Virgin Coconut Oil and Diabetes

Indeed VCNO has a substantial effect on blood sugar levels. My wife and daughter (both have type 2 diabetes) measure their blood sugar levels at least three times a day. When they eat the wrong foods and their blood sugar levels get to 80-100 points above normal, they don't take extra medication, they take 2-3 tablespoons of the coconut oil directly from the bottle. Within a half hour their blood sugar levels will come back to normal. Ed

Ed's report is not unique at all. We have received many reports of people finding help with diabetes by using coconut oil, especially when they replace polyunsaturated vegetable oils in their diet with Virgin Coconut Oil. For some, the coconut oil seems to have a direct effect on blood sugar levels as Ed has reported here. For others, the comment has been a reducing of cravings for foods that tend to raise blood sugar levels. Consider Dr. Mark's testimony:

As a physician of many diabetics, I am constantly telling them how to eat more healthily but was unable to follow my own advice. I knew WHAT to do, but feeling like I had the wherewithal to practice what I preached was a different matter! I knew my patients didn't take my advice seriously enough, since I wasn't treating my own body right and was clinically "morbidly obese". My hunger and cravings have been my downfall for years leading me to donuts, cookies and other unhealthy foods I knew to stay away from. I was constantly hungry. When I heard that adding [healthy] oils like Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil could help satisfy my run-away hunger and cravings, I was skeptical. I knew if it could help even ME, then there would be something to the claims! No one was more surprised than me when I felt satisfied for hours after spreading some on my morning toast, or enjoying a tablespoon in my oatmeal. My wife loves to make our family sugar free chocolate balls using this wonderful oil, and I am still amazed that something so delicious is actually good for me! I have more energy, been able to exercise for longer periods of time, and have now lost 36 pounds! Mark  -an M.D. in New Mexico

Coconut oil's ability to control hunger and cravings is well documented. Coconut oil's medium chain fatty acids promote thermogenesis and lead to increased metabolic rates. For more info, see our article on weight loss.

The Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) also is helping with my diabetes. I have type1 juvenile diabetes & take insulin. I've had ups & downs with my control thru the years and I've ALWAYS struggled with cravings for sweets & carbohydrates. The VCO has helped with my control (I've noticed more stability) and it has alleviated some cravings. It has not completely alleviated cravings, but I've have noticed a decrease. People with diabetes often crave high-glycemic foods (that we should stay away from!) due to cravings caused by blood sugar swings. The VCO has helped a lot in this area! I'd recommend it to anyone with diabetes. Diabetes can cause low moods & low energy levels, and I've noticed a positive increase / lift in both. Megan

Population studies of societies that consume much of their calories from the saturated fats of coconut oil show that diabetes is very rare. A study done in India in 1998 showed that when Indians abandoned traditional fats like ghee and coconut oil, and started using polyunsaturated fats like sunflower or safflower oils, that the rates of diabetes became alarmingly high.¹ Studies carried out in many South Pacific Island countries have revealed the same thing: when the traditional diet high in coconut oil is abandoned in favor of more modern foods that are highly processed, including polyunsaturated vegetable oils, there is a direct increase in the rate of diabetes and other western diseases.

I also wanted to pass along a bit of my experience in regard to Diabetes. I have been taking Coconut Oil (CO) since about the end of February of this year. First started cooking with it and replacing the vegetable oils in my home. Then started taking it by the spoon as well. About 2 tablespoons daily around the first of March. I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic in July of 2001 and immediately put on the Amaryl RX (1 in am and 1/2 in the pm) I have been looking for a way to reverse this condition since diagnosed. I have found a world of info out there on various supplements and diet. BUT not from my doctor who just said "Welcome to the club" and told me to take my meds. (I was crying and he seemed happy!) He also sent me to a nutritionalist to take diabetic classes. Fortunately, I had already learned enough on my own to know that A LOT of what they are teaching is NOT correct and their recommendations are NOT what you want to do UNLESS you want to further the condition. NOT improve or reverse it. Bottom line is this. I have been able to slowly remove myself from the RX and now control my blood sugar by diet, supplements and with CO! Cool, huh? I do still check my blood sugar levels once or twice daily... and they are as good and usually BETTER than when I was on the Amaryl RX! And I have been off the RX since the end of March of 2003. I was taking several supplements for a year or so before CO but still had to take the RX. It wasn't until I removed most of the vegetable oils (All of them at home and carefull when out to eat) and added the CO that I noticed I was beginning to crash while on the RX at different times during the day... so I would cut down on the RX and still maintain good blood sugar levels. Gradually I was NOT taking the RX anymore!!! At first I was taking the VCNO but it became hard to find so I went to the cold expeller pressed version and still have maintained these results. ( I cook with it and take about 4Tbls daily) I still take my supplements also and I have never tested if the coconut oil alone would control my blood sugar levels but would be interested to hear if anyone out there has. Hope this may help someone and God Bless all... Sharon

I've been diagnosed as Type II Diabetes and have been struggling with a wildly fluctuating blood sugar level for two years. I've used diet, exercise, herbs and vitamins in my attempts to stabilize my levels, with limited success. My MD wanted to put me on prescription meds, but I resisted based on reports I'd read about the long-term side effects of those drugs. One day reading a newsletter, I ran across an article mentioning that Coconut Oil was used to regulate blood sugar levels. So on November 7, 2003, I ordered 2 quarts of the Virgin Coconut Oil. I began taking one tablespoon a day at dinner. My yearly blood test was done on January 2, 2004. When I saw my MD on January 13, 2004, he was pleased to see that my blood sugar levels were now in the normal range, and told me that they'd been that way for a few months. I was ecstatic! I've been using Tropical Traditions Coconut oil since, and my blood sugars have stayed in the normal range ever since. Thank you so much for making such a wonderful, healthy food source available to us! Beth Albany, NY

My husband is type 2 diabetic and we believe the use coconut oil has greatly helped in his control of blood glucose. With a very low carbohydrate diet, and cooking only with coconut oil he has been able to reduce his prescription drugs to the very lowest amount. Hopefully he will be able to eliminate them all together and control his diabetes with just diet. Suzan

A study done in May 2009 suggests that the medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil can improve brain function in type 1 diabetes.  The study concluded: "Medium-chain triglycerides offer the therapeutic advantage of preserving brain function under hypoglycemic conditions without causing deleterious hyperglycemia."²

A study was conducted in 2010 "To study the effect of saturated fatty acid (SFA)-rich dietary vegetable oils on the lipid profile, endogenous antioxidant enzymes and glucose tolerance in type 2 diabetic rats." The study concluded: "The type of fatty acid in the dietary oil determines its deleterious or beneficial effects. Lauric acid present in coconut oil may protect against diabetes-induced dyslipidemia."³

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References

1. Sircar S, Kansra U. "Choice of cooking oils--myths and realities." Journal Indian Medical Association. 1998 Oct;96(10):304-7.

2. Page KA "Medium-chain fatty acids improve cognitive function in intensively treated type 1 diabetic patients and support in vitro synaptic transmission during acute hypoglycemia."  Diabetes. 2009 May;58(5):1237-44.

3. Kochikuzhyil BM, Devi K, Fattepur SR. "Effect of saturated fatty acid-rich dietary vegetable oils on lipid profile, antioxidant enzymes and glucose tolerance in diabetic rats." Indian J Pharmacol. 2010 Jun;42(3):142-5.