TastyDesign

Nuts About Coconuts!

Got Coconut Meringue Pie?

In Sanskrit, the coconut palm is known as kalpa vriksha, meaning "tree which gives all that is necessary for living". Nearly all the parts of the coconut tree can be used in some manner or another. The coconut itself has many food uses, including milk, meat, sugar and oil as well as functioning as its own dish and cup! Because ot the moisturizing properties of the oil, and delicious fragrance it is used to make soap and is recommended to keep the hair and skin healthy and beautiful. The husk is used to make brushes, mats, fishing nets, rope and it is also burnt for fuel.

I am very much into cooking healthy and delicious meals. Coconut oil is the best cooking oil available. The only problem is that it is so difficult to find sometimes. The thought have crossed my mind about making my own coconut oil: I do have the coconuts + we need coconut oil, why not trying? I will keep you posted on this project!

Next are two paragraphs on the health benefits of using coconut oil. They were written by Dr. Raymond Peat. The full document could be found at Long Natural Health

"The unsaturated oils in some cooked foods become rancid in just a few hours, even at refrigerator temperatures, and are responsible for the stale taste of left-over foods. (Eating slightly stale food isn't particularly harmful, since the same oils, even when eaten absolutely fresh, will oxidize at a much higher rate once they are in the body, where they are heated and thoroughly mixed with an abundance of oxygen.) Coconut oil that has been kept at room temperature for a year has been tested for rancidity, and showed no evidence of it. Since we would expect the small percentage of unsaturated oils naturally contained in coconut oil to become rancid, it seems that the other (saturated) oils have an antioxidative effect: I suspect that the dilution keeps the unstable unsaturated fat molecules spatially separated from each other, so they can't interact in the destructive chain reactions that occur in other oils. To interrupt chain-reactions of oxidation is one of the functions of antioxidants, and it is possible that a sufficient quantity of coconut oil in the body has this function. It is well established that dietary coconut oil reduces our need for vitamin E, but I think its antioxidant role is more general than that, and that it has both direct and indirect antioxidant activities."

"The anti-obesity effect of coconut oil is clear in all of the animal studies, and in my friends who eat it regularly. It is now hard to get it in health food stores, since Hain stopped selling it. The Spectrum product looks and feels a little different to me, and I suppose the particular type of tree, region, and method of preparation can account for variations in the consistency and composition of the product. The unmodified natural oil is called "76 degree melt," since that is its natural melting temperature. One bottle from a health food store was labeled "natural coconut oil, 92% unsaturated oil," and it had the greasy consistency of old lard. I suspect that someone had confused palm oil (or something worse) with coconut oil, because it should be about 96% saturated fatty acids."

Enjoy your Coconut Meringue Pie! Yum!

Tags: coco, coconut, cookingdiva, pie, panama, personal chef

Protecting Neurons, ETC

I thought you would find it good instruction for a top food lover like yourself! It is an extract from a Health Sciences Institute e-alert. To subscribe to their free service, follow the link at the end of the post.

Hugs,

Melissa

--------------------------------------------
Protecting neurons
--------------------------------------------

"Unsaturated fatty acids are important constituents of neuronal cell membranes and have neuroprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties."

That's how researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, describe the background for their study that appears in a June issue of the journal Neurology. Their objective: determine the possible protection that an intake of unsaturated fatty acids might have on Parkinson's disease risk.

The Erasmus team used data collected from the Rotterdam Study, an ongoing research project in which dietary and medical records for more than 10,000 male and female subjects over the age of 55 are followed to investigate risk factors for chronic diseases. For the Parkinson's study, nearly 5,300 subjects were selected. At the outset of the study, all were free of dementia or Parkinson's, and each subject underwent a complete dietary assessment. Subjects were monitored for an average period of six years.

At the conclusion of the follow up period, 51 subjects had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. The data revealed a significant link between a reduced risk of Parkinson's and the highest intake of total fat, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

One of the primary forms of PUFAs is very familiar to HSI members: omega-3, mostly available through fish, fish oils and grass-fed beef. MUFAs are found in olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds.

--------------------------------------------
B cocktail
--------------------------------------------

Without question, a diet that includes a high intake of MUFAs and PUFAs offers a wide range of health benefits. But increasing your intake of these unsaturated fatty acids is not the only way to reduce Parkinson's disease risk.

In the e-Alert "Elevated Homocysteine..." (3/6/02), I told you about research from the National Institute on Aging that found "the first direct evidence" that elevated homocysteine levels increase the risk of Parkinson's.

The same research team found that homocysteine makes human brain cells more susceptible to the deadly affects of toxins like iron and the pesticide rotenone, which are known to cause some cases of Parkinson's disease. In laboratory tests using human tissues, homocysteine "significantly enhanced [cell death] induced by rotenone and iron."

As we've seen in previous e-Alerts, elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine have been linked with atherosclerosis as well as Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Considerable research has also demonstrated that foods and supplements rich in vitamins B-6, B-12, and folic acid may help reduce homocysteine levels.

Most people who raise their dietary folate intake - by eating asparagus, lentils, chickpeas, cantaloupe, watermelon, wheat germ, most varieties of beans, and especially spinach and other leafy green vegetables - respond with a lower homocysteine reading. But if the diet doesn't do the trick, vitamin supplements often will.

****************************************************
To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsiealert.com/freecopy.html

****************************************************