Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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The standard answer seems to be that it kills candida but leaves friendly flora alive. How do we know this? Is anyone gut intolerant of CO?

flag	asked Aug 27 2011 at 22:45 Don 789●3●10

Somebody posed a similar question to Dr. Ayers at Cooling Inflammation, but he wasn't really that familiar with how lipids like coconut oil affected gut flora: coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2010/01/… – Paleo2.0 Aug 28 2011 at 21:43

waywardsister · Answer 1 · 2011-08-28 13:37:36Z UTC

At first I had trouble with CO, more because I had some fat malabsorption issues due to celiac. Once my gut healed, CO and other fats were fine.

From what I understand, it's the capric/caprylic acid and lauric acid in CO that are anti-fungal etc, and act against candida overgrowth. I'm not sure how it affects other flora in the gut, if at all, and haven't found anything that states it leaves other flora alone... although most of our flora are bacteria (not fungi) so are perhaps not affected for that reason?

Jay · Answer 2 · 2011-08-28 14:37:40Z UTC

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I don't know if either statements are true but the reason to eat coconut is because there are examples of healthy cultures that ate it and because it has been with us on this planet for millions of years. Most likely, if you think you have candida, you don't. Most likely if you think you have dysbiosis, you don't. Just eat the shit healthy people ate and you will be healthy. That's more in line with the state of our knowledge at this point.

edited Aug 28 2011 at 14:37

answered Aug 28 2011 at 2:04

Jay
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Sorry, but there are plenty of foods that healthy people ate that I personally can't eat. A lot depends on the state of your gut... and gut problems, including dysbiosis, are quite real. Some of us need to get our guts in good shape before we can simply load up on 'the shit healthy people ate'. There is a ton of variation in the diets of what 'healthy people ate'. – waywardsister Aug 28 2011 at 13:41

I understand. There may b something wrong with your digestion but I suspect candida and dysbiosis are just fad diagnoses in the health blogosphere. Sure, some people have these conditions, but they are too rare to deserve the attention they get. Same goes for leaky gut... Try limiting FODMAPs if you have digestive distress (bloating, burping, flatulence). – Jay Aug 28 2011 at 14:40

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Actually SIBO (dysbiosis) is a very real, and a VERY common problem. Most IBS people have SIBO, and that's about 20% of the US population already. Check some new interviews with Robb Wolf too, where he states that dysbiosis is bigger than he thought previously too (interview on vimeo). – Eugenia Oct 29 2011 at 6:47

I don't think SIBO necessarily implies infection with pathogenic bacteria. I understand it to be bacteria in the wrong location - i.e., the small intestine. I agree that SIBO is probably fairly common. Again, try restricting FODMAPs. – Jay Oct 29 2011 at 14:48

aziz · Answer 3 · 2012-11-04 07:22:31Z UTC

Jay you obviously have no idea how common either of the conditions are because there's no way you possibly could. You show no evidence that disproves all of the claims made by individuals that they have been diagnosed with these conditions. You're going off your intuition which in this case is oversimplifying a much more complex process, also known as the HUMAN BODY.

ps candida is extremely common and easily diagnosed through a stool test.

Does Coconut Oil Kill Friendly Gut Flora?

3 Answers