Sunday, January 6, 2013

Coconut oil helps fight Alzheimers!

I myself am a coconut lover and constantly am finding new recipes and ways to utilize the giant nut. At Fruit Occasions we use coconut powder and flakes in our Pina Coloda Smoothies, and as topping on our chocolate dipped fruit (Bananas dipped in dark chocolate then rolled in coconut... YUM!!!). I have been an advocate for extra virgin coconut oil and it's benefits for a long time now, but its always exciting to see articles that reinforce it's spectacular benefits. There are SO MANY good reasons to indulge in coconut and here is another!
Fruit Occasions' Box of Berry-ied Treasures!
Chocolate covered strawberries rolled in coconut! Irresistable!
Out of all the videos viewed on our CBN News website last year, the most popular by far showed how coconut oil helps some Alzheimer's patients. More than 5 million people watched it.
Now, some heavy-hitters within the Alzheimer's medical establishment are also taking notice.
The video told the story of Steve Newport, whose Alzheimer's symptoms reversed after he started taking coconut oil.
His wife, Dr. Mary Newport, a Florida neonatologist, documented her husband's astounding progress in her book, Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was A Cure?
The Alzheimer's clock test illustrated Steve's dramatic improvement. The clock he drew before taking coconut oil barely even resembled a clock.
Two weeks into the treatment he drew a clock which was noticeably better, and after just five weeks the improvement continued. (See below.)
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Fight Alzheimer's Disease With Coconut Oil
First Human Study
Steve's story spread like wildfire. His wife has since been busy gathering the reaction.
"Some of these responses have been quite dramatic," Dr. Newport said. "I do have a collection now of almost 220 reports, mostly from caregivers and some from the person themselves, reporting that they saw improvement after they started taking coconut oil."
All these testimonials are turning the Alzheimer's community on its ear. For example, at the world-renowned Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, people can't stop talking about them.
"When a patient or a family member comes in with a patient, and they're interviewing with the physicians, they always have a question, 'I've heard about coconut oil. What's going on with that,'" Dr. David Morgan, chief executive officer for the Institute, said.
"And at least up until this time all we can say is there's anecdotal information, that it may be beneficial, but there hasn't been any kind of research study that's ever been done," he said.
That's about to change with the Institute's first study of how coconut oil affects human beings with Alzheimer's. If the study finds evidence that coconut oil helps, doctors will finally have the proof they need to begin recommending it to their patients.
"I think they feel uncomfortable making a recommendation for something that they don't feel justified by the science behind it," Morgan said. "And that's part of the reason we're going to do the study, is to determine, can we then provide that justification."
How It Works
Here's how it appears the coconut oil works. In patients with Alzheimer's, insulin resistance prevents their brain cells from accepting glucose, their primary fuel. Without it, the cells die.
But there is an alternate fuel known as ketones, which cells easily accept. Ketones are metabolized in the liver after eating coconut oil.
Insulin resistance doesn't just affect people with Alzheimer's but also folks with dementia, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's, ALS, even autism.
So can coconut oil help these people, too? It appears so, at least some of them.
For example, doctors diagnosed Sam Stout with Parkinson's disease seven years ago. He soon began losing the ability to perform many function.
But five months ago he started taking coconut oil and his life changed again.
"I can now write. I've written letters, which I haven't done in three years," he said. "I can swirl a wine glass; I can beat an egg; I can grate cheese. All these things I couldn't do. And I think I have better balance."
He also noticed mental and emotional improvement.
"I think I'm clear-headed, more clear-headed," he remarked. "People have said to me, 'You look great this year,' and I can only attribute it to the coconut oil because that's the only thing that's changed."
Testimonies Aplenty
Then there's Butch Machlan, an American living in Mexico City, who has suffered with ALS for almost five years. He said his symptoms have reversed thanks to coconut oil.
Machlan demonstrated his success by picking up a snow globe.
"I can pick (this) up,and there was a time when I had difficulty with that," he explained, "Not just picking it up, but holding on to it, getting my fingers to go around it, and that's gone."
While Machlan isn't walking perfectly, his legs are stronger and about to get even better.
"I have bad knees from the past," he said. "But I've improved enough that the doctors have said that I qualify for a new knee in my left leg."
So while not everyone has experienced great results with coconut oil, there are plenty who have, enough that the medical community will spend time and money learning exactly who it helps and why.
Coconut Oil Concentrate
As if coconut oil were not good enough, there is a super-concentrated form of coconut oil, called "ketone ester" that packs an ever greater punch than regular coconut oil. That means it could be even better for people with diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to autism.
A newly released medical report documents a study of mice with Alzheimer's disease who were fed ketone ester in their diet compared to the mice who did not receive the ester. The mice who were fed the ester experienced less amyloid and tau proteins, two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers also saw improvements in the mice's learning and memory performance as well as decreased anxiety.
While that study is encouraging, there is a problem. Before the ketone ester can be made available to the general public, it must first be studied on human beings. Unfortunately, the funding is severely lacking to make enough of of ketone ester to do this testing.
The National Institutes of Health has been committed to funding the production of the ester up until now. But that funding is set to run out, thwarting the human study and thus depriving the general population of the healing benefits of the ketone ester.
HELPFUL HINT:
There is a new coconut oil product now available online in which many will be interested. This is a creamy, very tasty liquid food called Fuel for Thought. It's what Sam Stout, (mentioned above) takes daily and it is also what will be used in the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute's human study. It can be purchased here.
This product was formerly called "cocomul" and was mentioned in the book, Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was A Cure?
The liquid is packaged in one-ounce bottles, which are especially helpful for people in assisted living and for people living on their own with memory impairment.
It is very easy to take "as is," which eliminates the need to come up with creative ways to include coconut oil in other foods. It also contains concentrated MCT oil, the active ingredient in coconut oil.
Fuel For Thought® is in limited pre-production and currently taking reservations for the product. As supplies become available, orders are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Availability will depend on the number of reservations.
(Content taken from CBN news; found here )
Johnson, Lorie. "Christian Broadcasting Network." Alzheimer's Doctors Taking Note of Coconut Oil. Christian Broadcasting News, 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Jan. 2013.

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