Mood Boosters

January fills itself with new resolutions, new prospects, new starts and new cloud cover. Endless gray days mean less time spent outside in the snapping cold of an already excruciatingly short day. As our fingers tap perpetually on keyboards, our minds wander to Southern France, Cyprus, the Maldives. We fantasise about bright golden sand, nectar-sweet pina coladas, dreamy luminesce sunsets. Sigh.

Loco-nut for Coconut

It hangs, it`s hairy, it sways in the breeze, it drops when it`s seed are ready for dispersal. It`s fluid is slightly sweet and its creamy meat contains mouth-watering saturated fat that helps it keep its rigidity. Yes, the Mighty Coconut.

Coconuts can survive major treks across oceans in their pale green, thick, fibrous outer husk. These ancient travelers likely started their genealogy somewhere in the Malayan archipelago and then decided to detour lazily throughout the world by man and nature. Hindus wrote about them 1500 BC, and they prominently feature in Ayurvedic medicine. They are a staple diet in most tropical regions, and they get an overall thumbs up for healing powers—especially in the prevention of cancer. Coconuts are serious plant celebrities.

With a yearly production line of about 20 billion, coconuts are set to take over the world. The thick oil of a coconut contains immune-boosting medium-chain fatty acids, and in the Philippines it is known as the `tree of life.` In regions such as these, the entire plant is used: roots, leaves, bark, flowers, cabbage, shell, husk, water, sap, endosperm, and oil. Medicinally, the plant finds application in the following diseases and symptoms:

• Dysentery/intestinal complaints (roots, flowers)
• Toothaches and earaches, scabies (bark and bark ash)
• Digestive aid , fluid retention (cabbage)
• Urinary infection, diabetes, leprosy (flowers)
• Tapeworm, inflamed throat, fluid retention (trunk fibers)
• Skin diseases, toothache caused by dental caries (shell)
• Intestinal worms, urinary disorders (water)
• Constipation (sap)
• Scalp cleansing (oil)

Coconuts also find use as timber, food, drinks—both fermented and unfermented, alcohols and vinegars, material for thatching, splints and strips, fiber for baskets, mats and ropes and hats and brushes and brooms, fuel (!), caulking, utensils for cooking and eating, illumination (that sounds interesting), soap and ointments, animal feed and plant fertilizer. Phew! That`s a busy nut!

Coco-Nutty Nutrients

With a sexy health profile, this is one piece of flesh you really want to become passionate about. The meat is over 50% water, 35% oil, 10% carbohydrate, and 3.5% protein. A perfect oasis for your body on a hot and sweaty day. With approximately 500 calories per serving in the meat and 600 in the oil, it means no one will die of starvation on a desert island. Dried coconut and creamed coconut meat is nearly 900 calories. You might even find yourself luxuriously plump!

Harboring a secret magnesium fetish, this white mistress re-balances electrolyte stores in the body, thereby enhancing fun stuff like sports performance and overall vitality (wink). Electrolytes are the salt minerals in your body: calcium, potassium, sodium, and of course, magnesium. Your body maintains a delicate balance of these stores, and if the blood swings too heavily in one direction or the other, it responds immediately by performing fail-safe mechanisms. You might be familiar with the sodium overload—bloating and water retention; or the magnesium deficiency—chocolate cravings and muscle twitches; perhaps a potassium underload—tiredness and muscle weakness; and of course, let`s mention the calcium imbalance generally caused by dairy and animal products—osteomalacia and osteoporosis.

They mingle various vitamins (especially the B vits) and other fabulous minerals in their virgin juice, too, including:

• Manganese, which hails as a prime co-factor in many enzymes in our bodies, and is also the star player in the manganese version of SOD (superoxide dismutase), an extremely powerful and potent antioxidant that protects cells from the damaging effects of oxygen.
• Molybdenum, which helps make you feel good, metabolise fats and carbohydrates, utilize iron in your system, and provides your liver with what it needs to detox last night`s `drinky-poo.`
• Selenium, which fiddles with cancer`s mission to take over and end your life. It prevents heart conditions, neurological conditions, aging, and infections.
• Zinc, an active little thing that stimulates enzynamic activities, boosting your immune system and ability to heal, and assisting in DNA synthesis within your cells.

