A simple tablespoon daily of coconut oil could promote weight loss and improve cardiovascular health, reveals a new clinical study.
A new study titled, “A coconut extra virgin oil-rich diet increases HDL cholesterol and decreases waist circumference and body mass in coronary artery disease patients,” holds great promise in those suffering from overweight, obesity, and heightened cardiovascular disease risk, and against which pharmaceutical approaches often fail.
Coconut oil was once considered a “bad fat,” as it contains saturated fatty acids which conventional nutritionists did not distinguish from synthetically produced ones such as margarine. We know far better now, and increasingly, natural sources of saturated fats are gaining appreciation as not only “not-bad,” but actually beneficial, particularly for the brain. You can check out the first hand literature on coconut’s helath benefits on the GreenMedInfo.com database, or read our article, 13 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Coconut Oil.
The new study evaluated the health effects of a nutritional treatment with extra virgin coconut oil, focusing primarily on how it affects HDL cholesterol and a range of anthropmetric measurements (e.g. body weight, size, circumference).
The average age of the participants was 62.4 ± 7.7 years, with 70% of elderly individuals, and 63.2% of males. All of them were hypertensive and 94.5% had blood lipid profiles indicating “dyslipidemia” and on standard, cholesterol lowering drug treatment.
In the first phase, a three month period, 136 enrollees were put on a standardized diet. From the third month onward, the 116 who completed the first phase were place in two intervention groups: 22 remained on the diet, and 92 were put on the diet + 13 ml (.43 ounces) daily of extra virgin coconut oil, which is equivalent to about 14 grams, or about 1 Tablespoon (15 grams).
The results of the the three-month coconut oil intervention showed that relative to the standard diet, the coconut group saw a decrease in all six of the bodily parameters measured, including:
*Weight: -.6 kilograms (1.322 pounds)
*Body Mass Index: – .2 kg/m2
*Waist Circumference: -2.1 cm
*Neck Perimeter: -4 cm
*Systolic Blood Pressure: -3.3 points
*Diastolic Blood Pressure: -3.5 points
Additionally, the coconut oil intervention group saw a 3.1±7.4 mg/dL increase in HDL cholesterol.
The researchers concluded:
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