Have any of you tried coconut oil for your loved one with dementia?

Yes, I found it helps my mom. Here's how I knew it made some difference anyway. She takes at least 1 sometimes 2 tablespoons a day. In March she had eye surgery and we got off track with her taking it. I should add she takes a few other supplements such as omega 3s. During that time her memory further eroded, her moods and general functioning declined to a point where I had to talk to her every morning to remind her she was at home, wasn't lost, calm her down and walk through starting her day. So I arranged to start her back to taking a least one big tablespoon of the coconut oil and added back the omega 3 and she got better pretty fast. She was at least back to the point of understanding what she needed to do herself in the mornings, like take her blood sugar since she is diabetic and only asked me to confirm her meds and wrote notes herself. Her short term memory is still bad but not as bad as it was when she wasn't taking it. She can still function fairly well given all the problems and her undiagnosed dementia which I'm pretty certain she has. She can still dress, follow her instructions to take meds, prepare meals, wash clothes, etc. I am trying to get in home help a few days a week which I think will help her and my dad for support and increased socialization. If nothing else, it does reduce the caregiver burden so far. I'll take that any day!

Why aren't people shouting this from the rooftops?? Why knows or cares about the whys and wherefores. That is a wonderful thing and thank you for sharing.

Here on this board, I will never fail to mention it on any dementia post to which I respond. It is most definitely one of those "can't hurt, might help" ideas. I'm THRILLED for you!!

I have heard similar testimonials from various clients and families. The reason it is not shouted from roof tops is that no one is making big bucks on it like some of the medications with high price tags and side effects. Any healthfood store is supportive as well as word of mouth. Hard to get money for research if a pharmaceutical isnt involved as they are underwriting most of this type of research at the university level. Pass it on.....

How do you give it? I can't imagine putting a tablespoon of coconut oil in someone's mouth. That sounds unpleasant.

Wow!! I'm going to try this for Granny!! Just 1 tablespoon a day?? You could try to put it in a glass of milk:-) I love coconut & the oil isn't bad. It's def NOT like castor oil! Thank you for posting this! I would have never thought to try it. And what about the OMega3's?? Is that suppose to help also?? Thank you:-)

How do I take 1 tablespoon of coconut oil? Do you put it in a juice?

What you can do if you don't like taking oil by itself is to put it in some kind of food. You can put oil in something like pasta. I do this with any kind of oil that I take into my diet and I still see benefits.

I scramble my moms eggs with it.the unrefined is best I read.

Coconut oil is naturally in a very soft solid form. As soon as it hits your mouth it melts. It is not gross either. Its very bland and can be added to hot tea or anything warm.
My Mom took it for a while. She does not have dimentia but has some memory loss. I need to start having her take it again. My sister inlww's 98 yr old Mom takes it for mouth sores and has noticed a big difference in her memory too.
Since coconut oil is all natural pharmacuetical companies cannot patten it. The doctors knly recommend the drugs as they are taught to do in med school. Only holistic doctors will recommend natural cures.
Olive oil is another good thing to use on the skin. It is a natural exfoliant has vit A and E in it and helps keep moisture in. Great for acne, aging and other skin problems.

I just saw coconut oil in a pill form. Is this the same?

We use coconut oil to do all our cooking. It worked initially for my MIL who had FTD. She was more alert after taking it for a few weeks. However, after that, the improvement stopped. It may be she was in her late stage of FTD. Make sure you watch her weight and her colesterol level.
You can use coconut oil as dressing for salad, spread for your bread, or add it to your drinks. We used to also add it to her rice. But now she refuses to eat rice, so we just add it to her vegetables.

Jb0928-I've tried coconut oil and Omega 3's at separate times with no results but will now try them together. Can you share other supplements that are helpful?

One more thing, only use cold pressed virgin coconut oil. It can be a little pricey. I only buy it when it is on sale at our local health store and bulk barn store. You can also get it at Walmart but I found the price is more compared to local bulk barn stores when they are on sale. I also use the bulk barn discount coupons to make the price more reasonable. Plan ahead. Buy quantity that can last for about 2 months because health store or bulk barn stores usually have it on sale once every 2 months. We in Canada had "Bulk Barn" stores that only sells nuts, sweets, chips, etc in bulk.

My Mom's hospice nurses swear by coconut oil for just about anything...it can be mixed in food or drinks. As an aside, It can also be used externally for skin care to remove makeup, as a cream, as a hair conditioner before shampooing etc. I even tried it in Mom's hair overnight and then shampood....hair was shinier and softer than with any very expensive product. I like it in coffee and put some into Mom's coffee each morning. I believe there are many things in nature meant to be beneficial to us humans but we are led to believe that expensive medications and lotions etc are better because it makes someone else money!

Where is the oil imported from and is it safe? I bought some coconut water this weekend. I read the labels on various cans and it all was from places like Thailand, Vietnam, etc. Do they have standards for their food products? How can we be sure it's bottled with sanitary conditions?

I just read info about coconut oil this week & decided to try it. Today will be the first day ill be including it in my Mom's diet. Hoping it has the effects that I've been reading that it has! As for the pill form someone asked about...I've read that you would need to take 14 or more pills to get the active ingredients in the recommended 1-2 Tbsp of the virgin oil. A friend of mine also told me that the coconut pills are HUGE. I know that would be a "no-go" with my Mom so I bought the bulk oil. It looks like Crisco in the jar but does melt very easily. I tried some myself just to be sure it wasn't going to give her food a funny flavor. I have a hard enough time getting her to eat well without her food getting strange flavors! Anyway, I was pleased to find that it was completely odorless & tasteless & I highly doubt she will notice when it's mixed in. Crossing my fingers that this helps!

