Eating Fat Can Boost Your
Immune System

I had been ill for 10 years with mercury poisoning, chemical sensitivities, fatigue, and allergies. Frustrated and broke, I gave up on "convention" and turned to nutrition. After several months of taking coconut oil, cod liver oil, cultured vegetables and probiotic liquids, I began to get stronger and my allergic reactions eventually disappeared. I recovered completely and I did it with nutrition.

We all underestimate the healing power of food and have even demonized fat. For me, food was and is the key to creating and maintaining health. One of these important foods is coconut.

Healing Power of Coconut

Coconut oil is used by the body as energy, not stored as fat. It helps absorb vitamins and minerals, prevent depression, ease muscle and joint pain, kill off bad bacteria and protect the heart from disease. It aids in the production of hormones (some of which relieve allergy symptoms), helps to protect the intestine from leaky gut syndrome (which can cause allergies) and kills candida and parasites. Brushing your teeth with coconut oil can help prevent cavities and plaque. (I recommend virgin coconut oil that is made using a natural fermentation method.)

Coconut oil got a bad reputation when the vegetable industry wanted a share of the cooking oil market. In the 1950's coconut oil was used in all kinds of cookies and processed food. After the market share battle, it was replaced with vegetable oils and trans fats, which are dangerous. Butter, another healthy fat, was replaced by margarine, a trans fat.

"A trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. Trans fats raise the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for coronary heart disease." -Quote from the FDA

Oxidized fats and refined oils, which have been stripped of natural antioxidants, are popular in today's modern diet, especially processed vegetable oils, which have been found to accumulate in arterial plaque. We take antioxidants to counteract them but it is hard to get enough. Coconut oil is stable, does not oxidize easily, is resistant to free radical attack and can act as an antioxidant, helping to prevent the oxidation of other oils. Coconut oil protects the heart and arteries from being injured by viruses, bacteria or free radicals.

The big diet trend was to claim that fat makes you fat. That's true of vegetable oils but not coconut oil. Coconut oil is used as energy; the body doesn't store it and it helps in the absorption of omega 3 fats that are so critical for health.

There are a few rules about cooking with fat, they are simple; use caution with vegetable oils (some are not safe for cooking ), use lower heat and consider using coconut oil or saturated fats like lard, duck fat etc., since they are more stable and less likely to be damaged by heat.

Benefits of Coconut Oil:

Coconut oil boosts the immune system and the metabolism, lowers cholesterol and can reduce the risk of heart disease. It's helpful for those with diabetes, thyroid issues, ulcers, Colitis, Crohns and IBS, HIV, Chronic Fatigue and is easy to digest.

Coconut oil helps to reduce inflammation and the immune response caused by allergies. Topically, it rejuvenates skin, prevents wrinkles, helps to heal wounds and reduce acne. The medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasitic and kill fungus and yeast (Candida).

Lard contains high levels of Vitamin D if it comes from hogs that lived outdoors.  In tropical countries where pigs get to eat coconuts (rich in lauric acid), the lard may also supply lauric acid which is a potent antiviral that boosts immunity.

Fat is Misunderstood

Fat is key in the production of major hormones, hormones that are essential for controlling allergic reactions and other important bodily functions. Fat can be hard to digest, except for coconut oil, which is very easy on the body. Coconut oil helps improve the health of the digestive system.

Know Your Food Supply

Eating nutrient dense whole food is the only way to create long-term health. Medication is usually just a band-aid directed at symptoms. Most disease gets a foothold because of some type of nutritional deficiency, which will manifest again, unless it is resolved. Good health is not a mystery reserved for scientists, it's available to everyone via whole nutritious food, grown organically, in nutrient dense soil.

Meat should come from animals eating natural nutrient dense food instead of processed meal and grains. Food crops fertilized with chemicals and sprayed with pesticides no longer have all the nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy. Many chemicals actually cause nutrient deficiencies in both plants and the soil. Food that has been irradiated and sterilized no longer contains the beneficial enzymes and bacteria that the body needs to maintain digestive flora. Crops grown in nutritionally deficient soil lack the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to create health.

The quality of our food supply depends on our being knowledgeable enough to demand the best and to understand and question where our food comes from and how it's grown. Nutrition in the soil = nutrition in the food = nutrition for the body.

References:

• http://coconutboard.nic.in/cdb.htm
• Coconut Oil Miracle, by Bruce Fife.
• Full Moon Feast

About the Author:
Beverly Hartsfield is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, the owner of www.earthincommon.com and the administrator of www.ntptalk.com.  After suffering from mercury poisoning, chemical sensitivities, allergies, Candida, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue, she restored her health with nutrition. You can contact her via email at ideas@earthincommon.com.

The statements and products shown on this website have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.  The opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and are not necessarily those of NTPtalk.com.