Disadvantages of coconut oil

Disadvantages of Coconut Oil

No matter how good something is, it will carry at least one or few drawbacks for us to ponder upon, always. Despite its powerful healing properties and massive health benefits, coconut oil is no exception. 

Disadvantage #1 – No Effect on "Cold" 

According to Dr. Bruce Fife, the president of the Coconut Research Center in his book, The Coconut Oil Miracle, there is one common ailment (close to flu) that coconut oil has no effect upon.

That's cold.

Symptoms of cold and flu may look alike, but they're triggered by different viruses. The most common virus that causes cold is known as rhinovirus while the one that causes flu is called influenza virus. Only our own immune system can defeat cold virus. MCFAs in coconut oil can't do anything to the cold virus, hence you'll be down with cold even if you consume coconut oil regularly.

When cold strikes you, your immune system immediately sends white blood cells to combat the virus. This natural defensive response causes the overall immune system guard to weaken and become vulnerable to the invasion of other harmful germs. They'll enter and proliferate in your body, thereby aggravating your cold condition and might even lead to other problematic illnesses or diseases.

But good news is, though coconut oil can't help you fight off the bad cold virus, it's able to defend you against other uninvited microorganisms and ease your immune system so that it can concentrate on wiping out the cold virus effectively.

In a way, coconut oil still proves useful in fighting cold, albeit indirectly.

Disadvantage #2 – Not a Cure-All  

Coconut oil can help prevent, relieve, or even cure a wide range of degenerative diseases and illnesses so long as the diseases or illnesses are caused by or associated with the invasion of bacteria, fungi, viruses, free radicals or protozoa. We're invariably in contact with these bad supergerms and harmful microorganisms at all times. With regular consumption of coconut oil, we can significantly reduce their harmful effects on us. 

However, we need more than just coconut oil to step up our immunity to completely ward off all destructive diseases and illnesses.Coconut oil only provides us with its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant and antiprotozoal properties, which no doubt, do help strengthen our immune system a lot, but it doesn't really give us much nutrients to build healthy cells. It only contains traces of few fat-soluble nutrients such as iron, vitamin K and E. For important nutrients like vitamin A, B-family, C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium etc, coconut oil has none of them (see nutrition facts of coconut oil).

On top of that, we need protein for hair growth and tissue repair, and carbohydrate to primarily fuel our brain function and bodily activities, but coconut oil doesn't provide us with any protein and carb. It's a 100% fat.

That said, our body still needs other foods to work hand in hand with coconut oil to supply us with a complete spectrum of nutrients in order to keep us in tremendous health.

In other words, you can never rely solely on one single food to stay perfectly healthy, even though coconut oil is one of the few select superfood that provides us with the most health benefits.

Disadvantage #3 – Distinctive Coconut Odor

Not all people like its natural coconut flavor and fragrance like me. Few people simply can't stand its distinctive smell or taste. Or when used on skin, it leaves a light "odor" behind (it smells aromatic to me). If you don't like that, choose RBD ("refined, bleached and deodorized") coconut oil instead.

RBD coconut oil bears no odor, color and taste. It's specially made for the minority who doesn't like the distinct aroma that unrefined coconut oil holds. Although it leaves no smell behind after applying to skin, most refined coconut oil (except fractionated coconut oil) may cause your skin pores to clog up.

So, when use topically, it's best to choose virgin coconut oil (or fractionated coconut oil). Learn to appreciate its natural coconut aroma and you'll gain more from virgin coconut oil than you would from RBD coconut oil.

Disadvantage #4 – Solidify in Cold Environment 

If you live in a cold region, you'll face an issue with coconut oil because it solidifies below 76 °F (24 °C). The lower the temperature, the more rock-solid it gets. The only way to "break the ice" is to warm the oil to above 76 °F every time you need to use it for say, applying to your skin as moisturizer or as a dip or spread for bread. Kind of troublesome.

But if you're using it for cooking or stir-frying, you can simply dump the snowy-rocky oil in the pan and the heat will soon turn it back into its usable state.

Are you put off by these so-called drawbacks or disadvantages of coconut oil? Better not or you're losing big-time for not using virgin coconut oil for both your skin and health benefits. Learn to appreciate what nature provides rather than what the commercial world gives.

More and more people are getting aware of the health benefits of coconut oil, particularly virgin coconut oil. It is indeed very good for us because I've proven its power of healing myself. Upon flu infection, taking virgin coconut oil out of the jar plus adding more (than usual) to meals help me recover in 3–5 days. My wife has tested. My cousin has tested. So are the many people around me who have used the tropical oil for other antimicrobial treatments.

However, coconut oil can cause "bad side effects" especially in the detox aspect if you use it in the wrong way or you're unaware of its detox prowess. 

Side Effect #1 – Diarrhea-Like Symptoms  

Apart from the fact that coconut oil cures constipation (lots of "constipators" said coconut oil works extremely well on stimulating their bowel movement), it may also trigger the opposite reaction – diarrhea-like symptoms if you suddenly increase your oil consumption too much.

That's because MCFAs in the tropical oil help to soften stools and loosen bowels.

If you want to increase your coconut oil consumption for better health benefits, add it in moderation day by day and monitor to see if there's any sign of bad reaction or side effects. Doing so also allows your body to gradually get used to the greater amount.

The traditional Pacific islanders are eating as much as 10 tablespoons of coconut oil in their daily diet, I don't see why we can't be like them. The key difference is they've long been used to eating that amount while we're not, so we have to moderately raise the dose to condition our body to adapt to it eventually. 

Side Effect #2 – "Acne Breakout"

Many people have used virgin coconut oil for acne treatment. But not all experience the same outcome. Some had their skin improved immediately and got their pores closed up nicely and acne scars faded off, while some get an even worse acne breakout reaction with virgin coconut oil. Why?

The detox properties in virgin coconut oil are so powerful that they purge out layers of toxin from deep underneath your skin, so it may appear to you that you're getting worse from using the oil, which in fact is just a healing crisis – you get worse before you get better.If you can hold on to the breakout for up to few weeks (depending on how much toxin you've built up beneath your skin), you should be able to clear your skin of acne after that.

Other Bad Side Effects

On the surface, it may seem that using or eating coconut oil causes bad side effects but which in fact, similar to healing crisis as in the case of acne treatment, it's actually bringing its antimicrobial effect into play.

For example, coconut oil is very effective in killing Candida yeast. But when Candida bugs die, they discharge as much as 80 different toxins which can get absorbed into your system and cause all kinds of bad symptoms, including nausea, headache, dizziness, fatigue, swollen glands, joint or muscle pain, stomach upset, chills, hives or rashes, or other skin breakouts etc.

Don't forget that the oil is good at removing toxins too. So, those bad symptoms should subside as it cleanses your body.

That said, if you do experience some bad side effects or reactions after eating coconut oil or applying it to your skin, it means something harmful must have been lurking deep inside your body or in your skin for ages that coconut oil has to immediately deal with. It's actually a good sign.

Another reaction you should also look into is that, the symptoms you get might be related to an allergy. Some brands of coconut oil are produced in a facility that also manufactures peanuts or other allergy-causing foods. If you're allergic to certain foods, check the brand that you bought and see if the label says anything about the environment in which they make or pack the oil. If need be, contact the company that makes or packs the oil. Or you can simply change to another brand that you think is safer for your consumption and usage.