Truthful Health Information Can Save Lives!

by Harald W. Tietze, Dr. Arthur M. Echano, Juta Stepanovs

Price: $15.00 + Postage

Introduction

The Wonders of Coconut Rediscovered

Dr. Arthur M. Echano, MD, ND, MACNEM, MATMS, D.HOM.I.

Coconut Country Boy

Growing up in a rural area in the Bicol region, Philippines, I have tasted coconut in its various forms, buko (young coconut), bukayo (sweetened coconut), pan de coco (bread with coconut), mature coconut meat, dessicated coconut, nata de coco (cultured coconut), coconut milk, coconut water, tuba (coconut wine), suka (coconut vinegar) and coconut oil. Lambanog (coconut gin) is the only coconut drink that I have not tried. Gin is just too hot for my throat to handle. My mother loves to cook coconut milk-based dishes (ginatan). So all of us ten children and my father knew from a distance what our meal was going to be. Incidentally, the Bicolanos are the largest consumers of coconut in the Philippines.

The Versatile Coconut

The multiple uses of coconut became crystal clear to me as a young boy. Coconut oil is used for skin care and beauty care; as shampoo and conditioner. And of course, for cooking and frying. Scrubbing wooden floors with dried cococut husk was my household chore during school holidays. Coconut charcoal provides sufficient heat for ironing clothes. Of all the coconut foods, my favorite is bukayo, a sweet dessert made by cooking shredded coconut mixed with sugar cane molasses. I even cooked it in the apartment where I was living in Dapitan St., Manila while in my last year in preparatory medicine (1974).

The Radiant Health of Coconut Eaters

To help my parents, I supervised the harvesting of coconuts. I noticed that the farmers and their families were generally very healthy. You rarely see anyone with weight control problem. They normally worked from sunrise to sunset for years, with remarkable vitality and energy. I never knew of anyone with hypothyroidism, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, peptic ulcer, overwhelming infection, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease and many other diseases of modern society.

Modern Medicine's Negative View on Coconut

However, the validity of this favorable observation on coconut eaters was challenged when I studied medicine. We were taught that since cococut oil is rich in saturated fats, that it could elevate blood cholesterol, cause heart disease and weight problems. It did not make sense to me but who am I to question its truthfulness? I just assumed that it was backed up by scientific studies, so I accepted this anti-coconut teaching, hook, line and sinker.

So from 1974 to 2004, I had this mistaken belief that coconut was bad for our health. I blindly followed modern medicine's stand that coconut is an unhealthy food. Then, something happened in 2004. I read Dr. Ray Peat's view that coconut oil is safe and nutritious. That it helps in slimming. When given to animals, it made the animals lean, not fat.

Scientist's Favorable Assessment of Coconut

Dr. Peat is an American biochemist who told medical doctors in an Orthomolecular Medical Society meeting in San Francisco, CA, USA sometime in the 1990's that the practice of giving estrogen to menopausal women without progesterone was not right. Surprisingly, a Harvard medical alumni, Dr. John R. Lee, MD, listened to him. After extensive research, Dr. Lee concluded that Dr. Peat was absolutely right with his natural progesterone story. Dr. Lee started a global revolution in women's health and in the process saved the lives of many women by highlighting the vital role of natural progesterone in women's health.

Here is a scientist who is not swayed by hype, pseudoscience or commercialism. By opening the eyes of Dr. Lee to the misdirected use of unopposed estrogen in women, he proved medical science wrong. And spared millions of women worldwide of the harmful adverse effects of synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT). So when Dr. Peat questioned the long standing popular notion that coconut oil is bad, I did my own research. Also, around the time, my father Cezar Sr., a naturopathic doctor and certified nutritional consultant in California encouraged me to look closely into the wonders of coconut oil.

To my relief, I proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Dr. Peat is right. Coconut oil is actually good for our health. In fact, it is the healthiest oil on earth, even better than olive oil. My research led me to the scientific works of Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D, Dr. Jon Kabara, Ph.D, Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit, MD and many other researchers. Of course, there is American coconut health writer, Dr. Bruce Fife, ND. You can not talk about VCO today without referring to Dr. Fife, the world's leading expert on coconut and health. His dedication to the widespread dissemination of the nutritional and health benefits of coconut oil and coconut derivatives is exemplary.

Learn From My Mistake

For 30 long years, I deprived myself and my patients of the wonders of coconut oil. What happened? I allowed doubt and uncertainty to influence my judgment. Ignoring anecdotal and empirical evidence, I placed my trust in medical science. I vividly remember my brother Bing (Cezar Jr.), an expert in making world class, top grade virgin coconut oil, excitingly relating so many cases of sick people in our province- Camarines Norte, who favorably responded to the healing powers of virgin coconut oil. My mind was tightly closed though. It must be coincidental or placebo effect, I told myself. I was wrong. What a shock! This anti-coconut campaign is based on misinformation, misconception, falsehood and lies.

You don't have to live in ignorance and darkness with regard to the multiple health benefits of coconut. It is founded on solid grounds, backed by hundred of years of anecdotal evidence and decades of scientific studies. It is time to unlearn the erroneous belief that we should avoid eating coconut. The plain truth is that coconut helps in slimming, lowers total cholesterol to good cholestrol (HDL) ratio, prevents heart disease, restores normal thyroid function and many other proven health benefits.

What if Your Doctor Says No to VCO?

Don't be surprised if your medical doctor still advises you to stay away from virgin coconut oil. The wheel of change in medicine is sometimes very slow to turn. You don't have to wait for a change to happen though. It might not come. Always remember, it is your health that is at stake. Not your doctor's. If you're convinced that it is good for you, take charge of your health by applying what you've learned. Take virgin coconut oil and see the difference in your life. You have to experience it to believe it.

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