Coconut oil is unlike any other oil on earth (from the only palm in its own genus) and is another of a handful of staples on the planet that have been used as food and medicine for millennia. The high percentage medium chain triglycerides contained in coconut oil are found in very few other naturally occurring sources, besides mother’s milk, goat’s milk and palm kernel oil (not the same as palm oil.)

Coconut oil is anti-fungal, antibacterial and antiviral.

So the deal is, both capric and lauric acid (the medium chain triglycerides) found in coconut oil, along with monolaurin, the metabolite that is produced by the body’s own enzymes upon ingestion of coconut oil, can kill harmful pathogens of the bacteria, viruses and fungi ilk (refs. 1,2, and in fact there are over 3600 studies at the US National Library of Medicine alone, on the potential or verified benefits of coconut oil.)

Viruses with lipid (fat) coatings including herpes, measles, HIV, hepatitis C, influenza, and mononucleosis – along with the so called novel corona virus, covid-19 are vulnerable to the effects of coconut oil. (There is a proposed research study for use of coconut oil as a basis for a treatment against covid-19 which you can read about here.)

Three mechanisms have been proposed to explain the antiviral activity of lauric acid and monolaurin:

  1. they cause disintegration of the virus envelope;
  2. they can inhibit late maturation stage in the virus replicative cycle;
  3. they can prevent the binding of viral proteins to the host cell membrane.the coconut palm, source of medicine and food for millennia

Pretty cool, hey!

It’s also exceptional food for the skin, heat stable, long shelf life at room temperature, delicious, nutritious and the ultimate natural lubricant – it’s simply a no-brainer for it’s use as a basis topically and internally in the formulas I use for body therapy sessions, as well as the good stuff I make for you gentle folk, namely the super power packed antiviral honey formulation, and the fabulous and salubrious multi purpose body balm, both of which you can learn much more about on the product pages should you so desire ?

Good stuff!