Grains
Christopher Cumo in Ancestral Diets and Nutrition, 2020
Vegetables are a catchall whose nutrition and healthfulness are examined in Chapter 15. Dearth of calories makes them unlikely to increase body fat. Not all fruits, however, have this virtue. Dried fruits such as dates (Phoenix dactylifera), figs (Ficus carica), prunes, and raisins are caloric. Ample fat gives 100 grams of avocado (Persea americana) 160 calories.51 Even more potent, 100 grams of coconut (Cocos nucifera) furnish 354 calories.52Chapter 4 noted that meat has many calories. One hundred grams of hen’s egg have 155 calories.53 At 9.4 calories per grams, Chapter 2 noted, 100 grams of fat have 940 calories. One hundred grams of olive oil, for example, have 884 calories.54These 100 grams do not total 940 calories because olive oil is not pure fat, having sodium and vitamins E and K. Minerals and vitamins, discussed in Chapter 2, lack calories. One hundred grams of sucrose supply 387 calories.55 Tables in earlier chapters list calories, fat, and carbohydrates in various foods. Meat, eggs, lard and oils, sugars, and some fruits are caloric and have increased in consumption, but Davis omitted them in chastising wheat.
Coconut Sprouts as Phytomedicine
Parimelazhagan Thangaraj in Phytomedicine, 2020
Cocos nucifera is the only species of the genus Cocos, which includes 27 genera and 600 species (Evans 2002). One of the essential primary natural products from the dry coconut fruit is the coconut oil, which has been used as traditional medicine, functional food, and also in pharmaceuticals. It is referred to as “miracle oil.” The coconut tree itself is known as “the Tree of Life,” as each of its parts are being used for various purposes. These are highly nutritious and are enriched with bioactive compounds with great medicinal value (Siriphanich et al. 2011). The constituents of C. nucifera have some of the biological effects, such as anthelminthic, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-tumor activities. In addition, other properties, such as anti-hypertensive, cardioprotective, anti-seizure, cytotoxicity, hepatoprotective, vasodilation, nephroprotective, and anti-osteoporosis effects were also reported. Because each part of the C. nucifera has different constituents, the pharmacological effects of the plant vary according to the part of the plant evaluated (Lima et al. 2015).
Plant Source Foods
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Coconut is a fruit of the Cocos nucifera tree (family Palmaceae or Arecaceae), mainly found in Southeast Asia and Pacific islands. It is used as food for inhabitants in these areas. The coconut fruit comprises an outer epicarp, a mesocarp, and an inner endocarp. The epicarp, which is the outer skin of the fruit, and the mesocarp, which is heavy, fibrous, and tanned when dry, have many industrial uses. The endocarp is the dark and hard core. Inside is an edible white kernel (meat) which is a solid white albumen of varied thickness, depending on the age of the fruit, and with an oily pulp consistency and a liquid albumen called coconut water that is thick, sweet, and slightly acidic (123).
In vivo studies on the ameliorative effect of coconut water against carbon tetrachloride induced toxicity in rats
Published in Biomarkers, 2021
Ifeanyichukwu Elekwa, Victor Chibueze Ude, Okezie Emmanuel, Victor Obioma Amachaghi, Eziuche Amadike Ugbogu
In recent days, the use of plant bioactive for the treatment of disease has grown dramatically, as some of these plants are not only used for folklore medicine but are often used as natural food supplements. Since these plants are used as food, they may be termed as non-toxic and would be easily used for treatment and/or management of ailments without any concern on the risk of toxicity. Cocos nucifera (L.) belongs to the plant family of Arecaceae and is also referred to as coconut (Ghosh et al. 2014, Lima et al. 2015). Cocos nucifera originated from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and the Island which is located in between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It was later taken to India and East Africa followed by West Africa, America, and other tropical regions (Ghosh et al. 2014). Coconut looks like a palm tree, about 25 m tall. It is an arborescent monocotyledonous tree with the fasciculate root system, unbranched stem with a tuft of leaves that protects a single apical bud at the apex. Its fruits consist of an epicarp (outer skin of the fruits), mesocarp (heavy and fibrous) and endocarp (hard dark core) (Awua et al.2011, Lima et al. 2015). The white solid albumen with oily pulp consistency and liquid albumen known as coconut water, which is thick, sweet, and slightly acidic are found inside the hard-dark core endocarp (Lima et al. 2015).
Dietary Supplementation with Virgin Coconut Oil Improves Lipid Profile and Hepatic Antioxidant Status and Has Potential Benefits on Cardiovascular Risk Indices in Normal Rats
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2018
Ademola C. Famurewa, Chima A. Ekeleme-Egedigwe, Sophia C. Nwali, Ngozi N. Agbo, Joy N. Obi, Goodness C. Ezechukwu
Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a fruit that is abundant in Asian countries such as India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia. Coconut oil is obtained from the seeds of coconut palm through various processing methods that influence the quality, aroma, and flavor of the product oil being used as food and medication (Hamsi et al., 2015; Marina et al., 2009b). Coconut oil is considered a saturated fat because it contains more than 90% saturated fatty acids of which 60% to 63% is medium-chain fatty acid (Rahim et al., 2017; Babu et al., 2014; Marina et al., 2009b). For a considerable time, epidemiological reports have indicated that blood cholesterol and consuming high amounts of saturated fatty acids play a major role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases (Dumancas et al., 2016; German and Dillard, 2004). In this regard, coconut oil has been regarded as a culprit in increasing cardiovascular risk, and this led to a significant reduction in human consumption of coconut oil over the past 40 years (Dumancas et al., 2016).
Hepatoprotective effect of polyphenols isolated from virgin coconut oil against sub-chronic cadmium hepatotoxicity in rats is associated with improvement in antioxidant defense system
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2021
Ademola C. Famurewa, Chioma S. Ugwu-Ejezie, Eghosa E. Iyare, Abiola M. Folawiyo, Ekenechukwu K. Maduagwuna, Fidelis E. Ejezie
The recent trend worldwide is a paradigm shift in favor of natural product phytochemicals with antioxidant potential to reduce oxidative stress consequences in biological processes (Shahidi 2000). Natural products are repositories of several polyphenols with potent antioxidant capacity. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) from Cocos nucifera is emerging as functional food oil that may have beneficial health effect against oxidative stress-induced pathologies (Famurewa et al.2017). VCO is found to contain potent natural phenolic antioxidants (Marina et al.2009a, Srivastava et al.2016, Illam et al.2017). Research evidence shows that wet method of VCO production from fresh and mature kernel that is devoid of chemical refining, bleaching and deodorizing conserves the bioactive polyphenolics (Marina et al.2009a). Recent evidences suggest that VCO possesses beneficial health effects in oxidative stress-related disorders (Nevin and Rajamohan 2006, Zakaria et al.2011, Srivastava et al.2013, Vysakh et al.2014). These beneficial health effects have been associated with the polyphenols present in the oil (Marina et al.2009a, Vysakh et al.2014). Although many agents have demonstrated antioxidant potential against Cd-mediated toxicity and oxidative stress, the possible role of functional oils such as VCO that is affordable and amenable to daily diet in metal toxicity need considerable attention. To our knowledge, the potential of VCO polyphenol in the prevention of Cd-induced toxicity remains to be reported in published literature. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the protective effect of polyphenols isolated from VCO on Cd-induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress in rats.
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