by Chris Kresser [1]
The Healthy Skeptic [2]
Excerpts:
[Coconut milk] is high in saturated fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which are both easily burned as fuel by the body. MCTs are particularly beneficial in that they don’t require bile acids for digestion, and they’re directly shunted to the liver via the portal vein.
So what could be wrong with coconut milk? Here are three things to consider.
Bisphenol-A
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical that has been used in consumer goods since the 50s. It’s found in reusable drink containers, DVDs, cell phones, eyeglass lenses, automobile parts and sports equipment. One of the highest sources of BPA is cash register receipts.
We’ve known for decades that BPA has estrogenic activity. In vivo animal studies and in vitro cell-culture research has linked low-level estrogenic activity associated with BPA exposure to all kinds of fun stuff, like diabetes, ADHD, heart disease, infertility and cancer.
Is BPA exposure common? You bet. This CDC report found BPA in the urine of 93% of adults [3]. Perhaps most troubling is that companies like Nestle, Similac, Enfamil and PBM all use BPA in the linings of metal cans [4] holding baby formula. This is scary in light of a recent study [5] which found an association between neurobehavioral problems in infants and high levels of BPA in their mothers.
Okay, back to coconut milk. BPA is used in the lining of certain canned foods. BPA especially leaches into canned foods that are acidic, salty or fatty, such as coconut milk, tomatoes, soup, and vegetables.
Coconut milk can also be made quite easily at home, with coconut flakes, a blender and cheesecloth. Here’s a video to show you how [6] (get a load of the soundtrack). I find that blanching the coconut flakes prior to blending improves the results.
Guar gum
The other potential problem with canned coconut milk is guar gum. Guar gum is a galactomannan, which is a polysaccharide consisting of a mannose backbone with a galactose side group. It’s primarily the endosperm of guar beans.
Beans and legumes have a variety of compounds in them that make them difficult to digest, especially for people with digestive problems (1 in 3 Americans, from the latest statistics).
In my clinical experience, many patients with gut issues improve when they remove guar gum from their diet – including canned coconut milk.
Read the full article here: http://thehealthyskeptic.org/3-reasons-why-coconut-milk-may-not-be-your-friend [2]