Fats Ahoy

Once touted as a `baddy`, the truth about fats in coconuts finally hit the headlines and educated the public. The medium-chain saturated fats in coconuts come in a 50% ratio package of lauric acid. Lauric acid, a saturated fat who finds itself visiting nature in only one other source—human breast milk, converts in your body into a crazy healthy compound called monolaurin. This stuff ROCKS. Monolaurin whips around like a superhero on steroids in your body. Some of its superpowers include:

• Being an antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride that destroys bad guys in your body.
• Eliminating lipid-coated viruses in your system, such as herpes simplex 1 (the cold sores you get around your mouth), HIV, certain types of influenza, measles, and the Visna virus (an awful virus similar to HIV that sheep can acquire).
• Inactivation of pathogenic bacteria including tons of Staph infections, Strep infections, and that little critter that associates itself with stomach ulcers, H. pylori. A defiant big, its resistance to antibiotic drugs increases. Not so with our friendly coconuts. It appears unable to develop any resistance to coconut`s natural antimicrobials. Hmmm, once again, Nature sure seems to know what she`s a-doin`!
• Inactivation of bothersome fungi, yeasts, protozoa, ringworm, Candida, and Giardia (the backpacker who will have you sitting on the loo in India for hours/days/weeks.)
• Interfering with signal transduction in bacteria, keeping them from sweet-talking your healthy cells into letting them inside and turn them into zombie replicating machines.
• Interfering with viral ability to assemble and mature.

Onwards, 6-7% of the saturated coconut fat comes in the handy dandy form of capric acid. Your body turns this gem into monocaprin, which also provides a natural antiviral for your body, particularly against sexually transmitted yuckies like Chlamydia and herpes simplex 2 (you know where I mean with this one), gonorrhea, and HIV.

The most important thing to know about the various fats in coconuts is that they destroy the protective membrane (composed of fats) surrounding many viruses, bacteria, and protozoa taking refuge in your body. The medium-chain fats dissolve the surrounding fatty envelopes, causing them to disintegrate. Ingenious!

Loco for Coco

Soft at room temperature, this oil protects against heart disease, and actually PROMOTES weight loss. It helps your body decrease its white fat stores and reduces production of fat cells altogether. That`s what they mean when they say `thermogenic`--the ability of something to encourages your body to burn fat. Because the medium-chain fatty acids digest so easily, burning them increases your metabolic rate because they are a preferred energy source. Coconut oil yields TWICE as much thermogenic punch as long-chain fatty acids like sunflower, sesame, and corn oils.

Your local supermarche will house a variety of ways for you to begin gulping the health benefits of this astonishing seed. Keep your eyes peeled for:

• Dried coconut meat. Be vary of propylene glycol in the ingredient list. It`s used in antifreeze. Let`s not even consider what it might be doing to your insides. Yikes. Avoid those sweetened with sugar. You can prepare your own at home by buying the coconut fresh, lifting out the flesh, and tossing them into your food processor.
• Creamed coconut. Found in refrigerated sections of Asian and Indian shops, and in your local health shop.
• Canned coconut milk. Found in grocery stores, it’s a great substitute for creamed coconut. Be sure to pick up the whole version as opposed to any low fat varieties. Low fat ones contain a strong lack of benefits, as most of the medium-chain fat has been removed…hence, low fat.
• Coconut oil. High quality oils emit little if any odour and taste of nothing. Avoid any that have been hydrogenated.
  Act now! Go grab a few coconut products from your local and get to cooking, eating, and enjoying this seed from the G-ds. I challenge you to pick some whole coconuts, grab a hammer, and start busting some balls!

To find out more about exotic healthy foods to adds to your diet and the health benefits of doing so, please contact Lani Rasmussen This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07824440162.

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