Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I am adding coconut milk and coconut oil to my morning coffee. I usually add a tablespoon of coconut oil and a maybe 2 tablespoons of canned coconut milk. Does the fat in the coconut oil and milk negate the benefits of my morning IF?

flag	asked Aug 31 2011 at 15:48 vdh1979 3,671●4●20

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After thinking about it in the way of calories, it's like having 2 eggs for breakfast. So really, I am not fasting at all, I am having a liquid breakfast at that point. – vdh1979 Aug 31 2011 at 16:12

To some degree yes. While Paul Jaminet (Perfect Health Diet) and kurt Harris make good cases for "fasting" with some cream or better yet, coconut oil. Consumption of both stop autophagy, which appears to be one of or maybe even the main way we benefit from fasting. – Katherine Aug 31 2011 at 16:16

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Really it's a simple thing to dump it and see what happens. It's not like coconut oil makes my coffee spectacular. This is just a way to get my coconut oil in. If I eat it from the spoon it makes me nauseated. The simple solutions is to just put coconut oil in my coffee after I break my fast. – vdh1979 Aug 31 2011 at 17:58

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I don't think that's right, Katherine. A ketogenic diet promotes autophagy, so eating just fat shouldn't inhibit it. – Ambimorph Aug 31 2011 at 20:23

Well today I have left out the coconut oil to see what difference it makes. I do actually feel hungry whereas with that tablespoon of coconut oil, I didn't. I shall drown my hunger pangs with more sans coconut oil coffee! – vdh1979 Sep 1 2011 at 13:53

Shawn · Answer 1 · 2011-08-31 16:08:31Z UTC

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Fasting is Fasting. Oil and Cream is not Fasting. Just ask anyone who observes Ramadan.

answered Aug 31 2011 at 16:08

Shawn
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Very true. However, some of us are not Muslim and don't necessarily require 100% adherence. I am assuming that most people that fast on this site do so for the health benefits, not because of religious beliefs. I believe the question was geared more toward the loss of those benefits. – dubpluris Aug 31 2011 at 16:21

True enough. I only referenced that as an example of what real fasting is. I dont mean any disrespect to anyone's beliefs. IF is as individual as the person doing it. – Shawn Aug 31 2011 at 16:31

It was definitely a good point. – dubpluris Aug 31 2011 at 18:27

Beck · Answer 2 · 2011-08-31 16:25:09Z UTC

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If you're fasting to promote autophagy, then coconut oil will not affect your goals.

answered Aug 31 2011 at 16:25

Beck
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Autophagy is also a goal, but I was really after the fat burning aspects of IF. – vdh1979 Aug 31 2011 at 16:45

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It actually will. Coconut oil stops autophagy. – Katherine Aug 31 2011 at 17:06

@Katherine Can you point me to some more information. My understanding was that insulin down regulated autophagy so fat was okay. – PaleoChimp Aug 31 2011 at 20:06

Ketogenic diets promote autophagy, and MCT oils in particular (which are high in coconut oil) are highly ketogenic. – Ambimorph Aug 31 2011 at 20:38

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jbc.org/content/280/27/25864.long evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/02/… – Ambimorph Sep 1 2011 at 16:23

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tonysolo · Answer 3 · 2011-08-31 15:59:37Z UTC

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After 150+ calories, I think you would be hard-pressed to call it fasting.

answered Aug 31 2011 at 15:59

tonysolo
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	Yeah you're right if I think of it that way, that's the equivalent of 2 eggs really. Ok, I am cutting out the coconut oil in my morning coffee. – vdh1979 Aug 31 2011 at 16:11
	You could call it a modified fast. ADMF is about as effective in studies as ADF, IIRC. – Ambimorph Sep 1 2011 at 16:25

dubpluris · Answer 4 · 2011-08-31 16:00:00Z UTC

Most people say that a splash of cream or something similar in your coffee is OK, just don't go overboard. So I would think that a little coconut oil might be in the same category considering they have right around the same amount of calories.

Riveted · Answer 5 · 2011-08-31 17:43:15Z UTC

The way I think of it is that I IF to hopefully burn through existing fat stores as an energy source. Wouldn't introducing an exogenous fat source shift your body's focus to preferentially burn through that until it's gone. In other words, does coconut in the coffee put the IF on pause?

Doitwhileyoucan · Answer 6 · 2011-08-31 16:31:07Z UTC

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What about coconut sugar? I know it has calories, just a question- please don't attack!

answered Aug 31 2011 at 16:31

Doitwhileyoucan
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It really isnt much better than regular white sugar. I would choose it over white sugar if those were the only options and I had to pick. I use almost a 1/4 tsp of stevia in my coffee and it does the trick for me. – Shawn Aug 31 2011 at 16:49

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@shawn The glycemic index of coconut sugar is 35-50 vs regular sugar it's 65-100 - so big difference.. I know stevia has nada.. but I hate the taste of it as a powder. I crash when I use white sugar or sugar in the raw, but I don't on coconut sugar, so something's different with it. – Dave Aug 31 2011 at 17:35

I used to use coconut milk and coconut sugar, now I just do black coffee. BUt yes a big difference in glycemic value. I dont use white sugar at all and try to stay 98% paleo!! – curly16 Aug 31 2011 at 21:38

Coconut sugar is sugar. Just because it comes from the magical coconut plant doesn't make it any better than sugar cane or sugar beet. (Neither of which is all that bad, really!) – Matt Dec 27 2011 at 15:46

BaconHealsChic · Answer 7 · 2011-08-31 17:21:27Z UTC

I don't think it's a big deal. For my first 2 months of intermittent fasting I used coconut oil in my coffee. I do not now but it worked well for me. (Working on last bit of leaning out so experimenting.) I would not use the coconut milk myself though due to the carb count higher.

Mr. Trashcan · Answer 8 · 2011-08-31 18:25:50Z UTC

I don't think you're going to achieve true fasting w/autophagy over a day or so. What you're doing (and what I do, as well) is actually the opposite--to fool your body into thinking it's not fasting so as to keep up the metabolic rate, while at the same time restricting calories. And coconut oil is the perfect fuel for that process.

Crystal · Answer 9 · 2011-12-27 15:08:40Z UTC

I've started tinkering with IF for about two months now, and that always includes coffee (most of the time with a Tbl of coconut milk). I have been strict Paleo for about two years, and haven't really seen any fat loss...until I started doing IF. I have sloooooooowly lost a little fat around my middle, and maybe it would be sped up if I didn't have coconut milk in my coffee? I should do a month of no coconut milk in my coffee to see if there is a difference. All we can do is play around with options to find what works for us right?

If I add coconut oil and coconut milk to my morning coffee, does it negate the benefits of my IF?

9 Answers