I've been chowing down on a mature coconut... i figured out how to pry the meat cleanly from the shell by wedging a knife under the meat.

I checked nutritiondata.com and was surprised to learn that a medium mature coconut contains a whopping 1405 calories (1113 from fat).

If I ate an entire mature coconut, would that be very unhealthy due to all that saturated fat.

I once read that people living in tropical climates do ok with lots of saturated fat because at the higher temperatures,the saturated fat is more fluid. But its kinda cold now where I live, so maybe all that saturated fat is not so good.

I think that there is a lot of mis-information about saturated fat. I'm not sure I would want to eat a whole mature coconut in one sitting, but I sometimes do half and it feels good!

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I also have been feeling really good after eating this coconut.. very energized =)

eating Old,mature coconut is better than eating some meat with fat..

I enjoy the younger coconut, which is much less saturated fat.

of course, too much fat (any kind of fat) is not too good.

Dang, after that first mature coconut, which was marvelous... i've opened two more that had gone bad with fungus, and another that was good. So 50% have been bad coconuts.

Does anyone know, do the coconuts go bad because of poor turnover at the store, or are they bad before they get to the store (I live in california)? If it's the former, then maybe I can just special order a fresh case from the store.

You can return your bad coconuts to the store where you bought them.

The mature coconuts are loaded with saturated fats, which your body really can't do much with, except to store as body fat or perhaps use to clog your arteries. If you ever get to the point were you can't find any food, then the coconut fat in your body will be useful. However, for most of us, we never find ourselves in this situation.

Bryan Wrote:
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> The mature coconuts are loaded with saturated
> fats, which your body really can't do much with,
> except to store as body fat or perhaps use to clog
> your arteries. If you ever get to the point were
> you can't find any food, then the coconut fat in
> your body will be useful. However, for most of us,
> we never find ourselves in this situation.

I think if you are into sports and working out you'll find youself happy to have that coconut fat. This is probably more applicable for distances/endurance type sports, but I'd like to think most of you are getting enough exercise to burn fat when you need it...

Ian.

>>You can return your bad coconuts to the store where you bought them.

The mature coconuts are loaded with saturated fats, which your body really can't do much with, except to store as body fat or perhaps use to clog your arteries. If you ever get to the point were you can't find any food, then the coconut fat in your body will be useful. However, for most of us, we never find ourselves in this situation.<<

Thanks for the input. I probably will start taking the coconuts back when they're bad... maybe after a while they'll learn to stock fresh coconuts.

As far as saturated fats... I don't know, I've been doing some reading on the issue. It seems the saturated fat is different in coconuts, being mostly medium chain fatty acids, as compared to animal products. And the lipid hypothesis of vascular disease is not necessarily with merit.

I've actually seemed to become more cut in the past few days of eating coconuts, and all I've been doing is push-ups and jumping-jacks. Also, my face is much less oily. I think all the sugar I had been eating from sweet fruit was causing my acne.

Some reading on coconuts:
[www.westonaprice.org]
[www.mercola.com]
[www.coconutoil.com]

The reason why some natives do okay with coconut is that they also eat fish. Fish contains long-chain fatty acids with very high melting points so that the saturated fat with its tendency to remain solid at room temperature and very low melting point will not be so atherosclerotic because the combination of very low and very high melting points is less "bad" for your circulatory system.

There is no requirement for saturated fats in the diet. We can make what we need from the "essential" ones.

Jono, all three of your sources are of dubious worth. The first two push high meat diets and think high cholesterol plasma levels are good. The third one is trying to sell you something.

You can have your coconut, and eat it too, but don't go thinking it's a health food in massive quantities. Think of it as a minor treat now and then, teaspoons, not tablespoons etc.

>>Jono, all three of your sources are of dubious worth.<<

Yah, I realize that, but truth is usually found somewhere in the middle and I thought it'd be good to see some alternative views... every source, even governmental ones, are going to be biased in one way or another. The first and third articles atleast provide some scientific references for people to check on their own if they're so inclined. Dr. Mercola, lol, he's a salesman for sure but he does have some interesting views.

>>The reason why some natives do okay with coconut is that they also eat fish.<<

That's a good point, and something I've also been thinking about. Thanks for your thoughts arugula.

This article provides a differing opinion on the value of coconut butter/oil.

Bryan, what about the young coconuts? Do you like and have them?

I like them blended in my fruit salad as a dressing. I used to (not anymore, due to the costs) make young coconuts smoothies, simply blended meat and water of young coconuts.

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

I like young coconuts, but I have not eaten them regularly for the last few years, except when I'm in Thailand and they are organic, or perhaps I get an occasional young coconut when I go to a raw restaurant. While I love the taste and the meat, there is the issue about the fungicide used on the skins. If I could find organic ones here in California, I would probably eat them more often.

I read somewhere that thai coconuts are the result of hybridizing a date palm and a coconut palm, and that's why they're so sweet. Can anyone confirm this?

I drove up to SF today to Rainbow Grocery to get some organic coconuts (I have a one track mind, can you tell?) So far they're not looking very good. One was moldy, and two were not moldy yet but were obviously very stale. I have five more to open. Luckily the guy only charged me for 3 coconuts - he must have known they were no good, or else he was just really cool.

