Coconut Oil Leads To Dementia?

[Westside PUFAs]

Could be fear, uncertainly, and doubt. Ian Prior will tell you that even a diet of 50% coconut, in humans, leads to good health with practically zero cardiovascular disease:

Prior, Ian A. "Cholesterol, coconuts, and diet on Polynesian atolls: a natural experiment: the Pukapuka and Tokelau island studies." The American journal of clinical nutrition (1981)​

But cardiovascular disease appears to have little to do with lipids (Pauling, 1991).

Now for the coconut oil dementia rats: What is going on with this? I mean . . . WTF is going on with this, really?

Granholm, Ann-Charlotte. "Effects of a saturated fat and high cholesterol diet on memory and hippocampal morphology in the middle-aged rat." Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2008)​

The very first paragraph lets us know exactly what's going on:

'Diets rich in cholesterol and/or saturated fats have been shown to be detrimental to cognitive performance. Therefore, we fed a cholesterol (2%) and saturated fat (hydrogenated coconut oil, Sat Fat 10%) diet to 16-month old rats for 8 weeks to explore the effects on the working memory performance of middle-aged rats.' —Granholm​

The Raney catalyst used to hydrogenate coconut oil consists of nickel on an aluminum scaffold. The Raney particles are made small to increase the surface area for dihydrogen (H₂) adsorption and to lower the time for complete hydrogenation. These micron‐sized aluminum and nickel particles are filtered‐out afterwards, but some do remain and they can be detected.

Aluminum can leads to an autoimmune myelin condition since microtubule‐associated proteins, which support the myelin in nerves, are highly phosphorylated. The aluminum ion has a natural affinity for phosphate, and has been shown to aggregate phosphorylated proteins such as τ in vitro. The aluminum ion (Al³⁺) is trivalent, and can form a three‐membered phosphate crosslink. This ion has historically been implicated—more than anything else—directly in the etiology of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and ALS. Aluminum has been detected in the brains and spinal cords of such people by electron dispersive spectroscopy, neutron activation analysis, LAMMA spectroscopy, and solochrome azurine staining. Aluminum has been also been linked epidemiologically to Alzheimer's through analysis of drinking water, and proved directly to cause dementia in case of the Waterford Poisoning Incident (aluminum sulfate is used a flocculant in some city water supplies). Thousands of cases of diabetic encephalopathy show the same . . . because this only happens when aluminum can be found in the dialysate fluid.

The only thing ever shown to replicate the neurofibrillary tangles seen in Alzheimer's has been injections of aluminum chloride. ​

Hydrogenated coconut oil would be expected to retain more Raney catalyst than all other oils due to its high viscosity. This could contribute enough aluminum to cause the characteristic neurological changes seen in the rats. Indeed, nothing else even makes sense; there is no way that caprylic, myristic, or palmitic acids can cause dementia.

They also ate starchy taro, starchy sweet potato and starchy breadfruit.

 

[Badger]

Haidut, the Roizen blog post I found references at least two articles to make his claim. One of them is unavailable on Sc-Hub. I found the other one, which is in HTML or pdf:
Vascular Changes in Rat Hippocampus following a High Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Diet
SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research
Roizen says about this article:

"...the inflammation associated with hydrogenated coconut oil (like the kind you might use in cooking) causes inflammatory vascular changes and breaks down that key area of the blood-brain barrier in their rat model. Now they gave the rats 10% coconut oil, the equivalent of 160 calories or less than 3 tablespoons for a human, and found inflammatory and disruptive changes in one of the proteins key for the tight junctions and thereby functioning of the blood-brain barrier. But they changed the diet of the rats for 6 months to see this effect, the equivalent of about 15 year period for you. But this break down of the blood brain barrier and inflammation in the hippocampus that Granholm and Freeman reported is exactly what the researchers in the laboratory next to mine in 1973-5 found. The researchers in the laboratory next to ours in the National Institutes of Mental Health at NIH in that period were early in trying to understand dementia. They administered coconut oil after causing an inflammatory stimulus (a bacterial skin infection as I recall). That process led to the mice in their studies not being able to learn maze navigation, as I remember it (not the focus of my research just down the hall; we were trying to understand consciousness and how anesthetics caused anesthesia). In the meantime genetic models of dementia in rats and mice were developed. That’s why I worry the data are too old for the young docs of today to be aware of that model of accelerated dementia associated with a coconut oil diet plus inflammation."

