RE: Weil on coconut oil

[Guest guest]

Jim - I read that several months back and posted a rebuttal on their Discussion

Board. There was quite a healthy discussion on coconut oil; there was another

member who supported me, Dr Weil himself did not reply but the site moderator

said that " Conclucive studies " have not yet been done on CO.

I just tried to find the coconut oil discussion there and it seems it has been

deleted. Why not start it up again! I know there's heavy traffic to this site

and they do allow you to post controversial issues (even through it seems they

delete it after some time!)

If you go to their discussion boards

http://forums.drweil.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=drwhealthylivi & gfc=1 & sts=3%2F16%\

2F2004+1%3A51%3A57+AM

you can bring up the subject - thousnads wil read it!

I also posted on a thread about soy. Dr Weil saied that say is harmless, and I

spoke up against that. Again, there someone else who agreed with me.

I notice that now, in one thread about soy and hypothyroidism, they are no

longer sayingit's harmless but " ask your doctor " .

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

I found one discussion about CO on Dr Weil's site. There is another, which I

started, but I can't find it now - it must be buried there. I am smas in this

discussion. Let's bring it up again! I have notbeen able to sign in, however.

Perhgaps you hgave better luck.

The link is:

http://forums.drweil.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=drwQA & msg=1057.1 & maxT=5 look

for it on Jan 24th and bring it to the top!

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

OK, I found the other coconut oil discussion; look for it on Jan 15th of that

same discussion:

http://forums.drweil.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=drwQA & msg=1057.1 & maxT=5

A few messages were deleted fromthis discussion.

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

OK, I finally got inand was able to post. That coconut oil discussion in now at

the top of the list on this page:

http://forums.drweil.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=drwQA & gfc=1 & sts=3%2F16%2F2004+2%\

3A27%3A24+AM

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

I don't like Dr. Weil at all - I guess some of his information is good,

but he is so closed-minded on many topics.

Carol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you benefit from a more effective and healthy immune system?

<http://www.bluegreensolutions.com> http://www.bluegreensolutions.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weil on coconut oil

Found this just now - anyone up for a spirited rebuttal to Dr. Weil?

------

http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.html-command=TodayQA-questionId=31

6479

Today's Question

Is Coconut Oil Good for You?

I would like your input on virgin coconut oil. I have been reading that

it

is very good for you and has been getting a bad rap.

-- Jo Anne Simers

Today's Answer

(Published 12/02/2003)

Coconut oil is one of the few saturated fats that doesn't come from

animals, but like other saturated fats can raise cholesterol levels and,

therefore, should play only a very limited role, if any, in your diet.

[Guest guest]

Dr. Weil seems to me to be more vegetarian than not. Or at least he seems to

toe the party line on naturally saturated animal fats.

I got some of his books in an introductory offer to join a book club some

years ago. Sure glad I didn't pay good money for them.

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Carol Minnick [mailto:carolminnick@...]

I don't like Dr. Weil at all - I guess some of his information is good,

but he is so closed-minded on many topics.

Carol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you benefit from a more effective and healthy immune system?

< http://www.bluegreensolutions.com> http://www.bluegreensolutions.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

Carol wrote:

I don't like Dr. Weil at all - I guess some of his information is good,

but he is so closed-minded on many topics.

Carol,

For a few years I thought he had a lot to say that should be listened to. Over

the course of the last couple of years I have come over to your side. I feel he

doesn't always have sound advice.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

http://dovedesignsrus.com

[Guest guest]

I think he's a " flake " - but he's a rich flake!!

Carol

-----Original Message-----

From: Sheryl [mailto:dovedesignsrus@...]

Carol,

For a few years I thought he had a lot to say that should be listened

to. Over the course of the last couple of years I have come over to

your side. I feel he doesn't always have sound advice.

Sheryl

[Guest guest]

Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his discussion board... if

you ever hear people referring to he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

LOL - that's pretty funny!! Dr. Mercola must disagree with Weil, too.

Carol

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon M [mailto:smaas@...]

Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his discussion

board... if you ever hear people referring to he-who-must-not-be-named,

it's Mercola!

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

That alone would have destroyed any faith I may have had in Dr. Weil.

People who have true information don't have to ban opposing ideas.

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon M [mailto:smaas@...]

Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his discussion board...

if you ever hear people referring to he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

> Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his discussion

board... if you ever hear people referring to

he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

> Sharon M

Really! That's very, very interesting. I didn't know that! I like Dr.

Mercola a lot. Dr. Weil, on the other hand, strikes me as being a

typical allopathic physician with new-age leanings. He does toe the

party line about saturated fats, soy, etc., and it seems that he's not

interested in learning anything that may be contrary to that.

Irene

[Guest guest]

Weil was a very interesting young man when he was much more

of an ethnopharmocologist. He also use laughing gas to help people

get off of heroine. The older doctor Weil sure seems to be, as Irene

put it " a typical allopathic physician with new-age leanings. "

Alobar

Re: Weil on coconut oil

>

> > Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his

discussion

> board... if you ever hear people referring to

> he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

> > Sharon M

>

> Really! That's very, very interesting. I didn't know that! I like

Dr.

> Mercola a lot. Dr. Weil, on the other hand, strikes me as being a

> typical allopathic physician with new-age leanings. He does toe

the

> party line about saturated fats, soy, etc., and it seems that he's

not

> interested in learning anything that may be contrary to that.

>

> Irene

[Guest guest]

on 16/3/04 3:07 AM, Jim Ayson wrote:

