Are there any drawbacks to coconut? page

[NoMoreGrains]

In the past few months, I have learned that many foods that I once thought of as undeniably healthy, turned out to have some major disadvantages due to bad omega 6/omega 3 ratio, large carb content, various anti-nutrients, etc. I would love to eat more coconut products, and was wondering if there are any noteworthy drawbacks. According to this:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/n...roducts/3106/2
what little bit of unsaturated fat coconut has is higher in mono, and though it has no omega 3, the omega 6 content is very low, especially compared to most nuts and seeds that I used to think highly of.

[Allbeef Patty]

Only if one falls while you're walking under the tree.

But I have heard that the anti-viral effects can lead to imbalanced intestinal flora.

[Chaohinon]

Some people have terrible reactions when using coconut oil as a skin cleanser, but chalk that up to allergies. I would suggest seeing if it does that to you, in which case you might not want to put it in your body either.

[Metismomma]

It can cause some pretty intense detox reactions and I think it can mobilize heavy metals in your system. Its definitely something you need increase slowly.

[fyrespryte]

Are anti-virals and anti-bacterials the same thing? I know that Coconut Oil is used extensively to combat candida. For severe candida overgrowth, I thought that that was the point where it turned into more of a fungus or something else that was no longer bacteria. I've been concerned that I may have a candida overgrowth (I haven't been tested and I haven't found a lot of solid information on it online so I haven't tried any of the protocols that are recommended.) I'm focusing right now on just trying to introduce more varied good bacteria into my gut. I was going to go out and buy some coconut oil. Does anyone know if that's going to be detrimental to me rebuilding my gut flora?

[cerebelumsdayoff]

I think the major drawback to coconuts is that they are just too damn good.

[Stabby]

That's not a drawback

To my knowledge, monolaurin is utilized by the immune system to pwn enemies in the face. As we know from Mark's posting, our good gut flora are seen as friends and parts of the immune system so I don't think this will be disruptive to gut flora.

[Darthash]

well i just ordered 1.8L of coconut oil, so i am happy

[MikeEnRegalia]

Lauric acid only acts against some groups of bacteria and viruses. It is fatty acid, and apparently some of these bacteria and viruses have membranes which lauric acid can infiltrate (it gets absorbed by the membrane and becomes part of it). But since lauric acid is too flexible (liquid), the more lauric acid is absorbed, the more instable the membrane becomes, and eventually it breaks down and the organism dies.

As I remember it from the books, it just so happens that the good bacteria have different membranes. :-)

[beckinwolf]

It's only a problem if you are allergic, like me... It's so unfair. I get hives if I eat it or use it as a lotion. The worst part is, is that I love the taste and flavor, but its not worth the risk of getting a reaction.