Coconut Diet Review

 

A classic fad - be wary when a singular food is touted as the magic bullet - the Coconut Diet is rooted in the theory that native islanders and others indigenous to areas where coconuts grow have historically been of healthy weight and suffered few to any of the chronic diseases common to western populations. Is it the coconut oil? Advocates of this plan say yes, because the fats in coconuts are metabolized differently from other fats - instead of being stored for the future, the fats in coconut oil are broken down in the body immediately and converted to energy. Is this true? Bear in mind that there is no scientific or medical evidence to indicate that it is....though it is true that the healthy fats in coconut oil do provide some health benefits like improved hair and skin. If you're interested and want to give it a go, here's how it works:

The four phase Coconut Diet plan has one common thread - you need to consume 2 to 4 tablespoons of pure coconut oil per day. You can either knock it back as-is, or incorporate it into your foods. You'll begin with a 21 day weight loss kickoff - a very calorie restricted affair of lean protein and vegetables. Most fruits and alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy and grains are prohibited. Phase two is the "cleansing" phase, where you'll down detox drinks (vegetable based) and are advised to subject yourself to a colonic. In phase three you'll reintroduce healthy carbohydrates into your diet - low glycemic index ones like whole grains, fruits and a restricted amount of starchy vegetables - but you remain calorie-restricted. And phase four is your maintenance phase - the lifetime program where your "allowed foods" are slightly expanded yet you remain barred (for life) from alcohol, sweets and certain fruits.

To their credit - there is an attempt at a comprehensive approach here. The good: the Coconut Diet encourages greater consumption of proteins, vegetables and fruits. And obviously cutting booze, sweets and the like is always going to be to your advantage. Exercise is recommended. Though the recommendation is - in our view - rather light (15 minutes per day is really not enough) the advice to 1) exercise at all and 2) combine aerobic/cardio exercise and resistance training for the best results is absolutely spot on. You'll find that the (very low calorie) meal plan is not conducive to dining out - but obviously if you're seriously trying to lose weight you should be dining out as little as possible to begin with, as one of the foundations of weight loss and maintenance is making healthy meals at home.

Will you lose weight on the Coconut Diet? If you follow it to the letter, yes. Dramatically reducing calories by cutting booze, sweets and the like combined with greater consumption of healthy food and regular exercise is going to net results - with or without coconut oil. You'll find in the book that the authors stray into discussion of viral infections, thyroid dysfunction, digestive disorders and blood sugar imbalances - exploring the possibility that coconut oil is beneficial to sufferers of these ailments, many of which impair a person's ability to lose weight. While that remains to be seen, you might recall the Tom Hanks film "Castaway" in which his (stranded on a deserted island) character, subsisting primarily on coconuts, talks specifically about coconuts' laxative properties....so take that factor into consideration.