Coconut oil (vs olive oil)

What oil? Which vinegar? What about sugar?
Iris
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Coconut oil (vs olive oil)

Post by Iris »

A few days ago I took 2 teaspoons of coconut oil with my fruit for a change, and a few minutes later a strange feeling came over me. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but I suddenly felt as if my hart stopped beating, and I was going to die! I could exactly feel something bad was entering my bloodsteam, and I had a bit of a tingeling feeling in my blood. It just felt so wrong, it scared me a bit. At first I thought it was a reaction to the fruit, but my mother told me she had the same feeling a while ago when she was eating way more coconut oil with her fruit. She compared it with hyperventilation, but then accompanied with a severe nausea. Now she brought her intake of coconut oil down, she has no physical reaction anymore. Besides, I never ever got a sick feeling from eating fruit... :?
I seldom eat coconut oil, because most times the smell allone averses me. But once in a while I do want to have some.... When I feel like that it's smells delicious an tastes good too. And after I don't want it for a long while again. This was the first time it made me feel like this....

Anyone has a clue what it might be in coconut oil (or in me for that matter :)) that causes this?
fictor
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Post by fictor »

From time to time, my coconut oil consumption beats my olive oil
consumption. I can eat a whole jar in just a couple of days.

I have had a reaction to it a couple of times. This can be described
as acute, bud not too strong, nausea. I think it is a reaction caused
by the liver getting too much fat in one portion.
Iris
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Post by Iris »

2 teaspoons isn't that much, is it? But what I felt realy was severe (and I'm realy no cry-baby!) After 30 minutes or so the feeling suddenly faded...

Do you know what exactly happens with the liver and the blood when this happens? (Can you give a simple clarification?) I like to know what's going on in my body :)
fictor
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Post by fictor »

I do not know exactly what happens (it would be interesting to get to know!)
but I think it is the body's way of saying "stop! I have had enough fat!"
I can get this feeling from other types of fats as well, for example from raw butter or avocado.
Gerard
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mct

Post by Gerard »

Coconut oil is very high in medium-chain triglycerides.

These have a thermogenic (heat-generating) effect on the metabolism.

They are immediately available for use, and do not go through the liver, I think.

People take mct oil (medium-chain triglyceride oil) sometimes as invalids as it provides lots of quick, easily-available calories without taxing the metabolism. It keeps weight on people who would otherwise lose it due to illness. Too many medium-chain triglycerides-- especially if you take the oil, where it has been refined to be 100% mcts-- cause a laxative effect, though.
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Oscar
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Post by Oscar »

I haven't had any adverse effects from coconut oil yet, but a while ago I got stomach ache when eating fruit with olive oil. I lowered my fat intake (while experimenting) and haven't had it happen again. It might be that our bodies have a fat intake limit, since fat in nature is a relative scarce commodity.
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Post by Kasper »

What about mixing coconut oil with orange juice ?
Or making an emulsion with the help of maybe an emulsifier?

Is that possible ?

"An emulsifier (also known as an emulgent) is a substance which stabilizes an emulsion by increasing its kinetic stability. One class of emulsifiers is known as surface active substances, or surfactants. Examples of food emulsifiers are egg yolk (where the main emulsifying agent is lecithin), honey, and mustard, where a variety of chemicals in the mucilage surrounding the seed hull act as emulsifiers; proteins and low-molecular weight emulsifiers are common as well. Soy lecithin is another emulsifier and thickener. In some cases, particles can stabilize emulsions as well through a mechanism called Pickering stabilization. Both mayonnaise and Hollandaise sauce are oil-in-water emulsions that are stabilized with egg yolk lecithin or other types of food additives such as Sodium stearoyl lactylate."

I tried to mix orange juice with coconut oil, but it seems impossible because the oil is solid. For coconut milk they use sometimes guar gom as emulsifier I've seen. Maybe it's possible to make an sort of coconut milk from coconut oil? Anybody an idea about that ?
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Re:

Post by johndela1 »

Kasper wrote:What about mixing coconut oil with orange juice ?
Or making an emulsion with the help of maybe an emulsifier?

