Does coconut oil help people who have Alzheimer's disease?
I haven't seen anything about ingesting coconut oil to battle Alzheimer's & dementia on any mainstream TV shows yet. However my dad called me earlier today and told me to turn on TBN because they were going to have an episode about coconut oil. What they showed was pretty amazing, or at least hopeful. Apparently not everyone can break down glucose in their bodies, which the brain needs for health. Without the glucose, the brain dies. Coconut oil is supposed to have 'keytones' (don't know about the spelling) which take the place of glucose and can travel to the brain to feed it. They have shown marked improvement in not only Alz/dementia patients, but also those who have MS, ALS and Parkinson's. Basically anyone that needs brain help it sounds like to me. You can use it in place of butter and cooking oil they said. It looks nasty in the jar to me, but it melts down pretty good so it can be swallowed by teaspoon, which is what the news lady said she does. Only 0.3% of money raised for Alzheimer's goes into research, so whether they actually will follow thru with this coconut oil idea I don't know. 5 million people have Alzheimer's in the U.S. alone, and the reporter said that Medicare won't survive unless they find a cure. Scary.
ESPECIALLY if one has been existing on a low fat diet, then splurges on something like a cup of real eggnog, or some really good ice cream---that makes for instant whoops!
Virgin cold-pressed, organic coconut oil has components that can heal & protect, in ways other fats can't.
KEY: moderation!
Use a teaspoon at a a time--never take a big spoon of it all at once, if one is not used to eating fats.
ALTERNATELY:
One can use this oil for skin care, as there will be some good stuff absorbed thru the skin, bypassing the digestion.
Coconut oil is somewhat germicidal, killing off some pathogens, so for aging skin, it's a godsend!
Plus, it does NOT stain, & easily washes off with water.
It's great stuff!
But please avoid the deodorized bleached version--that has been processed in ways unhealthy for taking into the body
--high heat & chemicals destroy some components; makes it non-potable--that version is only good to use in soap or candle making---sellers rarely make that clear.
I whole-heartedly agree, as long as both are unprocessed, unadulterated.
[not heated, not homogenized, preferably raw, organic]
Importantly, getting these from local sources when able.
The healthier we become, the more life asserts itself, and the less disease happens.
It would serve the world greatly, on so many levels, to deeply study and revive successful, effective ancient knowledge and practices. There is much to be learned from texts and practices many thousands of years old.
I apologize if you felt it was a debate.
I only intended to share information, with you, and others.
Any can choose to simply not engage.
It's OK.
{{hugs!}}
Guess it depends on what one wants to accept as "evidence".
A good lot of what the PDR [physicians desk reference] first included in their listings, started out with only testimonials from many people using them [like aspirin][only then, it was really derived from white willow bark].
And, medicine used to say "first do no harm" in their oath.
Virgin, cold-pressed Coconut oil is nutritive, and does many wonderous things,
I agree, it is very important to slow down the train on whether it does all the things attributed to it by testimonials--tho, when there is a river of those there must be something to it.
When science tried to find the cancer cure that came from the Brazilian rain forest, they THOUGHT it was the one part of one plant, or maybe a combo of a few plant parts...then it was discovered, there was something necessary from some bug on that plant part, and how it was prepared in it's entirety
....something like that....
so mainstream science pronounced it a failed medicine.
Mainstream also pronounced progesterone from wild yams bogus, too
....yet it works, when done right, and can be grown and made at home--so not patent, and no scalable profit margin..
Just saying, it should be OK to try something, if one is pretty sure it will not cause harm. Replacing butter, margarine, and other oils with virgin cold pressed coconut oil, should be fine trade-off.
One must also include other dietary elements into the equation, when assessing what might work for a person.
One can get very complicated [like, I refuse Spectrum Naturals Brand any more, because their coconut oil has been too often contaminated by burnt plastic smell and taste--that means they are using a questionable process].
There are many things so confusing for most folks to wade thru, because industries have been percolating so much tripe, right alongside the rest of the snake-oil salesmen--from BOTH sides.
That kind of behavior serves no one, and knee-caps BOTH.
I DO know, first hand, that industry does not profit when a "cure" can be grown or made at home; they only profit when they can tweak it to make it patentable and controllable. When industry speaks of profiting, they mean BILLION$+.
If something does not profit hugely enough, they are not interested in developing it [Re: Lorenzo's Oil].
Ayurvedic medicine, done right, has helped or cured plenty of ills western medicine cannot even touch. So has properly done Chinese medicine, which stemmed from the more ancient Ayurvedic practices.
AND, one still must be wary of frauds in these, too
Snake oil comes from all sides.
So do your research; be able to make INFORMED choices.
