HEALTH OILS FROM THE TREE OF LIFE (NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH ASPECTS OF COCONUT OIL) adapted from Jon J. Kabara, Ph.D*

Coconut Tree

Coconut and palm tree has a long history of providing man with useful materials for his daily life. None is more important than the oils obtained from these coconut and palm nut. Coconut and palm kernel oils were recognized as health oils in Ayurvedic medicine almost 4000 years ago.


The same health effects were also found in Sanskrit medicine for mother’s milk. Mention was made that freshly expressed human milk was adopted as an "antibiotic" after eye surgery. Modern research has now found a common link between these two natural health products----their fat or lipid content.


For over thirty years Kabara's lipid laboratory has pioneered finding relationships between natural and synthetic lipids and their biological activity. Kabara indicated that the fatty acids and monoglycerides found in these two natural products had extraordinary antimicrobial properties.


Over a period of 30 years his teams screened other lipids hoping too improve on nature. During this period they screened some 300 lipids and other structures for antimicrobial activity.


His team failed and so Kabara returned to nature for clues. The medium chain fatty acids and monoglycerides found primarily in these two

Monolaurin

tropical oils and mothers milk have miraculous healing power. It is rare in thehistory of medicine to find substances that have such useful properties and still be without toxicity or even harmful side effects.


*Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University and Consultant to Private Industries,Universities and Government Agencies, Galena, Illinois, USA