Coconut Oil

[Trevor]

I found small bottles of locally-produced coconut oil on Koh Lanta but ask in Bangkok and they say no-one uses it nowadays.

Coconut oil is extremely healthy and I use it exclusively in the UK. Here there are cheap commercial RBD (refined, bleached and deodorised), and expensive natural organic versions.

Does anyone have a source of natural coconut oil in Bangkok?

Incidentally, the anti-coconut (and anti-saturated-fat) propaganda perpetrated by the seed oil industry largely arose from a flawed study in the 1950s when animals were fed hydrogenated coconut oil.

[sbk]

That's interesting because I live on Koh Phangan where the population largely grew up using coconut oil in their cooking and eating coconut curry, soups and sweets and a huge percentage of the population has high blood pressure/heart disease. A very healthy looking neighbor, eats fish his whole life, low stress (fishes every day) and very fit looking had a major heart attack last year. Nearly every older Thai person I know on this island has heart disease. 5 years ago (after having lived here 10 years and eating a coconut filled diet) I had my cholestorol levels tested. Both of my "good" and "bad" cholestorol levels were quite high. But the only reason my overall cholestorol level was still acceptable was because the high levels of the "good" cancelled out the high levels of the "bad". I, for one, cut back on my coconut consumption.

Sorry I can't give you a supplier of natural coconut oil in Bangkok but your assertions intrigued me and I was curious as to what scientific evidence you based them on?

[Trevor]

www.mercola.com is an excellent source of dietary and medical advice. Do a search for coconut oil.

Your fisher friend's malaise likely has more to do with his smoking?, drinking? and high consumption of refined carbohydrates like white rice and sugar (the bane of the Thais) than eating coconut products.

I eat as much coconut as I can, both in Thai and UK, and my 6-monthly HDL and LDL levels are always within a healthy range, with low cholesterol and triglycerides too! The seed oil industry will shamelessly disseminate any propaganda or industry-funded (i.e. "you write what we say") research to put down saturated fats, which are actually the healthiest.

Heart disease is largely caused by smoking, drinking, carbohydrates, and the wrong type of fats, e.g. hydrogenated or refined, such as are found on all supermarket shelves.

Read Mercola ... he's a worthy successor to Dr Atkins!