I need to see at least one study. Don't wan to dismiss automatically anything, but such a wild claim unreported by anybody else requires equally "wild" evidence to take seriously.

 

[Badger]

Roizen says most coconut oil available from shops is hydrogenated. My 2 bottles from different companies never mention the term, but that does not mean they are not hydrogenated. I might have to phone them to get clarity on this.

So the regular unrefined coconut oil that's easily available in shops that has like 2% PUFA wouldn't have this problem?

 

[Wagner83]

The Raney catalyst used to hydrogenate oils is basically nickel on an aluminum support. You would actually expect micron‐sized particles of aluminum to be found in hydrogenated coconut oil. In fact, I distinctly remember seeing determinations of this in the past.

I will find some numbers shortly so we know how much aluminum to expect from hydrogenated coconut oil.

Huh I need to check how mct oil is made.

 

[raypeatclips]

Roizen says most coconut oil available from shops is hydrogenated. My 2 bottles from different companies never mention the term, but that does not mean they are not hydrogenated. I might have to phone them to get clarity on this.

Why are there threads on this forum dedicated to sourcing hydrogenated coconut oil? I was under the impression it was difficult to find. The most common and easily available one in the UK, KTC Coconut Oil specifically says no hydrogenated fat on it.

 

[Travis]

1. The Raney Catalyst is ancient, dating back to 1932.⁽¹⁾ To hydrogenate a lipid double=bond, it is first helpful to stabilize the H₂ by adsorbing it onto a metal. Palladium and platinum work the best but are expensive, so nickel is commonly used to hydrogenate the oils. To save the catalytic nickel, it is electroplated onto aluminum particles which are made porous—with an acid—to increase surface area. Hence, Raney particles are mostly nickel and aluminum.

'The Raney catalyst is prepared by alloying equal parts of nickel and aluminum and then dissolving out the latter with aqueous sodium hydroxide.' ―Covert⁽¹⁾​

These Raney particles adsorb hydrogen gas. The hydrogen atoms are then donated to lipid double bonds—saturating them with hydrogen.

2. Nickel in hydrogenated oils is usually stressed, as this is actually somewhat toxic, and is generally found at around one part per million.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ But for some reason, aluminum isn't looked for as often. But it has been found, of course, since it's always associated with the Raney catalyst.

'This interest derives from the association of trace metals with the origin of oils (soils and fertilizers), metal processing equipment, and catalysts used for hydrogenation; toxicity of edible oils and fats; and the effect of trace metals on the characteristics of finished products, such as color and taste.' ―Farhan⁽⁴⁾​

In hydrogenated oils, aluminum can be found in part per million concentrations:⁽⁴⁾

Now this isn't your ionic, one atom aluminum (Al³⁺); these are small micro‐ and nanometer‐sized particles which cannot be chelated by citrate, malate, nor silica, in the body. Some of these particles would be expected to be persorbed, as particles of similar size have been shown to do.⁽⁵⁾

3. Aluminum partitions around nerves because it has a high affinity for phosphate and the microtubule‐associated proteins are highly phosphorylated. This has been detected by a number of ways, and there is certainly no lack of evidence for this.⁽⁶⁾

I think it would be fair to say that aluminum has a peculiar affinity for nerves.

4. Aluminum actively crosslinks phosphorylated nerve proteins in vitro more than any other physiological ion. This helps to provide a mechanistic explanation, as it's well‐known to strongly bind phosphoryl groups. The phophoryl groups on proteins are usually bound to the amino aid tyrosine, but also to serine and threonine—basically to any hydroxy amino acid.

