Fats and Oils:
The Various Forms and
Why Coconut Oil
is the Healthiest

Fats and oils, contrary to popular belief, is a vital food group necessary for achieving optimal health. But it’s true that not all are the same and unfortunately, no other is as incredibly healthy as coconut oil.

There are two ways of classifying fatty acids – Saturation and Fatty Acid’s Carbon Chain Length

Saturation

This is probably the one you’re familiar with. Do saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats ring a bell?

So-called “health experts” contend that saturated fatty acids (of which coconut oil is the star) are unhealthy and that mono- or poly-unsaturated fatty acids are the good guys. Yeah, right! [slaps forehead]

Fatty Acid’s Carbon Chain Length

There are three groupings of fats based on the molecular size of the carbon chain in the fatty acid:

• Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) or Short Chain Triglycerides (SCT)
• Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA) or Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT)
• Long Chain Fatty Acids (LCFA) or Long Chain Triglycerides (LCT)

** A triglyceride is simply three fatty acids joined together by a single glycerol molecule.

All fatty acids are made of a chain of carbon atoms with varying numbers of hydrogen atoms attached to them. Each carbon atom can hold up to two hydrogen atoms only.

All this atom-talk can be dizzying, I know. You’ll soon see that the completeness or lack of hydrogen atoms in the chain has a lot to do with how beneficial or dangerous each Fat can be.

Depending on the number of hydrogen atoms affixed to each carbon atom, fatty acids or triglycerides can be:

• Saturated – two(maximum) hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon atom
  
• Monounsaturated – lacking a pair of hydrogen atoms
  
• Polyunsaturated – more than two hydrogen atoms are missing

The degree of polyunsaturation increases as more hydrogen atoms are lacking, creating weak links in the chain. Folks, these weak connections have far-reaching implications on your health.

Saturated Fats are Much Healthier than They Say

Foods prepared with saturated fats will stay fresh considerably longer than preparing them using unsaturated fats. Food manufacturers have known this fact for decades. Why do you think they have been hydrogenating polyunsaturated vegetable oils like crazy since heaven knows when?

Hydrogenation is a process wherein unsaturated oils are chemically changed to become more saturated. Isn’t this ridiculously ironic?

Here they are trying to convince the whole world that saturated fats are bad when, behind the scenes, they are making their unsaturated products as saturated as possible. [slaps forehead again]

Saturated fats are good for you, otherwise, God would not have created them. So what are examples of fats you should and shouldn't eat?

Why is Coconut Oil Uniquely the Healthiest?

Coconut oil is 92% saturated. But unlike animal fats like beef tallow and lard, coconut oil is predominantly (two-thirds) medium chain fatty acids (MCFA).

There are actually very few that are essentially MCFAs. In fact, almost all other fats and oils (saturated or unsaturated, plant- or animal-based) are mostly, if not entirely, long chain fatty acids (LCFA). The oil of the humble coconut is nature's richest source of health-boosting MCFAs. :-)

The benefits of these smaller MCFAs range from giving you beautiful hair and skin, to killing the viruses responsible for AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

MCFA Superiority

Not all fats and oils are alike. MCFA-oils such as coconut oil are very different from LCFA-oils like sunflower, corn, safflower and canola oils. Their Absorption, Transport, Metabolism and Uses are completely unlike each other.

Your body needs pancreatic digestive enzymes and bile to digest LCFA-rich soybean oil, for instance. LCFAs circulate your entire body.

LCFAs are the source of the fat that accumulates in your fat cells. And they are also the source of the fat that accumulates in and clogs your artery walls.

In contrast, MCFA-rich coconut oil does not need pancreatic digestive enzymes and bile at all. MCFAs are readily digested and goes straight to your liver to power metabolism.

MCFAs rarely contribute to fat buildup because...

COCONUT OIL IS PRO-ENERGY, NOT PRO-FAT!


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Beyond Coconut Oil: You Must Take Control of Your Health!

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