Heart Palpitations/Flutters????

June 9, 2006

I've taken coconut oil for years but the past few months I've developed

increasingly worsening heart flutters/palpitations/pounding. I thought the

flutters

were from caffeine use and/or stress. So today was my first full day of no

caffeine at all. I only experienced a few episodes during the day, but this

evening, I ate coconut oil in my salad and in popcorn I made -- and whammo,

palps/flutters galore. My hubby had palps/arrythmia from coffee years ago and

he

said that it took about 48 hours of stopping caffeine cold turkey before his

palps subsided. Now he can have it in moderation with no problems at all. I

saw a physician recently and all my cardio bloodwork was fine. He listened to

my heart and said it was fine -- but of course, I wasn't having palps at that

moment. Any thoughts/advice would be most appreciated. If it persists -- I'm

going to a cardiologist next week. I feel fine exercising, I'm not overweight

and I'm a 42 year old female. My pulse increases slightly during the

episodes but no tachycardia.

June 10, 2006

So you think it has to do with the coconut oil? Maybe you could stop

the coconut oil for a few days and see if it goes away? I am a

little taken aback as I have the exact same thing going on. I too,

am a 42 year old woman from NY, my physicals always show heart okay,

blah blah. Just tonight I said to myself, I have to make an

appointment with a cardiologist because this the thudding is scary.

I will stop the coconut oil for a few days and see if it helps. I

only drink 1 cup of tea in the early morning and that's it.

Take care,

>

> I've taken coconut oil for years but the past few months I've

developed

> increasingly worsening heart flutters/palpitations/pounding. I

thought the flutters

> were from caffeine use and/or stress. So today was my first full

day of no

> caffeine at all. I only experienced a few episodes during the

day, but this

> evening, I ate coconut oil in my salad and in popcorn I made --

and whammo,

> palps/flutters galore. My hubby had palps/arrythmia from coffee

years ago and he

> said that it took about 48 hours of stopping caffeine cold turkey

before his

> palps subsided. Now he can have it in moderation with no problems

at all. I

> saw a physician recently and all my cardio bloodwork was fine. He

listened to

> my heart and said it was fine -- but of course, I wasn't having

palps at that

> moment. Any thoughts/advice would be most appreciated. If it

persists -- I'm

> going to a cardiologist next week. I feel fine exercising, I'm

not overweight

> and I'm a 42 year old female. My pulse increases slightly during

the

> episodes but no tachycardia.

>

June 10, 2006

I find it ironic that I believe coconut oil, plus eating the Nourishing

Traditions way, have helped me to get rid of my heart arrhythmia! I had

been on medicine for 3 years, a beta-blocker, and I wanted to go off of

it because they are actually bad for your heart. I did a cleanse,

started eating as recommended by the Weston A Price Foundation, had a

doctor recommend I take lots of CoQ10 and some magnesium (which helpts

regulate heart beat), and got adjusted several times by a good

chiropracter. Went off the medicine and have not needed it. The

arrhythmia is gone, unless I drink caffeine and that will sometimes

cause flutters.

June 11, 2006

>

> In a message dated 6/10/2006 3:53:09 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> healingcoconut@... writes:

> So you think it has to do with the coconut oil? Maybe you could

stop

> the coconut oil for a few days and see if it goes away? I am a

> little taken aback as I have the exact same thing going on. I too,

> am a 42 year old woman from NY, my physicals always show heart

okay,

> blah blah. Just tonight I said to myself, I have to make an

> appointment with a cardiologist because this the thudding is

scary.

> I will stop the coconut oil for a few days and see if it helps. I

> only drink 1 cup of tea in the early morning and that's it.

> I may try that. I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong

with

> coconut oil -- just that maybe I've developed a

sensitivity/allergy to it. I take

> thyroid meds and maybe it's helping my thyroid work better so that

I need to

> cut down my meds. My thyroid bloodwork showed me not hyper -- but

perhaps I

> still need to cut down a bit. Or if I've triggered the palps with

> caffeine/stress -- then perhaps ANYTHING that speeds up the system

could trigger this. Or

> it could be completely non-related. My physical /bloodwork showed

heart ok to

> but of course the flutters weren't happening at the time they took

the EKG or

> listened to my heart. I've read palps/thumping/flutters are

common for women

> our age -- but for peace of mind, I'm going to follow up with a

cardiologist

> too.

>

June 12, 2006

>

I'm fairly new to using CO and other coconut products and not terribly

consistent. Some days I know I'm getting in three or four teaspoons,

and other days just one. I'll have the odd smoothie with coconut

milk, and I'll munch on coconut meat from coconuts that I open at home.

I've recently been experiencing heart palpitations, but never

attributed it to the CO until I read the recent string of e-mails

about this. I try to follow a lower carb way of eating, and I had

attributed the pounding heart to eating something with sugar or

starch (my body is not used to starchy carbs for the most part, but

every once in awhile I'm not so succesful at avoiding them). I

haven't experienced the pounding in the last few days since

I've read the thread, and I've still been using a teaspoon or two a day.

Something I have been experiencing for a week or so however, is some

exzema (sp?) like patches on my hands. I've understood that exzema is

a sign of an allergy. A friend of mine thought that I may be

experiencing a removal of toxins. I've never had exzema before or any

known food allergy. I'm also experiencing a bladder infection which

is unusual for me. For some reason I am run down. Is this a 'healing

crisis'?

Now I'm desperately hoping the CO is not the cause of the heart

palpitations and the skin problem. Any thoughts on how I can check

this out?

