Fractionated coconut oil — think I’ll wait 30-40 years . . .
Hydrogenating liquid oils to make them solid proved to be very detrimental to us, but it took us about 30 years to figure that out! . . . What makes us think we can fractionate a solid oil to make it liquid any better?
Fractionated coconut oil is basically stripping the coconut oil of its “claim to fame”. Fraction-ation uses hydrolysis (this is different than making a hydrosol — a hydrosol is part of the steam distilling method where water very quickly and easily leaves the plant material) to separate long chain triglycerides and Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT)1 including stripping the lauric acid from the oil removing coconut oil’s anti-microbial benefits. From what I can understand, hydrolysis is basically using water to fraction-ate the coconut oil to pieces; then it is further distilled. It is pretty much a dead oil after all that. Franction-ation reminds me of homogenization of milk; which leaves milk dead and allergy causing.
1 Medium-chain triglycerides are easily digestible and can be a source of direct energy; especially for the brain. Long Chain Triglycerides are slower to digest; many times they need picked up by the lymphatic system for transport to the bloodstream via the heart bogging down the lymphatic system. MCTs also may raise metabolism, and they have fewer calories per serving 8.3 kc/g vs. 9 calories per gram in other fats.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/mct-fats-found-coconut-oil-boost-brain-function-only-one-dose
Lauric acid is most well-known for its antimicrobial properties, when we digest it in our digestive tract it is turned into monolaurin. Monolaurin is capable of treating viral infections including the flu, yeast infections, the common cold, cold sores and genital herpes.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/article/oregano-oil-and-monolaurin-may-prove-be-useful-antimicrobial-agents-prevention-and-therapy
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/article/vitamin-monolaurin-and-lactoferrin-breast-milk-inhibit-cytomegalovirus-virus
Why would we want to remove theses beneficial oils from the otherwise perfect coconut oil? Coconut oil is good for our skin and relatively cheaper than other oils but it has this solid at cool temps and liquid at warm temps to deal with rendering it tough to put in a little glass bottle that you want to shake it out of. Why not use jojoba oil or kukui nut oil or other light whole oils that we know are also good for our skin and stay liquid? They are more costly. In the words of a very nice and helpful person at Ann Marie Gianni skin care: “when it comes to making a soap or a facial oil, unfractionated oil can be too moisturizing and cause breakouts. Fractionated coconut oil is very versatile in skincare and we use it that way. If we were to use a different type of oil, it would be more costly and less effective.”
In my opinion there are many different whole oils with different properties to choose from . . . further complicating matters is different people with different skin types do better with different oils. So it is really difficult to have one oil for masses of people.
Fractionated coconut oil is processed and left to be less than its whole. Remember with food and herbs the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is why we have so many side effects from medications . . . its man trying to use some of the parts of the whole to better what the whole can do so someone can earn an income or a patent on it . . . repeatedly we keep finding out over-processing of food and herbs causes problems in the human body/genome. This is why I would wait 30-40 years before I would use fractionated coconut oil. We repeat our errors over and over again . . . may it end with me.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/patent-medicine-and-orthomolecular-medicine
And I have seen it in food now! How many months did we test fractionated coconut oil in the population before it was released into the food supply? Just knowing that fractionation removes Lauric acid which increases your metabolism and has anti-microbial properties keeping our food clean clean of pathogenic bacteria would make me question its use in food! It is being put in our food supply very quickly . . . a quick internet search found documents that show MCTs (one of the resulting oils of fractionation process) are being submitted to the FDA for approval under the GRAS category (by Lonza, Inc.) for use in food. I am sure the other forms of fractionated coconut oil are not far behind; all three types being fractionated coconut oil, liquid coconut oil, and MCT oil.
GRAS means Generally Recognized as Safe. If you manage to get your product to fall under this category you get FDA approval much easier. So many companies have found this loop hole and have even hired lawyers that do just this! This is how GMOs slipped into our food supply! Monsanto managed to convince our government that GMOs are GRAS . . . They were never tested on humans before being put in our food supply. And this too is how they are trying to slip fractionated coconut oil into our food supply. I have also seen MCT oil now being offered as an option in your tea or coffee in some coffee shops . . . you would be much better off to use the whole coconut oil or butter or ghee than a processed oil . . . even if it seems good for you.
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/ucm337464.pdf
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/invisible-nuclear-threat-within-non-organic-food1?page=2#!
In today’s food and medical industries we must learn how to navigate away from foods that are unnecessarily processed. There are many other whole oils that fit the bill for cosmetic, toiletries, and food; it is not necessary to make yet another source of oil. Processing of foods has been linked repeatedly to higher risk of diseases, including cancer. For an eye opening documentary check out The Truth about Cancer: https://go.thetruthaboutcancer.com/?a_aid=550894055d93f&chan=GCancerVideo
By Bobbi Misiti
Bobbi has been began on this path in 1990 as a health and wellness coach, exercise instructor, personal training and yoga teacher. I began researching and writing articles by 1991 on health, exercise, food, herbs, plant medicines, and yoga to help educate those who I have worked with. In 2001 I opened my own yoga studio, BeFit Body & Mind Yoga, to accommodate the growing interest in this area. In 2009 I began to teach workshops world wide on these matters. I am currently working on writing a book on how to navigate food and medicine in a world that has had its values confused.
Check out my website at www.befitbodymind.org I have many more articles of interest in my topic of the month archives here: https://www.befitbodymind.org/philosophy-lifestyle/topic-of-the-month/
More information on Bobbi here: https://www.befitbodymind.org/yoga/teachers-and-method/about-bobbi-misiti/