This affinity has been shown by gel electrophoresis. The aggregates shift in a gradient as they increase in size and density:⁽⁷⁾

Aluminum has been used by the hide tanning industry for this very reason.⁽⁸⁾

5. Aluminum‐crosslinked myelin proteins cause an inflammatory response, which is sometime called an 'autoimmune disease.' This is a misnomer, as the Greek prefix auto denotes that the body is attacking itself. This is only partly true, since the Al³⁺ ion is unnatural and responsible for changing the geometry of the phosphorylated myelin proteins. This is another case of faulty, irresponsible, and perhaps even deceptive semantics used to hide the fact of what's really going on.

Macrophages and killer T cells try to engulf the Al³⁺–protein complexes, and this is the so‐called 'autoimmunity.' Another deceptive, although correct, term is 'misfolded tau:'

'It has been hypothesized that misfolded tau protein could be a mediator of the inflammatory response in human tauopathies. Here we show that neurodegenerative lesions caused by human truncated tau promote inflammatory response manifested by upregulation of immune-molecules (CD11, CD18, CD4, CD45 and CD68) and morphological activation of microglial cells in a rat model of tauopathy. In parallel, the innate immune brain response promotes activation of MHC class II positive blood-borne leukocytes and their influx into the brain parenchyma.' ―Zilka⁽⁸⁾​

The criticism of this term is similar to the criticism made of the 'passive voice,' as the adjective 'misfolded' does not imply attribution. A more accurate description, written in a more active voice, would be a τ‐protein–Al³⁺ complex.

The misfoled tau τ‐protein–Al³⁺ complex attracts leukocytes, or immune cell macrophages which then attempt to engulf this tangle.

6. Nonhydrogenated coconut oil is completely safe because it has no aluminum. Millions of people can testify that neither coconuts, nor its oil, will produce neurodegeneration. And such an idea hasn't even a logical explanation.

[1] Covert, Lloyd W. "Nickel by the Raney Process as a Catalyst of Hydrogenation." Journal of the American Chemical Society (1932)
[2]Nash, A. M. "Determination of ultratrace metals in hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats." Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (1983)
[3] Anwar, Farooq. "Rapid determination of some trace metals in several oils and fats." Grasas y Aceites (2004)
[4] Farhan, F. M. "Determination of traces of heavy metals in oils and fats by arc spectrography." Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (1976)
[5] Volkheimer, G."The phenomenon of persorption." Digestion (1968)
[6] Piccardo, P. "Histochemical and X-ray microanalytical localization of aluminum in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia of Guam." Acta neuropathologica (1988)
[7] Scott, Clay W. "Aggregation of tau protein by aluminum." Brain research (1993)
[8] Covington, Anthony D. "Modern tanning chemistry." Chemical Society Reviews 26.2 (1997): 111-126.
[8] Zilka, Norber. "Human misfolded truncated tau protein promotes activation of microglia and leukocyte infiltration..." Journal of neuroimmunology (2009)
[9] Perl, Daniel P. "Intraneuronal aluminum accumulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinsonism-dementia of Guam." Science (1982)​

 

[haidut]

Haidut, the Roizen blog post I found references at least two articles to make his claim. One of them is unavailable on Sc-Hub. I found the other one, which is in HTML or pdf:
Vascular Changes in Rat Hippocampus following a High Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Diet
SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research
Roizen says about this article:

