VCO May Help to Live a More Heart-Healthy Lifestyle

Someone in the U.S. has a heart attack about every 34 seconds. A heart attack happens when arteries narrowed by fat, cholesterol or other substances are unable to supply the heart muscle with enough oxygen-rich blood. The American Heart Association (AHA) designates every February as Heart Health Month to call attention to the importance of proper screening and preventive measures. Lately, scientists are discovering that virgin coconut  oil may help them to live a more heart-healthy lifestyle.

Beware Of Stroke In Young Age

 Do you know if the stroke is not currently dominated by older people? The deadly disease today can affect anyone irrespective of age. Young people who were at the peak of productivity can be targeted of this disease. Now there is a trend that threaten of stroke is productive age, even under 40 years of age. This is related to lazy lifestyle factor, high stress, lack of exercise, fond of eating junk food, smoking and other activities that do not support a healthy lifestyle.

Stroke is a brain attack. This attack occurs when the blood supply changes or brain tissue lack of blood. If within 4 minutes brain cells lack essential nutrients, the cell will die.



There are two kinds of stroke as follows:
1. Ischemic
The accumulation of cholesterol or plaque in the blood vessels which makes the walls of the arteries become abusive and impede blood flow. During the attack the body releases the enzymes to dissolve clots quickly and improve blood flow.


2. Hemorrhagic
This type of stroke occurs when one of the blood vessel in the brain breaks or ruptures. Blood will come out of the tissues and cells, causing brain damage. Generally caused by hypertension, but also can be caused by the swelling of blood vessels due to age or heredity. Although it is rare, but this type of deadly stroke. Young people are generally this type of stroke.

Nearly 40 percent of patients with stroke due to hypertension, so diligently taking supplements or antihypertensive drugs will decrease the risk of stroke, especially accompanied by a healthy lifestyle and avoid stress.

Consuming VCO will improve health and prevent the occurrence of hypertension, especially stroke. VCO will dissolve LDL (low-density lipoproteins) which causes blockage of blood vessels or increase the HDL (high density lipoproteins) which is to protect and prevent the formation of plaque in blood vessels.

Organic Certification For The VCO In Indonesia, Is It Possible?

Although almost all the coconut plantations in Indonesia were never fertilized with chemical fertilizers, but it is difficult to obtain organic certification, why? This is because the location of coconut plantation is generally adjacent to agricultural land use chemical fertilizers and various pesticides that coconut plantation will be exposed to its influence.Location of coconut plantation is quite far from agriculture is likely to be found outside the island of Java, while Java is almost non-existent.

Organic certification that requires for certifying of plantation as raw material sourse and its production processes VCO aspect, will generally be constrained to issue plantation as be described above. Of course this will be very difficult for VCO producers in Indonesia especially in Java who have buyers who require organic certification as above.

Raw Material Is The Key Factor in VCO Production

Although various methods or processes have been developed by different parties, but the quality of raw material  (coconut fruit)  is a key factor to obtain a quality VCO. It means that the ability to select materials that will make the quality of the resulting VCO will be stable. Old coconut fruit with certain varieties and where the growth will mainly determine the levels of lauric acid content.

The reliable VCO manufacturer certainly has a strong sense to make the selection of raw materials. Some cases show that to obtain a quality VCO is not easy especially for a large quantity. This is because of the availability of raw materials, production processes and markets as the main variable of this business. Some VCO manufacturers capable of producing quality VCO marked especially by the delicious smell like fresh coconut and high lauric acid content, but the quantity is not much that if there is a large quantity order will be trouble.

Business development of VCO in Indonesia

Almost all VCO producers in Indonesia have not made further purification of its product of VCO so that the selling price is still relatively cheap. Purify lauric acid will provide great added value for VCO producers in Indonesia. While the supply of VCO can be overwhelming, but without further purification, the abundance of supply will cause VCO price to become cheaper. Pharmaceutical needs of very large demand for lauric acid with high purity. This business will provide great added value. Entrepreneurial spirit and a great spirit of innovation needed to realize this.

Fine chemicals from the VCO is lauric acid. Purification VCO will produce lauric acid to near 100% purity and would increase the significant economic value. Pure Lauric acid is especially needed by manufacturers of baby food and pharmaceutical plants. Because, baby needs a high laurate to the body and brain growth. Indeed, lauric acid is found in breast milk but it represents only 3%.

While many pharmaceutical companies use it as an antiviral drug and bacteria. Fatty acid molecular weight of 200.32 was used as a surfactant or a binder in industrial soaps, detergents, and perfumes. In at least one bath soap contains 15% lauric acid. Antibacteria properties that make it more fatty acid application. Along with the development, lauric acid is also used in the insecticide industry, food, and beverages.

The benefits of lauric acid, among others, can kill various types of microbial origin cell membrane fatty acids (lipid coated Microorganism). Nature of lauric acid to dissolve the lipid membrane of the virus so that it will interfere with viral immunity. This will create a viral inactivation. Some diseases caused by these types of microbes such as HIV, hepatitis C, herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, Strepcocous sp., Stapilococus sp., Gram positive, gram negative, helicobacterpylory, and candida

Lauric fatty acids obtained by esterification of virgin coconut oil (VCO) or fractionation technology that separation of fractions. The content of the VCO described through the boiling point of each component making up the fraction. Virgin coconut oil inserted into fractionating tube with 5 mm Hg pressure and 45 C temperature. When the temperature was raised to 132 C, obtained 81.3% lauric acid and 18.9% myristic acid. Heating at that temperature did not damage the lauric acid of VCO. Therefore, this compound will be damaged when heated at a temperature of 306 C.

VCO with 50% content of lauric acid is the most widely used source. That's because coconut oil is more numerous and easier to make than other sources.

Lauric acid from palm kernel oil palm-like VCO, but only 2% rendement. As an illustration, to produce a liter of oil takes 50 kg or 2500 oil palm fruit. Therefore, using palm kernel oil as a source is expensive. Compare with a liter of VCO obtained from 10 coconuts.

In addition, other commodities containing lauric acid is Cuphea calophylla and C. viscosissima. Both are native to America and contains 85% lauric acid. Constraint at harvest must be picked by hand, so could not have become the raw material of industry.

Rapeseed canola are also new sources of lauric acid. Originally cabbage family- it has only a 0.02% lauric acid. However, by the researchers, the plant gene modified by recombinant DNA technology in 1997. Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformed into canola genes. Agrobacterium membrane has a gene codes for the production of lauric acid. As a result, canola now contains 38% lauric acid.

Monsanto, a biotechnology company in the United States who gave birth to a new canola, optimistic lauric acid canola boosted by 60%. If the dream come true, wishes do not always reap the lauric acid was based on virgin coconut oil. Perhaps security is questioned by some consumers. Is not GM products have always invited the pros and cons?

Recognizing these conditions, is certainly a big opportunity when the coconut tree that grows organically throughout Indonesia as a source of raw material lauric acid with huge potential.

Let's get started.

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