Achieve Weight Loss with Coconut Oil and the No-Grain Diet

Saturated fat and cholesterol have been erroneously linked to coronary heart disease even though there is little evidence that a low-cholesterol diet can reduce your risk of heart disease and increase your lifespan.

The landmark Framingham Heart Study showed that those who ate more saturated fat and cholesterol were more physically active and weighed less.

This is not hard to believe because many saturated fats provide outstanding health benefits, Dr. Joseph Mercola, the proponent of the no-grain diet, explains. Contrary to popular belief, saturated fats are actually crucial to your good health because:

• At least 50 percent of your cell membranes are composed of saturated fatty acids, which give your cells structural integrity, strengthen cell walls and protect the inside of the cells.
• To maintain good bone health, at least 50 percent of your fat intake should be saturated fats for your body to be able to effectively use calcium.
• They lower lipoprotein, a substance in your blood associated to heart disease.
• They protect your liver from alcohol and other toxins
• They are essential for your body to properly use omega-3 fats

For Dr. Mercola, coconut oil is the most special saturated fat as well as the heart healthiest oil in the world. It is also one of the few fats that can actually help you achieve weight loss.

When you go on a diet to lose weight, is it not that the foods you immediately restrict are those that contain the most fat? Fat is high in calories and because of the way your body digests and uses this food, it contributes the most to body fat.

When you eat fat, it is broken down into individual fatty acids and converted into smaller units of fat and protein called lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are circulated into the bloodstream where the fatty acids are deposited directly into our fat cells. Carbohydrate and proteins, on the other hand, are broken down and burned immediately for energy or used to build tissue.

It is only when you eat too much are the excess carbohydrates and proteins converted into fat, so as long as you eat enough to satisfy your body’s energy requirements, the fat you consume always ends up as fat in our cells. Fat is only used by your body and burned for fuel in between meals, when your body taps into its reserves to provide energy for your physical activities

The saturated fat found in coconut oil is composed of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which are digested and used differently by your body. MCFAs are not converted into lipoproteins and are not circulated in the bloodstream like other fats, but are sent directly to your liver, which immediately converts them into energy, much like what happens to carbohydrates.

When you consume coconut oil, your body uses it immediately to produce energy rather than put it in storage as fat. This means you can you consume much more coconut oil than other types of oil before the excess is converted into fat.

And because they are easily absorbed by your body, the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil also help rev your body’s metabolism in high gear, allowing you to burn more calories, and encourage your body to burn long-chain fatty acids (the fatty acids found in traditional sources of fat) as well.

In the no-grain diet, Dr. Mercola recommends the use of coconut oil for cooking as a healthier alternative to canola oil and other vegetable oils. But don’t settle for ordinary coconut oil; choose extra virgin coconut oil to ensure that you’re getting a pure, natural, unrefined and highly stable product.

USDA-certified organic Fresh Shores Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is one of the best coconut oils available today. This premium coconut oil is extracted from the freshest coconuts, opened less than 48 hours after harvesting, grown without fertilizers, and processed organically without using additives, chemical solvents and heat.

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