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HEALTH BENEFIT OF Bio-Asli
VIRGIN COCONUT OIL
The numerous health benefits
of coconut oil are .
1. Promoting
heart health ...
2. Promoting weight
loss when and if you need it
...
3. Supporting your
immune system health ...
4. Supporting a
healthy metabolism ...
5. Providing an
immediate energy source for
you ...
6. Helping to keep
your skin healthy
and youthful looking ...
7. Supporting the
proper functioning of your
thyroid gland ...
Bio-Asli VIRGIN COCONUT OIL
AS A FUNCTIONAL FOOD
A Functional Food
is defined as food that
provides a health benefit
over and beyond the basic
nutrients.
This
is exactly what fatty acids
contained in Bio-Asli Virgin
Coconut Oil. As a functional
food, virgin
coconut
oil has fatty acids which
provide both energy
(nutrients) and raw material
for antimicrobial
monoglycerides (functional
component) when it is eaten.
Approximately 50% of the
fatty acids in virgin
coconut oil are
lauric acid.
Lauric acid is a
medium-chain saturated fatty
acid with 12 carbons and no
double bonds. It has a
systematic name of
dodecanoic acid, a shorthand
designation of C12:0,
a molecular weight of 200.3
Lauric acid is known
to the pharmaceutical
industry for its good
antimicrobial properties,
and the monoglyceride
derivative of lauric acid,
monolaurin, is
known to have even more
potent antimicrobial
properties, against
lipid coated RNA and DNA
viruses,
such as
HIV,
herpes,
cytomegalovirus,
influenza,
numerous
pathogenic gram positive
bacteria
including
listeria monocytogenes
and
heliobacter pylori,
and various pathogenic
protozoa
such as
giardia lamblia.
Some studies have also shown
some antimicrobial effects
of the free lauric acid
The antiviral,
antibacterial, and
antiprotozoal properties of
lauric acid and monolaurin
have been recognized for
nearly three decades by only
a small number of
researchers: their work,
however, has resulted in 50
or more research papers an
numerous U.S. and foreign
patents. Prof. Dr. Jon J.
Kabara performed the
original seminal research in
this area of fat research.
Kabara (1968) first patented
certain fatty acids (FAs)
and their derivatives (e.g.,
monoglycerides (MGs) can
have adverse effects on
various microorganisms.
While nontoxic and approved
as a direct food additive by
the FDA, monolaurin
adversely affects bacteria,
yeast, fungi, and enveloped
viruses.
Kabara found that the
properties that determine
the anti-infective action of
lipids are related to their
structure: e.g., free fatty
acids & monoglycerides. The
monoglycerides are active;
diglycerides and
triglycerides are inactive.
Of the saturated fatty
acids, lauric acid has
greater antiviral activity
than either caprylic acid
(C-8), capric acid (C-10),
or myristic acid (C-14).
Fatty acids and
monoglycerides produce their
killing/inactivating effects
by several mechanisms. An
early postulated mechanism
was the perturbing of the
plasma membrane lipid
bilayer. The antiviral
action attributed to
monolaurin is that of
fluidizing the lipids and
phospholipids in the
envelope of the virus,
causing the disintegration
of the microbial membrane.
More recent studies indicate
that one antimicrobial
effect in bacteria is
related to monolaurin's
interference with signal
transduction/toxin
formation. Another
antimicrobial effect in
viruses is due to lauric
acid's interference with
virus assembly and viral
maturation . The third mode
of action may be on the
immune system itself
.
Hierholzer and Kabara (1982)
first reported the antiviral
activity of the
monoglyceride of lauric acid
(monolaurin) on viruses that
affect humans.. They showed
virucidal effects of
monolaurin on enveloped RNA
and DNA viruses. This work
was done at the Center for
Disease Control of the U.S.
Public Health Service. This
study was carried out using
selected virus prototypes or
recognized representative
strains of enveloped human
viruses. All these viruses
have a lipid membrane. The
presence of a lipid membrane
on viruses makes them
especially vulnerable to
lauric acid and its
derivative monolaurin. These
initial findings have been
confirmed by many other
studies.
