Coconut Oil Revisited

Take time to view  Tradition of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil video. These are the people I buy our coconut oil from and their video is informative. Loving Your Guts blog is giving away expensive coconut oil here. Go there soon to enter. I also have a link to Tropical Traditions at the bottom right of this blog.

Here is a research link from Dr. Mary Newport, where I first got this information. Happy Birthday, Dr. Newport--today is her birthday!

Use Wih Oatmeal, Stews, Casseroles

If there is something I can put coconut oil in, I usually do. My adaptation for coconut oil toasted cheese sandwiches on this blog has had many hits as has Mary Newport's information. .

My Station Where I Put Make Coconut Fudge

Most often now, however, I just make coconut oil fudge from Dr. Newport's book. This fudge is my husband's "go to" food for breakfast and for lunch. I give him two cubes at each meal. Sometimes he gets some with his ice cream at night as well. It is half dark chocolate chips (dark chocolate is an antioxidant) and Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil. After melting together equal amounts of the two ingredients in the microwave, I mash with a potato masher and put in ice cube trays. Once frozen, I pop out the cubes and store in the refrigerator. I have a "station" (concept from The House That Cleans Itself)  for making it in my kitchen.

This oil calms my husband and perhaps slows down the Alzheimer's. It is controversial, but finally Johnny Byrd Alzheimer's Center is doing research on it. When this center first diagnoised my husband, they smiled at my use of it--like I am crazy. Now they are doing a research study. Yes, my husband is slowly going downhill, but maybe not as much as you would expect.

Coconut oil has all kinds of benefits, not just for Alzheimer's patients. It apparently is an antibiotic. My copy of The Coconut Oil Miracle is loaned out and for good reason.

What I'm Learning About Senior Health, Part Three

Workshop. Sally and I went to workshop at the USF Johnny Byrd Alzheimer's Institute on August 30th. DH and Jake spend the day at our home. Dr. Kristin Fargher, Assistant Medical Director at the Institute, gave an excellent overview called "Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Progress in Treatment". 

This session was followed by Jill Ardila's presentation on "Clinical Trials: One Step Closer to a Cure." Sally has been having trouble sleeping lately and she has just joined a caregiver study now on the sleep of a caregiver that Jill Ardila mentioned. Jill also mentioned that current research for AD patients includes Resveratrol and coconut oil! When hubby was officially diagnosed with Mixed Dementia at Byrd Alzheimer's Institute two years ago see here, they were not impressed with the coconut oil I had been giving him. I just read that post again and realize that hubby really is doing so well in the past two years and so am I with the LORD's help. Now the Institute researchers have met Dr. Newport (whose interview video is one od the most viewed post on this blog) and are actually conducting research on it!  So glad DH has been on coconut oil for three years. He does get it with his coconut oil fudge for two meals. Perhaps he doesn't have enough every day, and maybe I can give him more by cooking with it most days. 

After a wonderful lunch, Eileen Poiley the Institute's Director of Education talked on "Strategies for Managing Behaviors and Communicating with a person with Alzheimer's". Her tips deserve a whole new post which will follow at some point. 

Off-hand Comments at the Workshop. I heard that Resvereatrol (has ingredient in dark chocolate) is at Sams Club and will look into that. One of the participants informally during a break talked about people in India cooking with turmeric and curumin and not having as much dementia. Hubby does get this every day with a Vitacost pill and whenever I can cook with it.

Scam? A series of studies have come out that says that aging is a result of oxidated stress where free radicals destroy some of the cells. Joe McCord and others have "discovered" that the taking of one pill of Protandim can help us not age, or return our T bars to a lower level. That video is here. Two of the ingredients in this pill my husband already takes--green tea and tumeric. He also has cinnamon on his applesauce he gets in the morning and often on a sweet potato. However the case is out on Protandim and if you Google it you see what ingredients are in it and that it might be a scam, or at least a scam in its marketing. I wonder if it was "the one thing" that was in the post here--a most popular post to date on this blog--the one thing that I never listened to because of the marketing approach.

