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Cardiovascular disease or simply heart disease is a general term for all disorders of the heart and blood vessels.
Atherosclerosis, the most common heart disease by far, sets the stage for high blood pressure or hypertension, including, heart attack and stroke.
There are many factors that influence blood pressure. Dietary fat consumption, particularly polyunsaturated fats, is one of them.
High blood pressure is believed to affect more than a third of American adults. The typical Western diet is full of omega-6 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). No wonder one third of the United States adult population is hypertensive.
Soybean oil, corn oil and most other vegetable oils are predominantly omega-6 fatty acids. Your body converts these polyunsaturated fats into prostaglandins that:
- constrict blood vessels
- increase inflammatory response, and
- increase blood platelet stickiness
… all of which elevate blood pressure and encourage atherosclerosis.
Coconut oil is 92% saturated and contains a unique and relatively rare type of fat molecules called medium chain fatty acids (MCFA).
MCFAs are not transformed into prostaglandins. For this reason, MCFA-rich coconut oil does not have the detrimental effects omega-6 fatty acids have.
If you eat any type of cooking oil, shortening, margarine, or any frozen or processed food, chances are, you are consuming omega-6 fats.
By using MCFA-rich coconut oil for all your cooking and food preparation needs, you will reduce the excessive amount of omega-6 fats in your diet, thus diminishing the blood pressure-elevating effects of these prostaglandins.
In a study of two groups of Polynesians, it was discovered that the group who ate 89% of their fat as coconut oil had lower blood pressure values than those who consumed only 7%.
Coconut oil for blood pressure? Absolutely! Like I said, coconut oil consuming populations generally have better blood pressure numbers than those who don’t.
REFERENCES:
33. Hunter, T. D. Fed Proc 21, Suppl. 1962;11:36 Quoted by Kaunitz, H. Nutritional properties of coconut oil. APCC Quarterly Supplement 30 December 1971, p 35-57.
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