Recently it occurred to me to explore ways to promote weight loss that don’t require signing up with a commercial “diet” organization, buying the latest “diet” book, or subscribing to one of the multitude of “quick diets” headlined in many magazines. Dieting is stressful. A recent article in “Prevention” says that constant dieting can actually elevate levels of cortisol by as much as 18%! Ironically, dieting can be so stressful that it can actually cause the body to store fat. Certainly there is a saner solution, I thought.
Then I happened to glance at my bookshelf and spotted “The Coconut Oil Miracle” by Dr. Bruce Fife, C.N., N.D. In the winter of 2009 I interviewed Dr. Fife for iHealthTube.com (a great source of natural health information, videos and podcasts) and later had him as a guest on a weekly wellness radio show I co-host. In the interviews Dr. Fife discussed the many health benefits of coconut oil, such as enhancing the immune system. However, looking at Dr. Fife’s book again I spotted the chapter that read “Eat Fat, Lose Weight.” Aha!
It seems Dr. Fife had tried to lose weight at one time by eating low-fat, low-calorie meals, but even though he was eating healthfully, the scale wasn’t budging, nor was he able to get back into his “too tight” pants. In his words, “The only thing dieting accomplished was to make me miserable.” Finally he gave up and gave his favorite clothes away, buying bigger pants and just accepting the status quo.
Following on the heels of that failed diet attempt, Dr. Fife began his research on coconut oil, one of the natural food products that is growing in popularity of late, and started adding it to his diet. “A strange thing happened, “he said. “I didn’t expect it to happen, and I didn’t even notice it until months later. My pants were becoming looser.” It turns out he lost 20 lbs. without trying and attributes it to the coconut oil. He has never regained the weight.
During the low-fat craze coconut oil got lumped in with all the “bad fats” and its reputation is now being restored. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids, MCFAs (as opposed to EFAs, or essential fatty acids), which are digested and utilized differently in the body, producing energy instead of being stored away as fat. It has a strong thermogenic effect. According to Fife, “One food that can rev up your metabolism even more than protein is coconut oil.” He suggests that adding 3 to 3 and half tablespoons a day of coconut oil to a healthy eating plan can result in a slow but painless weight loss.
Some people, like those who've previously tried herbal weight loss programs, might prefer taking coconut oil capsules. Check out Dr. Fife’s videos on iHealthTube.com. The one entitled “Impact of Coconut Oil on Blood Sugar & Diabetes” is excellent and very encouraging. Dr. Fife is one of the 5% of dieters who have been able to maintain weight loss, and is pretty happy about that, with one exception: “I regretted that I’d tossed out all my favorite pants.”
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