I think I'm going to call this company tomorrow and see about ordering some fresh organic coconuts from Mexico... here's what they have to say about the freshness of store-bought coconuts:

[www.simplycoconut.com]
>>Ordinarily you have to live in the tropics to get fresh whole coconuts, coconut water, and coconut milk/cream. Tropics Best picks their coconuts fresh daily and ships them directly to you. Coconuts sold in grocery stores are picked months in advance and travel thousands of miles in hot cargo ships and trucks and sit for weeks in warehouses and processing plants so that by the time you see them in the store they are very old, often cracked and leaking, and usually moldy. As much as 90 percent of the whole coconuts sold in the United States contain mold.<<

The people who sell the fresh organic durian over the internet also sell organic young coconuts. They are pretty expensive, since you have to pay for shipping and air freight, but if you want the real coconut experience, you ought to look them up.

Bryan, do you know the web site of the purveyors of fresh, organic durian?

Bruce Fife has some amazing books on mature coconuts and health. I saw him speak in Australia last year and the stats he showed were amazing. There were some studies that implicaed coconut in worsening the balances in the blood of HDL and LDL, however it only showed that if you looked at it generally and not what specifically was happening. The stats people use to show that coconut is bad are flawed science. Read his books if you want to know more.

And the fats in coconut oil are excellent in the cell walls of every cell in our bodies! They are excellent building blocks and good energy too.

I don't eat coconut daily, but do enjoy it regularly straight or in recipes like Thai Coconut Soup. You can also make great coconut milk by blending it with water then straining in a nut milk bag.

Cheers,
Sheryl

Raw Food Holiday Celebration Guide with full colour photos, shopping lists and menu plans:
www.RawFoodCelebrations.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2006 09:24PM by thehulaqueen.

As far as coconut having anything to do with heart disease... this is information that came from cardiologists, who are totally in the dark ages about their own specialty. The liver produces cholesterol on its own - it makes cholesterol in order to band-aid up lesions in the arteries, lesions that were put there by inflammation, which as we know is caused by eating too much sugar. And hydrogenated oils of course.

So I wouldn't worry too much about any raw plant fat. I find that every few months I get a major coconut craving, I just HAVE to have coconut, I eat one then no more coconut thoughts for the next few months. So I assume that saturated coconut fat must have some essential function, wouldn't you think?

rawne,

I send you a private message with the durian info.

Thanks Bryan

Here's an abstract from a recent paper on coconut fats.

-----------------------------------------------------

Coconut fats.

Amarasiri WA, Dissanayake AS.

Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.

In many areas of Sri Lanka the coconut tree and its products have for centuries been an integral part of life, and it has come to be called the "Tree of life". However, in the last few decades, the relationship between coconut fats and health has been the subject of much debate and misinformation. Coconut fats account for 80% of the fat intake among Sri Lankans. Around 92% of these fats are saturated fats. This has lead to the belief that coconut fats are 'bad for health', particularly in relation to ischaemic heart disease. Yet most of the saturated fats in coconut are medium chain fatty acids whose properties and metabolism are different to those of animal origin. Medium chain fatty acids do not undergo degradation and re-esterification processes and are directly used in the body to produce energy. They are not as 'bad for health' as saturated fats. There is the need to clarify issues relating to intake of coconut fats and health, more particularly for populations that still depend on coconut fats for much of their fat intake. This paper describes the metabolism of coconut fats and its potential benefits, and attempts to highlight its benefits to remove certain misconceptions regarding its use.

PMID: 17180807 [PubMed - in process]
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Bryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can return your bad coconuts to the store
> where you bought them.
>
> The mature coconuts are loaded with saturated
> fats, which your body really can't do much with,
> except to store as body fat or perhaps use to clog
> your arteries. If you ever get to the point were
> you can't find any food, then the coconut fat in
> your body will be useful. However, for most of us,
> we never find ourselves in this situation.

Mature raw coconut fat is good for our health.
I have been eating a lot mature coconut recently and I am doing fine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 08:14PM by RawPracticalist.

jono Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------


> I once read that people living in tropical
> climates do ok with lots of saturated fat because
> at the higher temperatures,the saturated fat is
> more fluid. But its kinda cold now where I live,
> so maybe all that saturated fat is not so good.

If your internal temperature is over 76F you will be fine.

I have a hard time finding a good one - the last three out of four were all moldy on the inside. Is there a secret to finding a good coconut?

Closely check around the coconut's "eyes" for signs of mold. If there is no mold outside, and it passes the heavy with water test you should be ok. Keep it refrigerated once you get it home.

The secret to finding a good mature coconut:
1. Shake it to see if you can hear the water inside
2. Check the openings or eyes to see if no spoilage
3. Check the video [www.youtube.com]

I bought an omega juicer to shred the coconut.
A lot of fat in my diet now and I am doing fine.
Maybe fat is good after all.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2015 03:46PM by RawPracticalist.

Awesome, thank you!

Manta91 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Awesome, thank you!

You're welcome for my part!

Mature coconut seem to have more nutrients than the fresh coconut
[coconuter.blogspot.com]
But fresh coconut juice is one of the highest sources of electrolytes