[BigNomore71]

Hello,

I'm dieting (+ exercising) in an effort to lose weight. I, being South Indian, use a lot of coconuts in my cooking -- add it to all my curries, infact prepare a delicious sauce using coconuts, green chillies and plain Yoghurt which I make quite often too. Now the question is somewhere I read that coconut fat is not stored in the body as fat and that it is disintegrated all into energy and consumed by the body during the break-down process -- and that Coconuts are really good for weight loss. Is this true?

Incidentally I have to add, I've been strength training for 2 weeks now.. and I am also doing some walking after the strength training workouts... and I've lost only 2 lbs so far... when I expected a 4 lb loss for all the exercise and dieting. But since I've been consuming a lot of coconuts each day, I wonder if the fat in it is causing this slow weight loss.

What do you think?

Thanks.

[Suzanne 3FC]

Congrats on starting a new fitness routine! When you start exercising, your muscles may retain water, so you may not notice as much weight loss right away. Give it time, and you should get a whoosh, provided you are not accidentally overeating in the meantime

Regarding coconuts, the answer to that question will vary depending on who answers There are a lot of miraculous claims about coconut oil going around. Some are true, some are not. Most of the myths are perpetuated by the coconut oil industry, whose articles end up on so many blogs that it soon becomes accepted as fact. They basically quote each other, without referencing any peer reviewed published studies. Most of it is based on theories, not studies. I take all of that with a grain of salt, and look for resources outside of that circle for unbiased advise.

Dr. Andrew Weil had this to say..

The claims that coconut oil can help you lose weight stem from the fact that it is mostly composed of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which go from the intestinal tract directly to the liver where, it is believed, they are burned as fuel rather than being stored in body fat. The one study that carefully examined the effects of coconut oil on weight loss was a small one, with only 40 women participating. Half of them used two tablespoons of coconut oil for cooking daily while the others used soybean oil. All the participants cut 200 calories from their daily diets and exercised four days a week. After three months, the women in both groups had each lost about two pounds. In other studies, dieters who used MCT-rich oil extracted from coconut lost more weight than those who used vegetable oil, but the losses reported were modest. To date, I've seen no study that has shown using coconut oil leads to significant weight loss.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA40128...conut-Oil.html

I did a lot of my own research, and I made the personal choice not to include coconut oil in my diet as an added ingredient or in place of other oils. I'm not comfortable with it. However, I might eat an occasional curry or other food that contains a modest amount of coconut milk, but it's not a regular part of my lifestyle.

[BigNomore71]

Thanks, Suzanne.

I could actually do without the coconuts too, so maybe I'll try restricting the amount of coconuts in my diet... And thanks for the tip on water retention at the start of workouts. I think that's what is going on, because I exert myself quite a lot during these workouts.

Appreciate your reply.