Teeth. Got to floss, folks. Plaque can get into the blood stream through the teeth.  Never connected heart health and teeth before. Actually have been going to a really good dentist for almost two years now when we got on Preferred Care. Flossing is hard for my wrists since I have carpal tunnel symptoms again, but got to do it.

Shingles. You can get a shingles shot at Walmart in our area this week. Hubby got shingles after he was first diagnosed with dementia soon after I started this blog almost four years ago. Preferred Care will not cover this shot for me, but I am considering paying for it because of the stress of caregiving and over a year ago my doctor said seniors should get this shot.

MSM. I am taking MSM for my carpal tunnel as I did years ago. My doctor approved. Also I am wearing my braces at night and during the day some.  I also need a hearing test.

Aluminium Deodorants. Can people avoid Alzheimer's by avoiding certain deodorants? See here. While it may be a good idea to not use aluminum in cooking, we do not know that we have to avoid it in deodorants unlike that site implies. Nobody else on Google is saying that aluminum in deodorants causes Alzheimer's, in fact it is called a myth if you google it. This site sums it up:

It is interesting that the Aluminum/Alzheimer's connection continues to persist for many people, even though in the 1960's and 1970's after it was first suspected and researched extensively, no connection has ever been found. There is still no known cause of Alzheimer's, but a few things that are believed to help prevent it are: eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat and cholesterol, staying mentally active and learning new things, and exercising regularly.

I have been thinking about neurotransmitters recently, you know, Seretonon, GABA, Dopamine and Acetycholine and how we get them from healthy eating--those superfoods. Those neurotransmitters connect the neurons that my husband is losing slowly I guess. If we are deficient in neurotransmitters certain conditions can happen--low energy, brain fog, anxiety. Also, friends are on the GAPS, Paleo and/or no gluten diets and seeing significant benefits for their families.

I am dieting with Weight Watchers which also emphasizes healthy eating, not just weight loss. My weight loss is slow, but, I feel great and am fitting into clothes I used to wear.

Diet, what we eat, is not just losing weight. Good eating habits are important for us seniors and our Alzheimer's loved ones, who sometimes think they can live on ice cream!

Pros and Cons on Coconut Oil

Today I am grieving the loss of a special young lady--age 2 years and 8 months. I remember when her parents and this toddler came to help with our yard sale in the fall of 2009. Her dad drove with my husband and Jake to deliver some furniture when my husband was still driving. I asked the young dad later what it was like to be in a car with two men with Alzheimer's; he told me it was weird when these husbands kept asking him the same question over and over. He was such a gentleman about it. Pray for the grieving parents now and for us as we grieve with them. Sad time, but not without our Christian hope.

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From Pinterest

Alzheimer's Reading Room on Coconut Oil  I commented here today and often read the Alzheimer's Reading Room. Lots of good information here.

Dr. Mercola on U-Tube explains that the saturated fat of coconut oil is good for us. It is hydrogenated vegetable oil and transfat that is not. I tend to notice that we don't get some of the viruses and colds that others get.

I wrote on Plant City Lady and Friends in April about oil. Dr. Mary Newport's video on coconut oil is the most popular one on this blog so far.


Coconut oil tub at right is from Tropical Traditions



Check out these links in red for yourself.

Dr. Mary Newport's Coconut Oil Video

Click on Christian Broadcasting Network  to hear Steve and Mary Newport interviewed about the benefits of coconut oil. I do believe coconut oil has helped my husband and have written about how I use it previously.

Currently it is used as Coconut Fudge, half coconut oil and half chocolate chips, both melted together and frozen in ice cube trays and stored the the refrigerator; then my husband is given four cubes a day. He got tired of having coconut oil in oatmeal.

Doctor Visit--Coconut Oil Look Promising

When my husband went to his doctor this week, she was very pleased. His blood pressure was the lowest she has seen. He took the memory test and scored a whole point better than he did last December. His dementia is not making him go downhill at all! I think the difference is the coconut oil.

I have seen he has more initiative lately. He has completed two carpentry projects and gets out in the yard to work.

Thank the Lord!