Research has shown that
enveloped viruses are
inactivated by added fatty
acids and monoglycerides in
both human and bovine milk.
Others have confirmed
Kabara's original statements
concerning the effectiveness
of monolaurin.
Some of the viruses
inactivated by these lipids
are the measles virus,
herpes simplex virus (HSV-1
and -2), herpes family
members (HIV, hepatitis C,
vesicular, stomatitis virus
(VSV), visna virus, and
cytomegalovirus (CMV). Many
of the pathogenic organisms
reported to be inactivated
by these antimicrobial
lipids are those know to be
responsible for
opportunistic infections in
HIV -positive individuals.
For example, concurrent
infection with
cytomegalovirus is
recognized as a serious
complication for HIV
positive individuals.
Until now few nutritionists
in mainstream nutrition
community seem to have
recognized the added benefit
of antimicrobial lipids in
the support of infected
patients. These
antimicrobial fatty acids
and their derivatives are
essentially nontoxic to man.
According to the published
research, lauric acid is one
of the best "inactivating"
fatty acids, and its
monoglyceride is even more
effective than the fatty
acid alone.
The lipid-coated (envelope)
viruses, bacteria and other
microorganisms are dependent
on host lipids for their
lipid constituents. The
variability of fatty acids
in the foods of individuals
as well as the variability
from de novo synthesis
accounts for the variability
of fatty acids in their
membranes.
Monolaurin does not appear
to have an adverse effect on
desirable gut bacteria, but
rather on only potentially
pathogenic microorganisms.
For example, Isaacs et al
(1991) reported no
inactivation of the common
Esherichiacoli or Salmonella
enteritidis by monolaurin,
but major inactivation of
Hemophilus influenza,
Staphylococcus epidermis and
Group B gram positive
streptococcus.
The potentially pathogenic
bacteria inactivated by
monolaurin include Listeria
monocytogenes,
Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus agalactiae,
Groups A,
streptococci-gram-positive
organisms, and some
gram-negative organisms (Vibrio
parahaemolyticus and
Helicobacter pylori).
Decreased growth of
Staphylococcus aureus and
decreased production of
toxic shock syndrome toxin-l
was shown with monolaurin.
Monolaurin was 5000 times
more inhibitory against
Listeria monocytogenes than
ethanol. In vitro monolaurin
rapidly inactivate
Helicobacter pylori. Of
greater significance there
appears to be very little
development of resistance of
the organism to the
bactericidal effects of
these natural
antimicrobials.
A number of fungi, yeast,
and protozoa are also
inactivated or killed by
monolaurin. The fungi
include several species of
ringworm. The yeast reported
to be affected is Candida
albicans The protozoan
parasite Giardia lamblia is
killed by monoglycerides
from hydrolyzed human milk.
Chlamydia trachomatis is
inactivated by monolaurin.
Hydrogels containing
monocaprin/monolaurin are
potent in vitro inactivators
of sexually transmitted
viruses such as HSV-2 and
HIV-1 and bacteria such as
Neisserian gonorrhea.
Also,
approximately 6-7% of the
fatty acids in virgin
coconut oil are
capric acid.
Capric acid is a
medium-chain saturated fatty
acid with 10 carbons and no
double bonds. It has a
systematic name of decanoic
acid, a shorthand
designation of C10:0,
a molecular weight of 172.3
and
has a
similar beneficial function
when it is formed into
monocaprin
in the human or animal body.
Monocaprin
has also been shown to
have
antiviral effects against
HIV
and is being tested for
antiviral effects against
herpes simplex
and
antibacterial effects
against chlamydia.
Dr.
Halldor Thormar, the
Icelandic scientist, who
previously showed that
monolaurin, which comes from
the fat in
coconut,
kills lipid coated DNA and
RNA viruses including
HIV
and herpes viruses as well
as other microorganisms
including gram positive
bacteria has just announced
the potential effectiveness
of
monocaprin
dissolved in a gel in
killing
HIV.
Monocaprin
also comes from the fat in
coconut.
Thormar and his colleagues
plan to continue the tests
with
monocaprin
against chlamydia and herpes
simplex virus.
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