A small group of us had the most wonderful opportunity to spend a quiet evening with Bruce Fife, ND the other day learning about the incredible health benefits of the humble coconut. Although highly valued in the coconut growing regions of the world, the health benefits of coconut oil, are only now just starting to break through a heavy cloud of mis-information that has found its way into just about every health book and journal available in the west.

The main criticism is regards it’s high saturated fat content. Saturated fats, as we know, are generally thought of as being a direct contributor towards the development of heart disease. Coconut Oil, however, is not like other saturated fats, in that it is composed of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). Research has shown that these fats, derived from coconut oil, posses very unique nutritional properties. Research has shown that these MCT’s not only do NOT contribute to heart disease, but in fact, quite the reverse. They protect against it. This point is further supported by studies which show that those populations that use coconut oil as their primary source of fat have the lowest heart disease rates in the world.

One point that really caught my attention was the “kinship” between coconut oil and human breast milk - coconut oil was the number one source of MCT, while human breast milk came in as the second highest. There is something VERY special about these MCT’s. Recent medical studies have shown that both coconut oil and MCT can help strengthen immunity as well as protect against many common illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even many infectious diseases including HIV and AIDS.

For more information about the value of coconut oil and Bruce Fife’s work go to http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org .