People want a cure. Something like this comes along with just enough of a shred of hope that it does work and people pile on board. Thousands of people are trying it, yet there's not one single case I've found where there's even strong anecdotal (much less medical) evidence that it even helps.
Now maybe there is some mild positive effect. But there's no evidence to it. I want to see something a little stronger than a suggestion from some lady who is trying to sell a book on the subject. Sure, she's a doctor (or claims to be), so she should understand the necessity of providing documentary evidence, not just her opinion as a wife and, oh yes, an author trying to make money on a book.
I suspect there are probably a few people out there who think maybe it has helped a little. Alzheimer's isn't a direct path downward. People have good days and weeks, even months before they take another step back. People also want to believe something could work. There's just no real evidence of it so far.
That doesn't mean people should not try it. It is a natural nutritional product, most seniors need more healthy fats in their diets, and it may contain some nutrients that a person has been lacking. If so, it might make that person feel better and that would lead to better mental acuity. Let's just not confuse that with reversing or even slowing down Alzheimer's.
BUT...a FEW benefiting, does not make it applicable across the board--
--NOTHING can do that.
So yeah...try what you can, keeping in mind "1st do no harm", and get the Doc to keep track of things, especially when there are other meds involved.
You are right about honey, generally...to do the best job, it needs to be unheated raw honey--that way, the enzymes help with wound healing.
Plain old granulated sugar has been researched for healing fairly deep bedsores, when nothing else is working.
Actually, one pharmaceutical company came out with some gel granules to pack bedsores, that helps drainage and granulation, too...so hospitals tend to use that sort of stuff on those.
in our house, though, we tend to use as many alternatives as we can, and have managed to do a pretty blessed good job of it!
Turmeric does wonderful things: one of the most wonderful, is that it is very anti-oxidant, so it scavenges up garbage and actually helps get rid of pain--we usually use about 2 to 6 capsules a few times a day, as needed, for that.
And correct--coupling turmeric with black pepper allows reducing dose of turmeric, to get as good effects, thereby allowing a person to better tolerate using it longer [this is why there are some good mixtures of herbs--the good ones work synergistically like that] .
NOTE:
Herbals are not automatically "safe" just because they are "natural".
Herbs can have adverse effects, additive effects, and behave as drugs--except that by taking the whole herbal substance indicated, it usually has fewer or less nasty side effects.
One can overdose on herbs, too.
One MUST study up on things, and cross-referrence information.
I have been studying herbs, nutritionals and alternative healing options for over 50 years, and STILL don't know it all!
There is LOTS of data, from MANY traditions,
all traditions have information with good reliable effects, and some that are hogwash.
Then there are the official party lines, which frequently try to convince people that alternatives are bad mojo....!
[some are hogwash, some are not]
Just make sure you learn comprehensive info on how best to use what you choose for alternative healing methods. If you are not sure, ask those who do know, for their input.
The internet is both blessing and curse for getting information,
so be a bit careful!
YES, pure 100% Virgin Coconut oil.
If it is mixed with other oils, one never knows what the results might be, or why.
AND, other oils do not have the same qualities as coconut oil [like non-staining, less residue, etc.--most oils leave too much residue on skin--oily residue that tends to stain--but not coconut oil].
Note: coconut [or any good oil] oil that has been heated too hot in processing, loses benefits, as is the case with most all good oils..
That is where some companies, go terribly wrong--industry rules state that they are allowed to process oils at something around 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
THAT exceeds body temps, which breaks down the goodies in good oils that living organisms need for nutritional purposes....Kinda like a fever in the body destroys germs, and if high enough, cooks brain cells.
Coconut oil, processed at no higher than body temps, is nicely shelf-stable, since it has lots of anti-oxidants in it, and is slightly germicidal. It can be used in and on the body. It can be used instead of butter or margarine, to our benefit.
The key is to use VIRGIN coconut oil, that has been COLD processed. Spectrum Naturals, for instance, is no longer is reliable with this process, and has marketed some contaminated product [smells/tastes like burnt plastic], while ignoring consumer reports to them.
Coconut oil has wonderful properties not found in other oils, when used right.
Yet, can give high lab results for cholesterol:
these must be placed in context of: condition of person, what else they consume, whether they get exercise, etc., to determine if that might be bad or OK, or an artifact of modern lab results that fail to read "bad" and good" forms of cholesterol in real terms.
The brain NEEDS cholesterol, so doe the rest of the body--good fats can help this, while trans/etc bad fats make worse.
Things need to be placed in context.
What industry has been promoting about cholesterol, is skewed for profit-taking reasons, and from ignorance.
Research does support cold-processed, virgin coconut oil as beneficial in very many ways.
It is also great for external use, as it is moisturizing and healing to fragile skin, while being easily washable, and non-staining, generally very safe, and the benefits just keep being found!