated fat, I just try to moderate consumption and stay away from sources that are high in percentage of saturated fat.
Theresa, if you had to guesstimate how many grams of saturated fat you might eat on a typical day, what would that be? "Moderate" means different things to different people. ;)

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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

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Tincup wrote: It really depends on how you and your body responds. I'm a Steven Gundry MD patient. Metrics he looks at include sdLDL. If I eat too much sat fat, my sdLDL increases materially (his target is < 30 mg/dL).
Thanks for all of that information, Tincup!
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Re: Coconuts, coconut oil

Post by TheresaB »

Jan - So sorry for the slow response I have been out of town, am still out of town and very busy. But to respond: what I only consume are good, healthy fats. They contain saturated fat, but their composition is typically more monounsaturated than saturated.

I don't eat breakfast, just coffee and tea (black). Lunch is vegan – tree nuts (walnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, 1 brazil nut a day, and/or some tiger nuts (not really nuts) and/or a large tiger nut/green banana flour pancake made with just over a tablespoon of olive oil but NO syrup, and/or guacamole with a vegetable to dip into it preferably jicama sticks plus a small (1 oz) portion of dark 72% or greater dark chocolate . Dinner is typically a modest portion of wild caught shellfish, typically shrimp, or wild caught whitefish plus a vegetable and a large salad with a variety of veggies topped with a generous portion of quality extra virgin olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar. On occasion our dinner is vegan.

Everyone is different, the grams of saturated fat you can get away with may be very different than what I can do as a 4/4. The best way is to test, see what your LDL particle count is, what your sdLDL level is and what your oxLDL number is and what you can get away with.
-Theresa
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