I try to be honest and factual and, like Lex and other good posters, report the failed experiments and health problems (even minor ones like chapped lips) as well as the successes, not just propagandize. So I'll report my less than thrilling experience with coconut foods. It's not meant as a criticism of coconut, nor as any sort of claim regarding how others will fare on coconut foods. No doubt, regardless of how I report things, some will interpret what I write negatively, but I won't lose sleep over those folks.
I find that my experience with coconut products aligns with Tyler's to some degree. Highly touted mass-produced products like extra virgin coconut oil, Artisana "raw" coconut butter, and store-bought coconut cream taste lousy to me and give me a heavy feeling in my stomach and often nausea and malaise, especially coconut oil. I'm puzzled by the acclaim these products receive even at a raw forum like this one. One of the worst recommendations I've seen on this forum, from my experience, was to eat the Artisana so-called "raw" coconut butter (I think it was even referred to as "ambrosia"). I also found that flash-pasteurized coconut water was more problematic for me than 100% raw coconut water, though I find that I need to limit my intake of even the latter. Based on my experience, I suspect that I don't digest MCT oils very well, whereas I seem to digest long-chain animal fats much better, and that even seemingly mild heating and processing of foods can have a deleterious effect, at least on me.
Recently I found that mature fresh coconut and coconut water consumed straight from the fruit were less problematic than processed coconut products, even the "raw" ones like Artisana's. I even experienced some benefits on BM's from the mature coconut, so I upped my intake somewhat but found that there are limits for me even with fresh coconut. I apparently exceeded that limit when I ate nearly half a coconut, including the water as well as the flesh, thoroughly chopped and chewed, and ended up vomiting the coconut back out. I think a contributing factor might have been that I ate lots of wild Maine blueberries after eating the coconut. The acidity of the berries plus the MCT oils and fiber might have been too much for my stomach. Won't repeat that experiment.
Despite that experience, I'm still intrigued by the beneficial effect I got from moderate amounts of mature coconut flesh, so have been continuing to eat it, but in more limited quantities. I'm also interested in the possibility that home-made coconut food products like home-made raw coconut cream might be more tolerable for me than store-bought products and might also provide some benefits in limited quantities, but the sticker shock of high-quality food processors and juicers gave me pause.
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Last weekend I showed my brother my Movnat-type course in the woods and he didn't show the much interest, though he loves mountain biking, which has some interesting similarities. I also learned that his eldest son has joined a Crossfit gym. Crossfit seems to be the biggest spreader of Paleo-type stuff today.
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Interesting comments from Dave Asprey on raw meat and eggs as part of an "anti cancer diet"--he even poo-pooed salmonella:
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/steve-jobs-dr-dean-ornish-and-vegetarian-cancer/
Dave Asprey
While The Bulletproof Diet is not an anti cancer diet, if you eat it raw, it will serve that purpose. Raw meat or egg is better for you than raw vegetables.
Durgareiki
Dave, raw meats and eggs will kill you! What are you SAYING? You really need to educate yourself!
BuddhaBandit
Raw chicken or pork will give you salmonella or trichinosis respectively, both of which can be fatal. I'm assuming you're making a broad brush statement much as you do repeatedly in your article, without citing sources, providing footnotes, or backing up your claims with links, etc. Maybe you meant to say fish is better eaten raw. Nonetheless, you said something general enough to be stupidly and obviously dangerous. And by the way, get your facts right about soy. It's not soy that's bad, it's soy isolates. Consult the google machine. You might learn something Mr. Genius.
Dave Asprey
Lol – trichinosis in commercial pork that’s inspected? Hardly. Salmonella dies when you dip it in iodine, and chickens raised properly in pastures have a much lower risk of it.
I know. “The google machine” told me. It must be true.
Edamame has been linked with estrogen problems in kids and males. ALL soy protein is bad, whether or not it’s isolated or still in those nasty tasting little toxic beans.
