admin | January 2, 2015 | Diet & Weight Loss, Health |
Weight loss associated with coconut oil is related to the length of the fatty acid chains contained in coconut oil. Coconut oil is consisted of what are called medium chain fatty acids, or medium chain triglycerides (MCTs for short).
These medium chain fatty acids are different from the common longer chain fatty acids found in other plant-based oils. How so? – Well, most vegetable oils are composed of longer chain fatty acids, or triglycerides (LCTs). While MCTs are burned for energy, LCTs are typically stored in the body as fat. MCTs burn up quickly in the body.
Nature’s richest source of MCTs is coconut oil. What coconut oil does is it increases metabolic rates and leads to weight loss. MCTs promote thermogenesis. The body’s metabolism is increased by the thermogenesis and so energy is produced. A string of researches in Japan have shownthat when you consume a food rich in MCTs such as coconut oil, the MCTs are absorbed and transported directly into the liver via the portal vein.
When LCTs are switched with MCTs in your diet, your body is much less inclined to store fat. Furthermore, when you eat sensibly, a diet containing MCTs is more effective than a low-fat diet at decreasing stored fat.
In a human study, the metabolic effects of 400-calorie meals of MCTs and LCTs were compared, by measuring metabolic rates prior to and six hours following the test meals. The results showed that the MCT-containing meals caused an average 12 percent increase in basal metabolic rate as compared with a 4 percent increase with the LCT-containing meal. These results showed that replacing dietary fats with MCTs couldover long periods of time produce weight loss even in the absence of reduced [caloric] intake.
The richest source of MCTs is coconut oil. Apart from raising the body’s metabolism thus leading to weight loss, it has special health-giving properties as well.The most predominant MCT in coconut oil is lauric acid.Lipid researcher Dr. Jon Kabara stated: “Never before in the history of man is it so important to emphasize the value of Lauric Oils. The medium-chain fats in coconut oil are similar to fats in mother’s milk and have similar nutriceutical effects. These health effects were recognized centuries ago in Ayurvedic medicine. Modern research has now found a common link between these two natural health products—-their fat or lipid content. Outside of a human mother’s breast milk, coconut oil is nature’s most abundant source of lauric acid and medium chain fatty acids.”
Source: Organic Health