Is that possible ?

Egg yolks contain some emulsifiers I think. Have you tried adding an egg yolk to the mix?

see: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eg ... ience.html
"Egg proteins change when you heat them, beat them, or mix them with other ingredients. Understanding these changes can help you understand the roles that eggs play in cooking.

Proteins are made of long chains of amino acids. The proteins in an egg white are globular proteins, which means that the long protein molecule is twisted and folded and curled up into a more or less spherical shape. A variety of weak chemical bonds keep the protein curled up tight as it drifts placidly in the water that surrounds it.


Heat ’em

When you apply heat, you agitate those placidly drifting egg-white proteins, bouncing them around. They slam into the surrounding water molecules; they bash into each other. All this bashing about breaks the weak bonds that kept the protein curled up. The egg proteins uncurl and bump into other proteins that have also uncurled. New chemical bonds form—but rather than binding the protein to itself, these bonds connect one protein to another.

After enough of this bashing and bonding, the solitary egg proteins are solitary no longer. They’ve formed a network of interconnected proteins. The water in which the proteins once floated is captured and held in the protein web. If you leave the eggs at a high temperature too long, too many bonds form and the egg white becomes rubbery.

Experiment with heating eggs by hard cooking eggs, by making deviled eggs, or by making flan.


Beat ’em

When you beat raw egg whites to make a soufflé or a meringue, you incorporate air bubbles into the water-protein solution. Adding air bubbles to egg whites unfolds those egg proteins just as certainly as heating them.

To understand why introducing air bubbles makes egg proteins uncurl, you need to know a basic fact about the amino acids that make up proteins. Some amino acids are attracted to water; they’re hydrophilic, or water-loving. Other amino acids are repelled by water; they’re hydrophobic, or water-fearing.

Egg-white proteins contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acids. When the protein is curled up, the hydrophobic amino acids are packed in the center away from the water and the hydrophilic ones are on the outside closer to the water.

When an egg protein is up against an air bubble, part of that protein is exposed to air and part is still in water. The protein uncurls so that its water-loving parts can be immersed in the water—and its water-fearing parts can stick into the air. Once the proteins uncurl, they bond with each other—just as they did when heated—creating a network that can hold the air bubbles in place.

When you heat these captured air bubbles, they expand as the gas inside them heats up. Treated properly, the network surrounding bubbles solidifies in the heat, and the structure doesn’t collapse when the bubbles burst.

Experiment with foaming egg whites by making Pavlova.


Mix ’em up

Everyone knows that, left to their own devices, oil and water don’t mix. But for many recipes, you mix oil-based and water-based liquids—and want them to stay that way. Often, egg yolks come to your rescue by creating an emulsion.

Most food emulsions are known as the oil-in-water type, which means that oil (or fat) droplets are dispersed throughout the water. Put oil and water in a jar, shake it vigorously, and you’ll disperse the oil. To prevent the oil droplets from coalescing, however, a substance known as an emulsifier is required. Egg yolk contains a number of emulsifiers, which is why egg yolks are so important in making foods such as hollandaise and mayonnaise.

Many proteins in egg yolk can act as emulsifiers because they have some amino acids that repel water and some amino acids that attract water. Mix egg proteins thoroughly with oil and water, and one part of the protein will stick to the water and another part will stick to the oil.

Lecithin is another important emulsifier found in egg yolk. Known as a phospholipid, it’s a fatlike molecule with a water-loving “head” and a long, water-fearing “tail.” The tail gets buried in the fat droplets, and its head sticks out of the droplet surface into the surrounding water. This establishes a barrier that prevents the surface of the fat droplet from coming into contact with the surface of another fat droplet."
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by Kasper »

The result was, very sweet tiny balls of coconut oil in the orange juice. No emulsion.

Using egg yolks as emulsifier seems nice. I would like to make a milk-like drink.
I don't know how to start tough. I give it try tomorrow.
CSIV
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by CSIV »

By the way, the honey didn't work amazingly... maybe slightly but not enough to make a notable difference.
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Mr. PC
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by Mr. PC »

I was going to just start a new thread for this, but maybe it's better in here. I read on http://rawcoconutoil.org/ that

All coconut oils are exposed to some level of heat - even the ones marketed as 'raw coconut oil'. Coconuts grow in the tropics, where it is very hot on a day to day basis. I live in the tropics - I can tell you, standing in the sun on a typical hot summers day, it is damn hot. Even in winter, it is very warm. And winter in the tropics doesn't last for very long - maybe a few weeks. The tropics tend to be differentiated by 'wet' and 'dry' seasons, rather than the traditional 'winter and summer'. It is hot for most of the year. Coconuts growing on the tree are exposed to this, and they do just fine.
Coconut oil tends to be shipped to North America in bulk, and then repackaged under different brands. The shipping containers that transport the coconut oil get very hot - they can go over 130 degrees. And if coconut oil is transported by truck anywhere in America in summer, those trucks can reach 125 degrees. Because it is a heat stable product, not a perishable, they are not shipped in refrigerated trucks - they don't need to be.
Coconut oil solidifies when the weather gets cooler. So, any bulk drums that need to be decanted into retail sizes in winter have to be heated to do this - even so-called raw coconut oil.
So, all coconut oil is exposed to some heat, even if it isn't in the manufacturing process. Fortunately, this doesn't spoil the product. It doesn't become hydrogenated (your cooking is very unlikely to turn it into hydrogenated oil either), it doesn't reduce the effect of the beneficial lauric acid. It doesn't even reduce coconut oils' antioxidant qualities, as studies on virgin coconut oil have measured. The only thing it does is erode the false marketing of so-called raw coconut oil.

Although I've also read that unrefined coconut oil has anti-fungal properties that limit Candida. Can anyone verify this? Does is matter (much) whether I get virgin, or specifically raw/unrefined, if it's being heated in shipment anyway? Also, if I trying to reduce carb intake because of a yeast infection, wouldn't the medium chain fatty acids also be a good source of energy?

Thanks
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RRM
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by RRM »

Mr. PC wrote:All coconut oils are exposed to some level of heat -
... I live in the tropics - I can tell you, standing in the sun on a typical hot summers day, it is damn hot. ...
The shipping containers that transport the coconut oil get very hot ...
...
Coconut oil solidifies when the weather gets cooler. So, any bulk drums that need to be decanted into retail sizes in winter have to be heated to do this - even so-called raw coconut oil.
All this is not cooking.
The only thing it does is erode the false marketing of so-called raw coconut oil.
No, if its not cooked, the oil is still raw.
Although I've also read that unrefined coconut oil has anti-fungal properties that limit Candida.
Yes, it contains substances with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
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Mr. PC
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by Mr. PC »

So heating the oil to 130 degrees (I'm assuming Fahrenheit) doesn't cook coconut oil? Why is it that I only find Virgin and never Extra Virgin coconut oil? Is is simply about demand? Id virgin ok? Does it still have the anti-fungal properties if it's only virgin?
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by dime »

Yes, coconut oil is mostly saturated fat which is much more stable than unsaturated (e.g. olive oil) at higher temperatures.
I wouldn't worry that much about those virginity labels...
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Mr. PC
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Re: Coconut oil

Post by Mr. PC »

Ok, so I just bought some Organic Extra Virgin Coconut oil. It tastes totally different from the virgin oil I bought before, more like coconut actually.

Also, I'm curios about using an eggyolk to emulsify. The description makes it sound as though emulsification might damage the protein somehow, is this not the case? Mixing the sugar with coconut oil also gives me an idea - has anyone tried missing the liquid oil with sugar, and than pouring it on something to make an icing?
What happens if you mix liquid coconut oil with olive oil? To they separate or stay mixed? What about after the oil cools below 24 C?
And just to verify, if raw coconut oil works as an anti-fungal, can I assume extra virgin coconut (non-bleached) oil works as an anti-fungal?
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