Thanks

June 14, 2006

I would like to comment on the experience some people have had with a

racing heart after taking coconut oil. This happens occasionally and let

me tell you why. Most of the energy in the body comes from glucose.

However, the heart is different. It gets up to 80% of its energy from

fat, preferably saturated fat. An enzyme called CD36 is required for the

utilization of fat in the heart. If a person does not consume adequate

amounts of fat or has a CD36 deficiency their hearts must rely more on

glucose for its energy needs. Glucose is a less efficient form of energy

for the heart muscle, therefore, if it is forced to get most of its

energy from glucose the heart will be constantly under powered and weak.

If this is chronic you probably don’t realize it or feel anything except

that your heart in not functioning at an optimal level. It is like

running a car a poor grade of gasoline.

When you start adding coconut oil into your diet two things happen. One,

you are supplying more fat (i.e. fuel) for the heart to utilize. Two,

the heart can use the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil without

the need of CD36. So if your diet has been fat deficient or you are

lacking the enzymes for your heart to properly utilize fats, then eating

coconut oil will be like putting a high grade gasoline into your car.

You will notice a difference in performance, the engine will race

faster, perhaps even sputter as energy performance improves. This is not

a sign of trouble but an indication of improved performance and energy

utilization. It is also a sign that your heart has been under nourished

and you need to eat an adequate amount of healthy fats. I don’t

recommend that you back off from eating coconut oil, your heart is in

desperate need for it so make sure you get enough every single day.

Dr. Bruce Fife

Heart Palpitations/Flutters????

I've taken coconut oil for years but the past few months I've developed

increasingly worsening heart flutters/palpitatio-ns/pounding. I thought

the flutters

were from caffeine use and/or stress. So today was my first full day of

no

caffeine at all. I only experienced a few episodes during the day, but

this

evening, I ate coconut oil in my salad and in popcorn I made -- and

whammo,

palps/flutters galore. My hubby had palps/arrythmia from coffee years

ago and he

said that it took about 48 hours of stopping caffeine cold turkey before

his

palps subsided. Now he can have it in moderation with no problems at

all. I

saw a physician recently and all my cardio bloodwork was fine. He

listened to

my heart and said it was fine -- but of course, I wasn't having palps at

that

moment. Any thoughts/advice would be most appreciated. If it persists --

I'm

going to a cardiologist next week. I feel fine exercising, I'm not

overweight

and I'm a 42 year old female. My pulse increases slightly during the

episodes but no tachycardia.

June 14, 2006

Dr. Fife....

That was quite an enjoyable piece. I'm new...have been lurking, but this

drew me out. May I have your permission to cross-post to a small private

group of NT-enthusiasts? Many thanks...

Sharon

On 6/14/06, Bruce Fife <bruce@...> wrote:

>

> I would like to comment on the experience some people have had with a

> racing heart after taking coconut oil. This happens occasionally and let

> me tell you why. Most of the energy in the body comes from glucose.

> However, the heart is different. It gets up to 80% of its energy from

> fat, preferably saturated fat. An enzyme called CD36 is required for the

> utilization of fat in the heart. If a person does not consume adequate

> amounts of fat or has a CD36 deficiency their hearts must rely more on

> glucose for its energy needs. Glucose is a less efficient form of energy

> for the heart muscle, therefore, if it..........

> Dr. Bruce Fife

>

June 14, 2006

This is very interesting to me!! For years, I've had a little

flutter kind of thing that was like a racing and then a skipped

beat. My doctor finally heard it one day when I had been using

albuterol regularly instead only intermittently, and he added Keflex

for a bronchitis that was coming on. He said the heart beat thing

was an early beat rather than a skipped one and called it PVC -

premature ventricular contraction. It's not harmful, only weird and

a little scary.

Strange thing is, when I'm on coconut oil regularly (I get mine from

Natural Zing and love the taste) I don't have this. It goes away

completely, and my heart beats just fine. I also have a slight

murmur in there somewhere, so that could be part of it. I've been

off the VCO for awhile, so it had already picked up in frequency a

bit, and since backing off the inhaler, the problem has gotten back

to only an occasional occurrence. but with the VCO it doesn't do it

at all!

Wonderful stuff!

Carol C.

>

> I would like to comment on the experience some people have had

with a

> racing heart after taking coconut oil. This happens occasionally

and let

> me tell you why. Most of the energy in the body comes from glucose.

> However, the heart is different. It gets up to 80% of its energy

from

> fat, preferably saturated fat. An enzyme called CD36 is required

for the

> utilization of fat in the heart. If a person does not consume

adequate

> amounts of fat or has a CD36 deficiency their hearts must rely

more on

> glucose for its energy needs. Glucose is a less efficient form of

energy

> for the heart muscle, therefore, if it is forced to get most of its

> energy from glucose the heart will be constantly under powered and

weak.

> If this is chronic you probably don't realize it or feel anything

except

> that your heart in not functioning at an optimal level. It is like

> running a car a poor grade of gasoline.

>

June 14, 2006

Dear Dr Fife,

Warm greetings from the Philppines !

On the subject inquiry, apparently, your elucidation is clear, candid and very

professional.

Thank you very much for giving your time to explain why it is possible for one

taking coconut oil (other coconut milk-based products ?) to experience initially

the unwanted heart palpitations. Hence, I surmise that as soon as the heart has

stabilize its conditions (about how soon ?) as a result of adequate energy

produced from the healthy medium chain fatty acids-dominated-saturated fat as

coconut oil, one can experience normal heartbeat (pumping and circulation of

blood and oxygen within the our heart).

Cheers, and all the best,

Sev Magat

Bruce Fife <bruce@...> wrote: