Health Impact News
Three new studies on coconut oil were published in peer-reviewed journals in the past couple of months.
In the June 4, 2011 volume of Lipids, a study was published by the Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences of West Virginia University entitled “Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid Induces Lipolysis in Adipose Tissue of Coconut Oil-Fed Mice but not Soy Oil-Fed Mice [1].” The study found that mice fed diets containing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) are leaner than mice not fed CLA, and that the anti-obesity effect is amplified in mice fed coconut oil-containing or fat free diets, compared to soy oil diets. This confirms the historical evidence that traditional diets high in saturated fats like coconut oil are more beneficial in weight management than newer diets high in expeller-pressed polyunsaturated oil like soy oil. The study also reinforces the importance of obtaining CLA from grass-fed meats [2], as opposed to grain-based feed-lot meats.
The abstract is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21643838 [1]
In the March/April 2011 Journal of Cosmetic Science, a study was published from the Bombay College of Pharmacy in Mumbai, India entitled “Hair breakage index: An alternative tool for damage assessment of human hair [3].” The study was conducted to determine a simple and effective tool for determining hair damage and its protection by different hair care products, the “hair breakage index” (HBI). HBI is defined as:
HBI is a measure of the diameter of hair in a given cross sectional area of a marked region of hair on the scalp. The hair diameter changes as we progress towards the tip of the hair due to breakage. The ratio of the diameter of hair bundle in the distal region to the diameter of hair bundle in the proximal region from the scalp is used as an indicator of hair breakage. Higher HBI value is an indicator of hair damage.
The study apparently looked at two groups of 30 subjects: one group with regular “grooming practices” and one group which oiled their hair daily with coconut oil. The results found significantly more hair breakage in the group that did not use coconut oil. Abstract here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21635848 [3]
Another study was just published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition by the University of San Carlos in Cebu City in the Philippines entitled: “Coconut oil is associated with a beneficial lipid profile in pre-menopausal women in the Philippines [4].” This study was similar to a study done earlier this year in Sri Lanka [5], another coconut producing country with high coconut oil consumption, which showed that coconut consuming cultures do not suffer negatively from heart disease, or in the case of this study, from what is considered “negative” blood cholesterol and triglyceride markers. The abstract is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21669587 [4]
Copyright 2011 Coconutdiet.com – Permission granted to republish with original source from coconutdiet.com [6] or Health Impact News referenced.
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