> Found this just now - anyone up for a spirited rebuttal to Dr. Weil?

~~~~~~~~~~

Good luck. I've written regarding misconceptions around the use of

different forms of echinacea, and cannot get more than the standard canned

reply " thank you for writing, unfortunately we are not able to address

individual questions " .... blah blah blah

I tried again. Here is my message, followed by their reply (aaaargh):

Question for Editors: Editorial Content - Weekly Bulletin & Daily

Tip from Joan McPhee

I have been a 'fan' of Dr. Weil and have owned 2 of his books for some time.

I receive Daily Tips as well.

However, I'm becoming disenchanted. I have written several times about

different issues and never receive acknowledgement. I am a wholistic

therapist and do not write to waste time.

One issue involved current misconceptions regarding immune stimulating

versus immune modulating effects of echinacea extracts, tincture versus dry.

Another thing I feel worth discussion is a comment on page 93 of the

hardcover " Eating Well for Optimum Health " regarding coconut oil. While Dr.

Weil feels that consumption of coconut oil should be minimized as he regards

it the worst of tropical oils, there is plenty of evidence from respected

scientists to the contrary.

I'll provide some references herein, but frankly have lost faith in Dr. Weil

vis a vis non-response to current issues.

Suggested Sites to Visit:

Dr. Jon J. Kabara, PhD

Health Oils from the tree of Nutritional and Health aspects of Coconut Oil)

http://www.apcc.org.sg/.PDF

Dr. G. Enig, Ph.D., F.A.C.N. 

Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century

http://www.apcc.org.sg/special.htm

Bruce Fife, N.D.

The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil

http://www.piccadillybooks.com/books/item0056.html

Dr. Ray Peat, PhD

Coconut Oil and Its Virtues

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/coconut_oil.htm

Lauric.org Mission Statement

http://lauric.org/mission.html

Dr. Byrnes, PhD, RNCP

I've got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

http://www.powerhealth.net/articlecoconut.htm

At one time I freely regarded Dr. Weil as a powerful bridge between

conventional medicine and complementary medicine. Now it's going to take

some convincing.

I would be amazed if my comments are taken seriously, and more amazed if I

were to receive a reply regarding this issue.

-- Joan McPhee, MH, WT

mailto:mcpheej@... --

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DR. WEIL WEBSITE REPLY:

Hello,

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to write to us. We like

nothing better than hearing from our DrWeil.com visitors.

While Dr. Weil no longer consults on individual cases, he has a clinic at

the University Of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.

For information on the Program in Integrative Medicine please visit the

Program in Integrative Medicine Web site directly. For your convenience, the

following link will take you directly to the PIM Web site:

http://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/

Thank you again for your interest in DrWeil.com and please let us know if we

can be of any future assistance.

Thank you

Drweil.com team

www.Drweil.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Joan McPhee, MH, WT

mailto:mcpheej@... --

[Guest guest]

That’s what I would call a non-answer.

Judith Alta

Question for Editors: Editorial Content - Weekly Bulletin & Daily

Tip from Joan McPhee

I have been a 'fan' of Dr. Weil and have owned 2 of his books for some time.

I receive Daily Tips as well.

However, I'm becoming disenchanted. I have written several times about

different issues and never receive acknowledgement. I am a wholistic

therapist and do not write to waste time.

One issue involved current misconceptions regarding immune stimulating

versus immune modulating effects of echinacea extracts, tincture versus dry.

Another thing I feel worth discussion is a comment on page 93 of the

hardcover " Eating Well for Optimum Health " regarding coconut oil. While Dr.

Weil feels that consumption of coconut oil should be minimized as he regards

it the worst of tropical oils, there is plenty of evidence from respected

scientists to the contrary.

I'll provide some references herein, but frankly have lost faith in Dr. Weil

vis a vis non-response to current issues.

Suggested Sites to Visit:

Dr. Jon J. Kabara, PhD

Health Oils from the tree of Nutritional and Health aspects of Coconut Oil)

http://www.apcc.org.sg/.PDF

Dr. G. Enig, Ph.D., F.A.C.N.

Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century

http://www.apcc.org.sg/special.htm

Bruce Fife, N.D.

The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil

http://www.piccadillybooks.com/books/item0056.html

Dr. Ray Peat, PhD

Coconut Oil and Its Virtues

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/coconut_oil.htm

Lauric.org Mission Statement

http://lauric.org/mission.html

Dr. Byrnes, PhD, RNCP

I've got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

http://www.powerhealth.net/articlecoconut.htm

At one time I freely regarded Dr. Weil as a powerful bridge between

conventional medicine and complementary medicine. Now it's going to take

some convincing.

I would be amazed if my comments are taken seriously, and more amazed if I

were to receive a reply regarding this issue.

-- Joan McPhee, MH, WT

mailto:mcpheej@... --

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DR. WEIL WEBSITE REPLY:

Hello,

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to write to us. We like

nothing better than hearing from our DrWeil.com visitors.

While Dr. Weil no longer consults on individual cases, he has a clinic at