I don't know about that but I had sun poisoning and my lips where bleeding as well as I had water blisters and I used on my skin pure Shae butter and it healed leaving no scares I was told hen I got it they use it on burn in other country I used the untreated kind so now I tell evry one to try it people who saw me could find no scares at all

Forgot to mention that make sure you do not dump any residue that contains coconut oil in your drain. It can cog your drain easily. My friend did this to her drain and it created a bit of an issue for her. I always put the residue in a plastic container, put that in a freezer, have it frozen. Take it out of the plastic container and put it in a plastic bag, then throw it in the recycle bin or as garbage depending on the contain.

The coconut oil I give my husband is a capsule. They are pretty big but they go down easily. He takes 2 a day. The recommendation is 4 a day but to work up to 4 a day.
The solid at cool temps can be used in the same way as any other cooking oil. There is also coconut flour, coconut sugar and coconut milk, and coconut water. My daughter uses all of these products but takes the coconut oil as a liquid. It turns into a liquid in your mouth. I know I sound like a commercial and I did feel silly posting this but if yall could see the difference in my husband you just wouldn;t believe it. And the best thing of all is that he says he can tell that he is thinking and speaking better and that makes him happy.

I forgot to add that I ordered ours from Amazon. I didn't even have to go to a health food store to get it.

Hi. Thank you so much for sharing. I swish my mouth with a teaspoon of coconut oil at least a few times a week and then spit it out in the garbage. This is for healthy gums. Then I brush my teeth or rinse the mouth. My deep pockets in my gums were reduced to half!

For other healthy reasons I cook with coconut oil and do not use vegetable oil at all any more. You can add coconut oil in tea or cofee but it makes your veggies taste great.

Wow, I just put some in her cereal today!! I know how many great uses there are I have never heard this....How wonderful I will keep you posted thank you for all of your suggestions, on the omega 3's and olive oil!!

Hi, Sorry I'm late responding. My mom takes the coconut oil straight by the tablespoon in the morning with her breakfast along with the omega 3s. I'm sure there are other products, maybe better, but she does well with taking Nature's Way Liquid Coconut Premium Oil. She then takes a tablespoon of Carlson's Norwegian MedOmega fish oil concentrate lemon lime right after that. She also takes healthdirect liquid multivitamin, kyolic curcummin and jarrow's vitamin d at lunch. She take her meds in the morning and night (insulin, bp and heart meds in AM, statin (20mg atorvastatin) at night. She goes to the doctor every couple months and her vitals have improved, especially her cholesterol. Her doctor knows too what she takes and watches it closely. She said a month ago her numbers were excellent given her health problems. It took about a week for her to get back to where she was before her eye surgery. I can't say it's a cure all with all of this, but so far it's not hurting her and she's lucid most of the time. She has hallucinations but even they are not quite as bad, has the repeating and short term memory, but again not too bad. Yesterday, she was more like herself than in a long time. When I get her to get on the treadmill most days I also notice she does a lot better. And we're working on cutting down the carbs and sugar just a bit more too. One thing, when I get her to take the second tablespoon of coconut oil in the afternoon her symptoms like sundowning and such are greatly reduced. She is 86. Hope this helps some. Jacky

I order mine from vitacost website and am very happy with both the price and quality

I take coconut oil, and would suggest starting in small amounts and working your way up to the dosage you want. It might make you poo, if suddenly start with a couple of tablespoons. I take mine in hot coffee.

I use vitacost to purchase stuff too and good point on starting out slowly in smaller dosage. She didn't do that but it helps with her poo which helps me so I don't get to hear about constipation problems throughout the day. Still, I agree slow and steady.

You can get it in capsule form

I had heard coconut oil was good to help with Dementia. I bought it and started cooking with it but never gave it to my husband in a spoonful. Since reading this post I think I will start giving him a small dose each day and see what happens. I bought mine at a health food store. It is called Premium Coconut oil. Since cooking with it I notice it has helped with my digestive system so I guess it helps to lubricate the intestines. Will post again after giving it to my husband for about a week and let everyone know how it is working.
Thank you sondraO for reminding me about this great discovery.

My wife stayed in bed most of the day, couldn't talk except "yes or no" and gibberish. couldn't walk without support, stopped reading although a lifelong avid reader, was easily confused, could not put a key in a door lock, needed help in the bathroom, etc, etc.

I started her on 1/2 tbs of virgin coconut oil twice a day, and worked up to 2 tbs twice a day in about 10 days. She showed improvement almost immediately in all categories, and now after 3 months of full dosage, the change has been astounding..

She stays up during the day, reads a lot again, watches TV and laughs at appropriate points, walks without help, is vastly more alert, talks, (but still tangles words up), is much more aware of bathroom problems, but still needs a little help.

Memory and reasoning has also improved, but not as much as the physical things. It seems to me the improvement may be slowing somewhat, still improving, but at a slower rate. We both (I take the oil too) have totally eliminated allergy problems (runny nose, sneezing). She is 77, I am 83.

Coconut oil becomes a liquid over 76 degrees. I leave the container on the hot water heater to keep it liquid all the time. Cook with it, and put it on most anything.

My wife also takes Aricept and Namenda (because the neurologist prescribes them, IMO they are useless), and I attribute her vast improvement to coconut oil. I don't know what the long term effects will be, and am sure effects will vary with the individual, but the cost is small, can't hurt, and may help.

PS for the ladies - My wife's hair went from drab gray to shiny, full bodied, and I swear the gray is getting darker.

the coconut oil should be raw unprocessed and preferably organic can get in the food section at supermarket or health food store.