MYTH OF COCONUT OIL : BAD FOR DIABETICS

MYTH OF COCONUT OIL AND PRODUCTS : 

IS IT BAD FOR DIABETICS?


The newer "heart-friendly" oils like sunflower or safflower oils possess this undesirable PUFA content and there are numerous research data now available to indicate that the sole use or excess intake of these newer vegetable oils are actually detrimental to health and switching to a combination of different types of fats including the traditional cooking fats like ghee, coconut oil and mustard oil would actually reduce the risk of dyslipidaemias, AHD and Type-2 DM.7



A small study  of 40 free-living subjects on the effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight, free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects reported a pilot study 9 that tests if MCT is beneficial for moderately overweight subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. 123


Prior studies of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) suggest that MCT might be a useful tool for body fat mass management in obese nondiabetic humans.4

Collectively, the results suggest a link between moderate consumption of MCT and improved risk factors in moderately overweight humans in a low-cost, free-living setting.5

Epidemiological studies in Indians showed an alarming increase in the prevalence of atherosclerotic heart disease (AHD) and type-2  diabetes mellitus (Type-2 DM) in Indians, both abroad and at home, which attributable to increased dietary fat intake  replacing the traditional cooking fats condemned to be atherogenic, with refined vegetable oils promoted as "heart-friendly" because of their polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content, unfortunately, has not been able to curtail this trend. 

Current data on dietary fats indicate that it is not just the presence of PUFA but the type of PUFA that is important i.e a high PUFA n-6 (omega 6) content and high n-6/n-3 omega 6/omega 3) ratio in dietary fats being atherogenic and diabetogenic or even increase risk of cancer.6

The subjects were randomized into 2 test groups, with one given MCT and the other corn oil as control for long- triglycerides (LCTs).

image : julioval88hp.blogspot.com

The MCT group showed an across-time reduction in body weight and WC (waist circumference), an increase in serum C-peptide7 concentration, a reduction in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and a decrease in serum cholesterol concentration.

A between-group comparison also shows reduced body weight, WC, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in the MCT group compared with the LCT group at the end of the study.

Few studies done using coconut water in relation with diabetes gave positive results for future usage of this natural entity in aiding this modern ailment.8