the University Of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.

For information on the Program in Integrative Medicine please visit the

Program in Integrative Medicine Web site directly. For your convenience, the

following link will take you directly to the PIM Web site:

http://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/

Thank you again for your interest in DrWeil.com and please let us know if we

can be of any future assistance.

Thank you

Drweil.com team

www.Drweil.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Joan McPhee, MH, WT

mailto:mcpheej@... --

[Guest guest]

>Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his discussion

>board... if you ever hear people referring to

>he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

>Sharon M

Wow, professional jealousy? Or does Dr. Weil not respect a

naturopathic medicine degree? To read the first half of Spontaneous

Healing, you'd think that was right up his alley. But I agree, Weil

seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

animal fats. He's become totally conventional it seems.

Jeanmarie

[Guest guest]

I never ever thought of myself - as a quasi-vegetarian - as conventional!

Indeed, all my adult life I've been marginalized, teased, lectured to and

attacked for being UN-conventional in my eating habits! As I said before, I've

never ever met the kind of militant vegetarians talked about here. Please,

please don't throw us all into one pot; there are as many varieties of

vegetarians are there are meat-eaters. We aren't some kind of sect, where all

the members toe some kind of a party line!

Sharon M

Weil

seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

animal fats. He's become totally conventional

[Guest guest]

I agree, Dr Weil has gone back to regular MD since He joined the U.

Lorenzo

> >Also, he does not allow the mention of Dr Mercola on his

discussion

> >board... if you ever hear people referring to

> >he-who-must-not-be-named, it's Mercola!

> >Sharon M

>

> Wow, professional jealousy? Or does Dr. Weil not respect a

> naturopathic medicine degree? To read the first half of

Spontaneous

> Healing, you'd think that was right up his alley. But I agree, Weil

> seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

> animal fats. He's become totally conventional it seems.

> Jeanmarie

[Guest guest]

>I never ever thought of myself - as a quasi-vegetarian - as

>conventional! Indeed, all my adult life I've been marginalized,

>teased, lectured to and attacked for being UN-conventional in my

>eating habits! As I said before, I've never ever met the kind of

>militant vegetarians talked about here. Please, please don't throw

>us all into one pot; there are as many varieties of vegetarians are

>there are meat-eaters. We aren't some kind of sect, where all the

>members toe some kind of a party line!

> Sharon M

> Weil

> seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

> animal fats. He's become totally conventional

You're taking my words out of context, Sharon. The reference to Weil

being totally conventional is the start of a different sentence, and

I was referring to him being conventional when it comes to his views

on health care. I have encountered militant vegetarianism, but I

wasn't accusing either Weil or you of that.

Jeanmarie

[Guest guest]

Hi Sharon M,

I take people as I find them, as I am well aware that one shoe does not fit

all.

It is no problem for me to like a person, even though I dislike their

religion, choice of food or whatever.

When I was on the diet and health forums it seemed that the only really

nasty people were vegetarians trying to convert the world. " This is MY way

of eating. You WILL follow it or be damned! "

Enjoy! ;-)

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon M [mailto:smaas@...]

I never ever thought of myself - as a quasi-vegetarian - as conventional!

Indeed, all my adult life I've been marginalized, teased, lectured to and

attacked for being UN-conventional in my eating habits! As I said before,

I've never ever met the kind of militant vegetarians talked about here.

Please, please don't throw us all into one pot; there are as many varieties

of vegetarians are there are meat-eaters. We aren't some kind of sect, where

all the members toe some kind of a party line!

Sharon M

Weil

seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

animal fats. He's become totally conventional

[Guest guest]

Jeanmarie,

sorry if I misunderstood you; it just seemed that the two sentences were

somehow connected!

Sharon M

[Guest guest]

Judith,

please don't take these people as representative of vegetarians! Most of those

that I know are Indians or connected with India, where it just isn't a big deal.

Certainly not something you would go to a discussion board to talk about and

fight over. The only problem is that we do have a hard time getting decent

tasting food somethimes when we go ot to eat. People just shove a plate with

a few lettuce leaves on it, and call it a meal!

It's true that many vegetarians eat soy, but that's out of ignorance. I did too

but as soon as I knew better I stopped. It's not a religion; I wouldn't even

bother to think about it if I were not challenged by disapproving meat-eaters!

Sharon M

When I was on the diet and health forums it seemed that the only really

nasty people were vegetarians trying to convert the world. " This is MY way

of eating. You WILL follow it or be damned! "

Enjoy! ;-)

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon M [mailto:smaas@...]

I never ever thought of myself - as a quasi-vegetarian - as conventional!

Indeed, all my adult life I've been marginalized, teased, lectured to and

