Increased lipid peroxidation is shown to be an early cause of Alzheimer's disease. Liquid vegetable oils, the polyunsaturates, are highly prone to oxidation and rancidity, and it is now well known that in the form of trans fatty acids (through the process of hydrogenation) they are extremely toxic. (For research on polyunsaturated oils see: http://www.coconutoil.com/unsaturated.htm) Coconut oil, by contrast, is highly saturated and in its natural unrefined form has a shelf life of more than 2 years, and is not prone to oxidation.

Dr. Raymond Peat has talked about the difference between polyunsaturated oils and saturated oils in their importance for brain tissue for years now:

Brain tissue is very rich in complex forms of fats. The experiment (around 1978) in which pregnant mice were given diets containing either coconut oil or unsaturated oil showed that brain development was superior in the young mice whose mothers ate coconut oil. Because coconut oil supports thyroid function, and thyroid governs brain development, including myelination, the result might simply reflect the difference between normal and hypothyroid individuals. However, in 1980, experimenters demonstrated that young rats fed milk containing soy oil incorporated the oil directly into their brain cells, and had structurally abnormal brain cells as a result. Lipid peroxidation occurs during seizures, and antioxidants such as vitamin E have some anti-seizure activity. Currently, lipid peroxidation is being found to be involved in the nerve cell degeneration of Alzheimer's disease.¹

Recent research on Alzheimer's has begun to look at a ketogenic diet and its potential benefits. Ketones are high energy fuel that nourish the brain. Our body can produce ketones from stored fat while fasting or in starvation, but they can also be produced by converting medium chain fatty acids in certain foods. Coconut oil is nature's richest source of these medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). The high-fat ketogenic diet has been used for years for certain forms of childhood epilepsy, and the diet's use is now turning to Alzheimer's and other diseases as well.

As coconut oil's use becomes more accepted and widespread, we expect to see more testimonies in relation to diseases like Alzheimer's. One of the most widely published  reports recently was from Dr. Mary Newport as reported by the St. Petersburg Times on October 29, 2008². Dr. Newport's husband had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and was watching her husband quickly deteriorate. After using drugs that slowed down the effects of Alzheimer's, she looked into clinical drug trials and found one based on MCTs that not only slowed the progression of Alzheimer's, but offered improvement. Not being able to get her husband into one of these trials, she began to give him Virgin Coconut Oil, and saw incredible improvement in his condition.

The coconut oil he'd ingested seemed to "lift the fog." He began taking coconut oil every day, and by the fifth day, there was a tremendous improvement. "He would face the day bubbly, more like his old self," his wife said. More than five months later, his tremors have subsided, the visual disturbances that prevented him from reading have disappeared, and he has become more social and interested in those around him.³

You can read Dr. Newport's entire case study here.

While coconut oil is certainly NOT a cure all for diseases like this, coconut oil does offer hope as nature's most abundant source of MCTs and easily convertible fuel source for ketones. People suffering from Alzheimer's should immediately start avoiding polyunsaturated forms of oil such as soy and corn oils, especially if they are hydrogenated and in the form of trans fatty acids, and a good quality Virgin Coconut Oil should be added to the diet. Further studies are needed, and further investigation may indeed find a strong correlation between diseases such as Alzheimer's and the rise of industrial vegetable oils after World War II. Alzheimer's is not a common disease in tropical cultures where coconut oil and saturated fats are traditionally consumed.

I started checking into Coconut oil because I saw on the news that Alzheimers patients were dramatically improving after taking this oil. I bought some for my father who had recently been diagnosed and he now thinks the Alzheimers has gone away! I'm using it too and I feel so good, physically and MENTALLY better! Roxie

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References

1. 1996 Raymond Peat Newsletter, Eugene, OR - http://www.coconutoil.com/ray_peat_coconutoil.htm

2. Doctor says an oil lessened Alzheimer's effects on her husband, St. Petersburg Times, October 29, 2008 - http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/article879333.ece

3. Ibid.