Coco-NUTS for coconut oil!

 

The latest health fad that is trending is coconut oil! It appears to be a go to answer to many

Coconut with jasmine

health and beauty related questions. To examine the legitimacy of all those claims is far too massive of a task to try and undertake in one blog post. In this post, I will specifically be looking at whether consumption of coconut oil has antimicrobial benefits.

First, let’s define what an antimicrobial is. According to the Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site, an antimicrobial is an agent in our bodies which works against microorganisms. Its purpose is similar to that of an antibiotic, the main difference being that an antibiotic is a microorganism developed to fight other microorganisms. An antimicrobial however, is a natural or synthetic material, or a combination of the two, which targets microorganisms, without harming the host too much. Also, with these two terms, we have a square and rectangle situation going on. By that I mean, like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares; the same goes for antibiotics and antimicrobials. In this case, the antibiotic is the square, and the antimicrobial is the rectangle.

A study which was published in the Journal of Medical Foods found that the strongest antimicrobial effects against bacterial were a result of the presence of lauric acid in virgin coconutoilcoconut oil. What makes lauric acid such an effective antimicrobial is the fact that it is a fatty acid. Because of this, they are particularly good are disrupting lipid membranes of the intruding microorganisms. To check the validity of this, I looked for additional research on the topic. A paper in the Asian Journal of Pacific Science, as well as a paper presented at the AVOC Lauric Oils Symposium also saw these benefits.

So it has benefits, should it be taken when you feel a cold kicking in? There was not a lot of information on how to use this information. Perhaps there is a file drawer problem going on if the results are mundane. One book, did connect the beneficial antimicrobial properties to preventative health measure, but it was still vague.

To conclude, because of the lauric fatty acid component which is prominent in coconut oil, it has beneficial antimicrobial properties. What can an SC200 student take away from this? Coconut oil is a good substance to incorporate into one’s diet for general health purposes, and to ward off bacteria which could make you ill. However as far as using it in place of medicine, I would stick to the meds.

Pic Links:

http://blog.amaliebeauty.com/coconut-oil-for-eyelashes-will-it-help/

http://paleogrubs.com/coconut-oil-benefits

2 thoughts on “Coco-NUTS for coconut oil!

  1. ljj126

    I use coconut oil every day. From moisturizer, to cooking, to crafts. There isn’t a lot you can’t do with it! Besides being so healthy with fatty acids, it also works as a great lubricant on stuck zippers. The new fad is oil pulling, I know there has been a lot of talk about it but I don’t know any of the benefits of it. With so many uses, it has to be a good thing!
    https://draxe.com/oil-pulling-coconut-oil/
    So here is what I found, it looks legit! You should give it a try and see if you can tell anything from the results.

  2. Amanda Grace Thieu

    Coconut oil is honestly my life saver sometimes. It’s one of the best things for you whether it’s cooking or taking off my makeup. Literally a miracle natural product. Here’s an article I found that shows an extreme amount of ways to use coconut oil. http://wellnessmama.com/5734/coconut-oil/. I really wonder if there are any other natural products that we don’t know about that has this many heath and beauty benefits as coconut oil. I feel as though the whole coconut oil phenomena has recently surfaced its way to the people’s attention. I wonder when they discovered that coconut oil has so many positive attributes.

Leave a Reply