attacked for being UN-conventional in my eating habits! As I said before,

I've never ever met the kind of militant vegetarians talked about here.

Please, please don't throw us all into one pot; there are as many varieties

of vegetarians are there are meat-eaters. We aren't some kind of sect, where

all the members toe some kind of a party line!

Sharon M

Weil

seems to be very partial to vegetarianism or at list minimizing

animal fats. He's become totally conventional

[Guest guest]

Don't worry, Sharon,

Just because the nasties in those forums were mostly vegetarians does not

turn me against people who follow that way of eating. I judge each

individual on their personal qualities and not on their diet or religion,

etc.

Because I cannot believe that excluding some of the most nutritious foods

available to us is healthy I have no liking for vegetarian diets,. That does

not mean that I do not like people who follow them.

That's the same as saying that I have no use for the Catholic religion

(true). But some of my best friends are Catholic.

Enjoy! ;-)

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon M [mailto:smaas@...]

Judith,

please don't take these people as representative of vegetarians! Most of

those that I know are Indians or connected with India, where it just isn't a

big deal. Certainly not something you would go to a discussion board to talk

about and fight over. The only problem is that we do have a hard time

getting decent tasting food somethimes when we go ot to eat. People just

shove a plate with a few lettuce leaves on it, and call it a meal!

It's true that many vegetarians eat soy, but that's out of ignorance. I did

too but as soon as I knew better I stopped. It's not a religion; I wouldn't

even bother to think about it if I were not challenged by disapproving

meat-eaters!

Sharon M

When I was on the diet and health forums it seemed that the only really

nasty people were vegetarians trying to convert the world. " This is MY way

of eating. You WILL follow it or be damned! "

Enjoy! ;-)

Judith Alta

[Guest guest]

At 06:15 PM 3/18/2004 +0000, Sharon M wrote:

>please don't take these people as representative of vegetarians! Most of

>those that I know are Indians or connected with India, where it just isn't

>a big deal. Certainly not something you would go to a discussion board to

>talk about and fight over. The only problem is that we do have a hard

>time getting decent tasting food somethimes when we go ot to eat. People

>just shove a plate with a few lettuce leaves on it, and call it a meal!

Sharon -

I have a lot of respect for vegans - at one point a couple of years ago

when I was so freaked out over being diagnosed type II diabetic I did

attempt to go vegetarian myself (it didn't work out so I switched to a

'relatively low carb' diet, which was more sustainable)

What made the vegetarian routine difficult to follow was not so much a

taste issue but the fact that modern urban life is quite a toxic

environment as it is and it is difficult to find something to eat in the

urban jungle. If one just stayed at home and prepared all meals it wouldn't

be too bad but it was difficult to find a vegetarian meal at work, in a

shopping mall, or on social occasions which are awash with meat and

processed foods - later on when I discovered the link between starchy

carbohydrates and blood sugars it was difficult to find low carb veggies

(the usual rice and potatoes were no-nos). There's also a cultural aspect -

I live in the Philippines and a cafeteria meal here is traditionally a meat

main course, rice and tiny side dish of veggies. I was able to ditch the

rice but there was not too much variety in the veggie department.

When I ate Indian food, veggies were tastier because of the spices ( I love

spicy food), but you have to eat this food with a lot of rice, which

defeats the purpose of trying to lower blood sugar :-)

So for me it was really difficult to maintain the lifestyle. If I stayed at

home all day or lived in a farm it would make much sense, but going out

into the real world over here one is likely to starve. Maybe if I lived in

India or some other veggie-friendly environment things would be different

:-) Still if you can maintain the lifestyle, hats off to you and good karma!

What did work for me is laying off sugars and all other refined and starchy

carbs whenever possible, and that for me meant more meat, fish, and good

fats which was easier to follow - the result was lower weight, normalized

blood sugar (based on my hemoglobin a1c tests) and very low triglycerides.

The relatively low HDL is still a mystery, I suspect I may have been eating

too much fried food cooked in hydrogenated oil - damn that KFC and Jolibee

fried chicken! And lumpia shanghai from Chow King :-)

One thing that I did notice though was that a lot of people in the Indian

communities here in Manila have managed to hold on to their culture and

cuisine which I am presuming is mainly vegetarian - I noticed that the

middle aged women are usually obese around the middle and that Indians have

an unusually high percentage of diabetes (I did read somewhere that India

is now considered the Diabetes capital of the world). Then again maybe this

is the result of switching from traditional coconut oil to polyunsaturated

vegetable oils??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

jim ayson / jim@... / www.philmusic.com

[Guest guest]

At 02:15 PM 3/18/2004 -0500, Judith Alta wrote:

>That's the same as saying that I have no use for the Catholic religion

>(true). But some of my best friends are Catholic.

Judith - Hey! I'm Catholic myself!

But I also have a sense of humor :-)

cheers.