"...the inflammation associated with hydrogenated coconut oil (like the kind you might use in cooking) causes inflammatory vascular changes and breaks down that key area of the blood-brain barrier in their rat model. Now they gave the rats 10% coconut oil, the equivalent of 160 calories or less than 3 tablespoons for a human, and found inflammatory and disruptive changes in one of the proteins key for the tight junctions and thereby functioning of the blood-brain barrier. But they changed the diet of the rats for 6 months to see this effect, the equivalent of about 15 year period for you. But this break down of the blood brain barrier and inflammation in the hippocampus that Granholm and Freeman reported is exactly what the researchers in the laboratory next to mine in 1973-5 found. The researchers in the laboratory next to ours in the National Institutes of Mental Health at NIH in that period were early in trying to understand dementia. They administered coconut oil after causing an inflammatory stimulus (a bacterial skin infection as I recall). That process led to the mice in their studies not being able to learn maze navigation, as I remember it (not the focus of my research just down the hall; we were trying to understand consciousness and how anesthetics caused anesthesia). In the meantime genetic models of dementia in rats and mice were developed. That’s why I worry the data are too old for the young docs of today to be aware of that model of accelerated dementia associated with a coconut oil diet plus inflammation."

That study shows that the coconut oil group consumed 45% of calories as fat while the control group consumed only 13% as fat. I don't think 45% fat diet is healthy and a good basis for comparison regardless of the type of fat consumed but of those 45%, only 10% were coconut oil, while the rest of the fat is the standard fat used in rat chow, which is about 60% PUFA. So, the study should really have been titled "Adding coconut oil to high fat diet does not protect from neurodegeneration caused by PUFA contained in the diet".

"...Six months of exposure to the HFHC diet led to a significant increase in body weight compared with rats treated with the control diet. The HFHC diet used here delivers ~45% of calories from fat compared with 13% of calories from fat for the control diet. On the basis of the elevated caloric intake, it is not surprising that the HFHC diet led to an increase in total body weights. However, in our previous dietary studies, weight gain and food consumption were not significantly different between groups (Granholm et al, 2008). "

 

[Travis]

So the regular unrefined coconut oil that's easily available in shops that has like 2% PUFA wouldn't have this problem?

Regular, or non‐hydrogenated coconut oil certainly wouldn't have any micron‐ and nanometer‐sized particles of residual metal catalyst.

 

[danishispsychic]

I would recommend that you stop watching this garbage.

Dr OZ... i just CANT with his nonsense.

 

[tca300]

1. The Raney Catalyst is ancient, dating back to 1932.⁽¹⁾ To hydrogenate a lipid double=bond, it is first helpful to stabilize the H₂ by adsorbing it onto a metal. Palladium and platinum work the best but are expensive, so nickel is commonly used to hydrogenate the oils. To save the catalytic nickel, it is electroplated onto aluminum particles which are made porous—with an acid—to increase surface area. Hence, Raney particles are mostly nickel and aluminum.

'The Raney catalyst is prepared by alloying equal parts of nickel and aluminum and then dissolving out the latter with aqueous sodium hydroxide.' ―Covert⁽¹⁾​

These Raney particles adsorb hydrogen gas. The hydrogen atoms are then donated to lipid double bonds—saturating them with hydrogen.

2. Nickel in hydrogenated oils is usually stressed, as this is actually somewhat toxic, and is generally found at around one part per million.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ But for some reason, aluminum isn't looked for as often. But it has been found, of course, since it's always associated with the Raney catalyst.

'This interest derives from the association of trace metals with the origin of oils (soils and fertilizers), metal processing equipment, and catalysts used for hydrogenation; toxicity of edible oils and fats; and the effect of trace metals on the characteristics of finished products, such as color and taste.' ―Farhan⁽⁴⁾​

In hydrogenated oils, aluminum can be found in part per million concentrations:⁽⁴⁾

View attachment 7823

Now this isn't your ionic, one atom aluminum (Al³⁺); these are small micro‐ and nanometer‐sized particles which cannot be chelated by citrate, malate, nor silica, in the body. Some of these particles would be expected to be persorbed, as particles of similar size have been shown to do.⁽⁵⁾

3. Aluminum partitions around nerves because it has a high affinity for phosphate and the microtubule‐associated proteins are highly phosphorylated. This has been detected by a number of ways, and there is certainly no lack of evidence for this.⁽⁶⁾

View attachment 7824

I think it would be fair to say that aluminum has a peculiar affinity for nerves.

