The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife
Book Review
The Coconut Oil Miracle, 4th ed., by naturopathic doctor and certified nutritionist Bruce Fife, is the first book that brought the scientific research about coconut oil benefits to the general public.
This book created such demand for coconut products and their unique health benefits, that it restored the world market for coconuts! Additional information and more detail is added in another of Fife's books, Coconut Cures.
Coconut oil, a healthy fat that doesn't spoil, was generally used in baked goods and other processed foods into the 1980's. But by 1990, coconut oil was gone from the American diet and replaced by hydrogenated soybean oil. How did that happen?
The American Soybean Association and other groups targeted "tropical oils," such as coconut oil and palm oil, and started a smear campaign. The public became fearful of coconut oil and its supposed danger to the heart.
Food processors then replaced coconut oil with soybean oil. To be made usable and to keep it from spoiling, soybean oil had to be "hydrogenated." This processing creates trans fat, the most harmful kind of fat.
Trans fat is believed to cause 30,000 deaths a year, and to be responsible for much heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Now, because of the food processing industry's use of hydrogenated soybean oil, some 30% of American vegetable oil is in the form of trans fat; some 15% of overall dietary fat is trans fat.
But, says Fife, just look at the health of the real people of the tropics who use coconut oil, other coconut products, and palm kernel oil!
The people of the Pacific Islands have a striking lack of heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Some of these groups get as much as 60% of their calories in the form of fat from coconuts.
Studies in peer-reviewed medical and nutrition journals, such as this study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Cholesterol, Coconuts, and Diet on Polynesian Atolls, have investigated the good heart health of Pacific islanders. A diet high in coconut oil, these studies show, doesn't mean high cholesterol or poor heart health. Pacific Islanders who live on coconuts have good cholesterol levels and excellent cardiac health!
Further scientific studies show that coconut oil, which is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibiotic, actually prevents arteriosclerosis.
In this book:
- The science of coconut oil
- Basic facts about fats and oils
- Lists of the bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that coconut oil, a "super microbial," has been shown to kill
- Why coconut oil helps in weight loss
- Coconut oil's uses on the skin and hair
- Research on coconut oil in illnesses such as diabetes, gallbladder disease, and others
There's information about how to buy coconut oil, and about coconut milk, coconut water, and other coconut products.
There are suggestions for replacing unhealthful oils with healthy coconut oil, and using coconut oil in cooking.
A section of easy recipes includes beverages, muffins and pancakes, dressings, cold salads, soups and stews, fish and skillet dishes.
The Coconut Oil Miracle is a great overview of all the benefits of the superfood, coconut oil.
See The Coconut Oil Miracle, 5th Edition