There’s more to coconut than just copra.
“An array of products vital to man’s daily life can be derived from this amazing tree,” says Dr. Patricio Faylon, a recognized agricultural policy expert and a luminary in research and development community. “The Philippines is fortunate to have planted large areas to this crop, making the country one of the top coconut producers in the world.”
Copra or dried coconut meat is the main products of coconuts. It has high oil content, as much as 64%. Coconut oil, which is the most readily digested among all fats of general use in the entire world, furnishes about 9,500 calories of energy per kilo. Its chief competitors are soya bean oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil.
“It is not enough that we plant the most number of trees or produce the highest number of nuts,” pointed out Dr. Faylon. “It is getting the highest value and benefits from this crop that matters most. The best way to do this is to transform the nuts and other coconut parts into high-value products.”
One such product is virgin coconut oil (VCO). Most scientists believe coconut oil is most potent when it’s virgin – that is, extracted through pressing without the use of heat. Thanks to the pioneering work of the late Dr. Julian Banzon and his protégé, Dr. Teresita Espino, the chemistry of virgin coconut oil (VCO) has been known and its beneficial effects on the human body have been confirmed.
“VCO is a natural oil from fresh, mature kernel of the coconut,” explains the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) in its Compendium of Commercially-Viable Coconut Technologies. “It can be obtained through mechanical or natural means. It can also be processed with or without the use of heat.”
Unlike the commercial coconut oil, VCO does not undergo chemical refining, bleaching, or deodorizing that leads to the alteration of the oil. The product is suitable for consumption without the need for further processing.
In Davao Region, one entrepreneur who uses VCO in his products is Alvin Louie Ang from Pantukan, Compostela Valley. He has developed beauty products with VCO as the main ingredient.
“I decided to broaden the use of coconuts, which are abundant in my province, by creating products which are considered a necessity,” Ang says. He thought of beauty soap. “These days, it is really hard to find an organic soap of good quality that is not very expensive. With that, I was inspired to make some VCO-based beauty soaps and perfumes.”
In the United States, VCO has increasingly becoming popular in natural food circles and with vegans. It was described in a New York Times article as having a “haunting, nutty, vanilla flavor” that also has a touch of sweetness that works well with baked goods, pastries, and sautés.
It was the late National Scientist Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit, touted to be the Father of VCO, who popularized the coconut product. His book, The Truth About Coconut Oil, became a bestseller and elevated coconut oil from folk medicine to a scientific therapy. He found that VCO is sort of a drug “that regulates the body’s functions and defense mechanism. It restores the normal balance of tissues or cells that have become dysfunctional.”
Since the publication of the book fourteen years ago, the VCO has gone a long way. Because of many anecdotal evidences, which are hard to ignore, several studies have been carried out on it.
Last year, during the First World Coconut Congress, a neonatologist pointed out that VCO can be used as adjuvant treatment for cancer. In the Philippines, nine Filipinos are diagnosed with cancer every hour, based on recent data released by the Department of Health and the Philippine Cancer Society Inc.
“Clinical trials on the use of VCO in ketogenic diet as supportive treatment for cancer has been shown to be highly promising under a clinical trial at the Paracelsus Medical University (PMU) in Salzburg, Austria,” said a press released circulated by the Growth Publishing.
The home-produced VCO is a recognized source of beneficial fatty acid metabolized in the liver as ketones in ketogenic diets. In the PMU clinical trial, the target is for ketogenic diet to achieve the so-called “Warburg effect,” where cancer cells are prevented from using glycolysis in order to produce the organic chemical ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) needed in the multiplication of cancer cells.
“Based on the results of rigorous preclinical and clinical studies performed thus far, the ketogenic diet would appear to be a promising and powerful option for adjuvant therapy for a range of cancers,” the PMU study said.
Dr. Mary Newport she cited the PMU study in her presentation during the coconut congress. “It’s now being (used) for cancer because cancer cells like sugar. Some cancer cells use 200 times more sugar than the normal cell. They ferment sugar, the mitochondria ferments sugar. They don’t metabolize it normally. But most cancer cells don’t use ketones effectively as fuel,” she said.
In her presentation, “Combining Coconut Oil and Low Carbohydrate, Higher Fat Diet for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other Diseases,” Dr. Newport said: “Ketogenic diet attempts to starve the tumor, the cancer cells. But basically, your healthy cells and your brain can use ketones. So, it can help in cancer.”
VCO is reportedly rich in lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) that is converted to monolaurin by the human body. “When MCFAs are metabolized (in the human body), ketone bodies are created in the liver,” writes Ty Bollinger, a best-selling author, medical researcher, and health freedom advocate.
But what excites researchers about VCO is its lauric acid content. “Fifty percent of coconut oil is lauric acid, a compound found in human breast milk, which makes it one of the best food sources for this nutrient available,” Bollinger notes. Lauric acid, if you care to know is beneficial in deterring parasites, bacteria, fungi, yeasts and viruses.
According to some studies, one tablespoon of VCO contains 14 grams of total fat, of which 12 grams are saturated. Most of the saturated fat found in most food like meat and cheese are considered long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). In comparison, the saturated fat in coconut oil mostly comprised of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).
The MCTs are easier for the human body to metabolize than LCTs. “While MCTs do not shrink cancer by themselves, but they have proved promising as a treatment for cancer,” a report said.
Unknowingly, VCO is also good for those having sexual problems. The results of a clinical study done by the University of Santo Tomas on the effects of the extra VCO on cholesterol levels showed some of the participants to have “higher sex drive during the test phase.”
“It was an interesting observation that 13% of the VCO takers experienced becoming sexually active in the whole duration of their participation in the VCO study,” said Dr. Christina Binag, who headed the study.
The Philippines has introduced VCO to the world in 2000-2001 and remains to be world’s number one VCO exporter. In 2015, VCO was exported to 46 countries, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines said. The top importers were United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, and Japan. Other destinations were Belgium, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia. Smaller volumes went to Malaysia, Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa, France, China, Singapore and Czechoslovakia. (To be concluded)