4. Aluminum actively crosslinks phosphorylated nerve proteins in vitro more than any other physiological ion. This helps to provide a mechanistic explanation, as it's well‐known to strongly bind phosphoryl groups. The phophoryl groups on proteins are usually bound to the amino aid tyrosine, but also to serine and threonine—basically to any hydroxy amino acid.

This affinity has been shown by gel electrophoresis. The aggregates shift in a gradient as they increase in size and density:⁽⁷⁾

View attachment 7825

Aluminum has been used by the hide tanning industry for this very reason.⁽⁸⁾

5. Aluminum‐crosslinked myelin proteins cause an inflammatory response, which is sometime called an 'autoimmune disease.' This is a misnomer, as the Greek prefix auto denotes that the body is attacking itself. This is only partly true, since the Al³⁺ ion is unnatural and responsible for changing the geometry of the phosphorylated myelin proteins. This is another case of faulty, irresponsible, and perhaps even deceptive semantics used to hide the fact of what's really going on.

Macrophages and killer T cells try to engulf the Al³⁺–protein complexes, and this is the so‐called 'autoimmunity.' Another deceptive, although correct, term is 'misfolded tau:'

'It has been hypothesized that misfolded tau protein could be a mediator of the inflammatory response in human tauopathies. Here we show that neurodegenerative lesions caused by human truncated tau promote inflammatory response manifested by upregulation of immune-molecules (CD11, CD18, CD4, CD45 and CD68) and morphological activation of microglial cells in a rat model of tauopathy. In parallel, the innate immune brain response promotes activation of MHC class II positive blood-borne leukocytes and their influx into the brain parenchyma.' ―Zilka⁽⁸⁾​

The criticism of this term is similar to the criticism made of the 'passive voice,' as the adjective 'misfolded' does not imply attribution. A more accurate description, written in a more active voice, would be a τ‐protein–Al³⁺ complex.

The misfoled tau τ‐protein–Al³⁺ complex attracts leukocytes, or immune cell macrophages which then attempt to engulf this tangle.

6. Nonhydrogenated coconut oil is completely safe because it has no aluminum. Millions of people can testify that neither coconuts, nor its oil, will produce neurodegeneration. And such an idea hasn't even a logical explanation.

[1] Covert, Lloyd W. "Nickel by the Raney Process as a Catalyst of Hydrogenation." Journal of the American Chemical Society (1932)
[2]Nash, A. M. "Determination of ultratrace metals in hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats." Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (1983)
[3] Anwar, Farooq. "Rapid determination of some trace metals in several oils and fats." Grasas y Aceites (2004)
[4] Farhan, F. M. "Determination of traces of heavy metals in oils and fats by arc spectrography." Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (1976)
[5] Volkheimer, G."The phenomenon of persorption." Digestion (1968)
[6] Piccardo, P. "Histochemical and X-ray microanalytical localization of aluminum in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia of Guam." Acta neuropathologica (1988)
[7] Scott, Clay W. "Aggregation of tau protein by aluminum." Brain research (1993)
[8] Covington, Anthony D. "Modern tanning chemistry." Chemical Society Reviews 26.2 (1997): 111-126.
[8] Zilka, Norber. "Human misfolded truncated tau protein promotes activation of microglia and leukocyte infiltration..." Journal of neuroimmunology (2009)
[9] Perl, Daniel P. "Intraneuronal aluminum accumulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinsonism-dementia of Guam." Science (1982)​

I cant thank you enough for your contribution to this forum.

 

[Badger]

"So, the study should really have been titled "Adding coconut oil to high fat diet does not protect from neurodegeneration caused by PUFA contained in the diet"."
Touche...

That study shows that the coconut oil group consumed 45% of calories as fat while the control group consumed only 13% as fat. I don't think 45% fat diet is healthy and a good basis for comparison regardless of the type of fat consumed but of those 45%, only 10% were coconut oil, while the rest of the fat is the standard fat used in rat chow, which is about 60% PUFA. So, the study should really have been titled "Adding coconut oil to high fat diet does not protect from neurodegeneration caused by PUFA contained in the diet".

