Quite frankly, it seems a bit counter-intuitive that fat could actually help burning of body fat. However, it is, in fact,, coconut oil promotes weight loss and if you’ll be patient, I’ll walk you through it. Let’s start by going over some of the classroom-level fundamentals that you most likely learned in college biochemistry, if you took it, but may have have forgotten. Fats and oils are composed of hydrophobic groups known as fatty acids. There are really two different ways to characterize fats. The first method is based on saturation, and is probably the one you are most familiar with. Most of you are acquainted with saturated or unsaturated fats and oils, what with the attention they get in fad diets and the media. The 2nd way to classify a fatty acid is based on length or size of the fatty acid chain. There are short chain fatty acids (SCFA), medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), and long chain fatty acids (LCFA). Short chain fatty acids (SCFA) contain fewer than six carbon atoms, medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) have between 6 to 12, and long chain fatty acids (LCFA) have fourteen or more carbon groups. The reason lipids are categorized based on their length is because the size of the carbon chain affects the physical and chemical properties of the lipid.
Most of the lipids, fats, and oils that you ingest come from either animal or plant sources, all of which consist of of LCFA (long chain fatty acids). In fact, approximately 98% of the dietary oils that humans ingest consists of LCFA. Coconut oil is quite unlike most others because it is primarily composed of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), with lauric acid constituting approximately forty-seven percent of coconut oil. Here is where it gets important: medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) are metabolized quite differently from LCFA (long chain fatty acids). First, I’ll explain how most dietary fats consisting of long chain fatty acids are metabolized and digested. Then I’ll inform you how medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) contained within coconut oil are broken down and digested, pointing out the differences and the major significances.
Long chain fatty acids (LCFA) existing in plant and animal fat are not easily taken up by the GI tract and require pancreatic enzymes and bile salts to to metabolize them so that they can be absorbed by the intestine. Next, the long chain fatty acids (LCFA) are packaged into, what is called, chylomicrons, which are lipoproteins that transport oils throughout your body. The chylomicrons are transported throughout the lymphatic system then circulate through the bloodstream, where they deliver fat components to a wide variety of tissues, including cardiac, skeletal tissue, and adipose. After the lipoproteins have dropped off their triglyceride components to these tissues, the left over lipoproteins move to the liver, where they are imported into the mitochondria of liver cells, using the carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT) machinery, and are finally oxidized for energy use (Life Sciences 62 (14): 1203-1215). This is how all cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, and unsaturated fat that consists of long chain fatty acids (all of your dietary fat) is transported throughout the body.
In contrast, MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) found in coconut oil are taken up by the GI tract with ease, they do not need any pancreatic enzymes to degrade them, which means less work for your pancreas. Next, medium chain fatty acids are shipped to the portal blood stream, directly to the liver, where they go directly into mitochondria markedly without the use of the carnitine palmitoyl transferase, and are instantly oxidized for energy. MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) from coconut oil do not get packaged into lipoproteins, and do not get transported to a variety of tissues and are not stored as body fat, they go directly to the liver and are metabolized for energy (Life Sciences 62 (14): 1203-1215). The bottom line is that medium chain fatty acids from coconut oil produces energy to the exclusion of all else, whereas, long chain fatty acids (LCFA) found in all other dietary fats produce body fat (and some energy).
Because the medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil are rapidly and easily transported into the mitochondria, unlike long chain fatty acids, they’re immediately used for energy, resulting in a burst of thermogenesis and energy, which, subsequently, increases the body’s metabolism. Several clinical and animal studies have proven that ingestion of coconut oil increases the metabolic rate and decreases body fat both in animal studies performed on mice and rats, as well as humans. Rats that were fed a diet consisting of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) had reduced subcutaneous fat, a visible decrease in body adipose tissue, increased metabolism and increased thermogenesis (Lipids 22 (6): 442-444). The energy burst that is generated by MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) is also great for athletic endurance. In one scientific study, Researchers tested the physical endurance of mice that ingested medium chain fatty acids vs. those fed a diet high in LCFA (long chain fatty acids) for six weeks. The animals were subjected to a swimming endurance test, where they were forced to swim, every other day. The animals that were fed medium chain fatty acids continually had more endurance than the rest and characteristically had a much higher level of physical endurance (Journal of Nutrition 125 (3):531-9). This research performed in mice provide us with evidence that MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) increase metabolism and promote the loss of fat while providing a surge of energy that increases physical endurance, in a manner that doesn’t make you fat. This uplift in energy means you feel less lethargic, and can help you feel less tired.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that coconut oil clearly demonstrates an effect in women and men very analogous to what has been observed in other studies involving mammalian animal models: it . For example, in one study, healthy men and women were administered either long chain fatty acids or medium chain fatty acids in addition to a diet similar in fat, protein, and carbohydrate content for 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks were over it was found that individuals that took medium chain fatty acids had significantly less body weight and, specifically, body fat (The Journal of Nutrition 131 (11): 2853-2859). Scientific studies have also shown that ingestion of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) also increase the oxidation of LCFA (long chain fatty acids) that are already in your body (International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders: Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 24 (9): 1158-1166). Similar to the animal studies, medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) also increase production of energy by increasing thermogenesis, which speeds up metabolic rate in humans as well (Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental 38 (7): 641-648). In another study, people with high levels of circulating triglycerides were given medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) for 8 weeks. In addition to decreasing overall body fat, their triglyceride levels were lowered by 14.5% (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 63 (7): 879-886).
So just a quick refresher for those of you that lost focus: Coconut oil, a source of medium chain fatty acids, is metabolized by a altogether different process than long chain fatty acids altogether, this process speeds up its use as energy instead of storing it away as adipose tissue. Because the body has to preferentially burn the fat off, it ramps up the metabolism by increasing thermogenesis. This ramping up of the metabolism then proceeds to not only burn off coconut oil, but long chain fatty acids pre-existing the consumption of the medium chain fatty acids as well as well. These effects have been seen both in animal studies, and more importantly, human studies.
To reap the medium chain fatty acids benefits you simply need to change the type of oil you ordinarily cook with to coconut oil.
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