Tapping the tree of life for natural-healing food
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
Coconut water as sports drink
Coconut researcher Bruce Fife, a naturopath doctor, writes in his book that electrolytes, also known as ions, are atoms or molecules with an electrical charge. The ability to charge allows electric current to flow through our bodies and facilitate many biological functions. We lose these electrolytes through sweat, urine, etc. That is why athletes need to replenish their body after every workout.
Commercial sports drinks list more ingredients that are far from natural and whose function is for taste, texture and stability rather than nutrition. Mainly water, the ingredients of the sports drinks are sucrose and high fructose syrup, and their sole source of electrolytes is salt.
Coconut water has 100 percent all natural ingredients with no preservatives. It is a liquid endosperm with a natural combination of easily absorbable electrolytes, sugars, amino acids and other nutrients compatible with the body. Compared with commercial sports drinks, buko juice has more minerals and nutrients—including sodium and potassium—and significantly less sugar than most natural fruit juices. In comparison, no amount of water can replenish the lost liquids. Without a source of electrolytes, drinking only water, aside from causing discomfort and bloating, dilutes the remaining electrolytes in your bloodstream which can send you to the hospital.
Christine E.V. Gonzales, a naturopath doctor, attests that coconut water was her main source of fluids when she had dengue fever. She has prescribed it for the treatment of dehydration caused by the fever.
Coconut oil as brain tonic
Dr. Mary Newport reports on how a dietary change to coconut oil, equivalent to 35 grams (over 2 tbsps) a day, slowed down the progress of her husband’s Alzheimer’s :
“We put [coconut oil] in oatmeal, combine it with salad dressings, use it to cook with, and put it [as] butter on potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, pasta or noodles. Coconut ice cream [which] contains coconut oil is the most pleasant way to make ketone bodies (a brain tonic needed to protect the neurons). Likewise, coconut milk, which is a combination of oil and [cream], is a pleasant substitute for dairy, and can be added to make scrambled eggs, French toast and mashed potatoes.”
Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic doctor, whose website has been the most visited natural- health site, has long been recommending pure coconut oil as the only stable and safe oil for cooking.
Biochemist Fabian Dayrit confirms that healing benefits can also be derived from refined, bleached and deodorized cooking oil from copra, noting that its primary healing properties are not lost in the
processing.
Equivalent amounts of beneficial VCO:
7 OZ.
HALF A COCONUT
2 ¾
CUPS
SHREDDED
MEAT
10 OZ.
NONDAIRY
MILK
3 ½ TBSP
PURE NATURAL OIL
(Cesar Villariba Jr. is a member of the board of the Philippine Coconut Authority. E-mail the author: [email protected])
SOURCES: Philippine Coconut Authority / www.vitalityconcepts.com / Bruce Fife, ND, “The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil,” “Coconut Water for Health and Healing” / Mary Newport, MD, “What If There is a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease and No One Knew?”