"...Six months of exposure to the HFHC diet led to a significant increase in body weight compared with rats treated with the control diet. The HFHC diet used here delivers ~45% of calories from fat compared with 13% of calories from fat for the control diet. On the basis of the elevated caloric intake, it is not surprising that the HFHC diet led to an increase in total body weights. However, in our previous dietary studies, weight gain and food consumption were not significantly different between groups (Granholm et al, 2008). "

 

[Badger]

Yes, I concur, thankyou for sharing your excellent insights and knowledge, very, very helpful.

I cant thank you enough for your contribution to this forum.

 

[yerrag]

Yes, I concur, thankyou for sharing your excellent insights and knowledge, very, very helpful.

Wow. This is like a cheesy movie. A happy ending. The bad guy is defeated. Hooray! Haidut my hero!

Still, it's worth looking further into the catalysts used to hydrogenate, especially the aluminum used, as Travis has shown.

 

[Badger]

Wow. This is like a cheesy movie. A happy ending. The bad guy is defeated. Hooray! Haidut my hero!

I'm thinking about sending Dr. Roizen link to this discussion.

 

[jb116]

We could even further modify that title to "Adding only 10% coconut oil to high fat diet does not protect from neurodegeneration caused by PUFA contained in the diet".
As I'm certain getting the percentage right would be protective. Dr. Peat has mentioned that ratio aspect as well. There are stories of people fighting Alzheimer's with coconut oil.

 

[yerrag]

I'm thinking about sending Dr. Roizen link to this discussion.

Would be interesting to get his response. I think many doctors can't be bothered looking into the details of a study, to spot one that is designed to tilt the outcome towards a desired conclusion. Especially with hospital doctors. In between consults with patients, visits by pharma reps, emergencies, and the lavish symposium in Hawaii, and their own personal lives, it's hard for them to find them for a forum visit with us, for example. Besides, if they learn anything from on here, they can't apply it anyway in the strict confines of their rigid discipline. Or they would risk losing their job.

We could even further modify that title to "Adding only 10% coconut oil to high fat diet does not protect from neurodegeneration caused by PUFA contained in the diet".
As I'm certain getting the percentage right would be protective. Dr. Peat has mentioned that ratio aspect as well. There are stories of people fighting Alzheimer's with coconut oil.

The dosage is pertinent information definitely. Many studies, for example, done on vitamin C, has very low dosages, and they end up with the conclusion that Vitamin C is ineffective.

 

[tca300]

Wow. This is like a cheesy movie. A happy ending. The bad guy is defeated. Hooray! Haidut my hero!

Still, it's worth looking further into the catalysts used to hydrogenate, especially the aluminum used, as Travis has shown.

Although I've shown my appreciation to Haidut many times over, and am grateful for all he has done, I was thanking Travis in this particular instance, for the information he shared on aluminum involved in the hydrogenation process of oils.

 

[yerrag]

Although I've shown my appreciation to Haidut many times over, and am grateful for all he has done, I was thanking Travis in this particular instance, for the information he shared on aluminum involved in the hydrogenation process of oils.

Yes, a big thanks to Travis! I had to do a google search on RBD coconut oil - refined, bleached, and deodorized - which is the oil I use for cooking - to take away the nagging thought that I may be ingesting particles of aluminum that could easily be persorbed. Thankfully, the RBD grade of coconut oil does not undergo the hydrogenation phase. So, I'm safe with the RBD Coconut Oil.

As for the fully hydrogenated coconut oil, the one that's always solid - and that's the one that's considered most popular in this forum - that's going to be a question mark.

 

[Such_Saturation]

http://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(15)00392-1

This one uses what I can only presume is normal unhydrogenated coconut oil. And control chow is low fat.

ssniff EF R/M E15116-34 (feed composition on request) http://www.bio-services.nl/cms/file...10_catalogue_EF_new_Experimentele_voeders.pdf

 

[haidut]

.