My name is Annette and I just starting using Virgin Coconut oil just about 3 weeks ago. I had been suffering with arthritis and back problems. I use to have a problem just getting up out of my seat and since I have been using coconut oil I just get right up with not problems. I thought I had to get a new mattress because my back was hurting so bad but now I have not problems. ( I am still going to get a new mattress anyway).  I just want to say that I am sold on this  coconut oil and have recommended it to family and friends and they have and they are telling me great results from it. 

Annette Riddick - Atlanta Georgia

      I thought you might like to hear of my experiences with coconut oil. My name is Jo Wilkinson, I’m 39 and live in the UK.

      In 1987 I was diagnosed with what was then called Post Viral Syndrome, now ME/CFS/CFIDS. I’d had a serious bout of flu in 1986 from which I did not recover properly, although my health had been slowly deteriorating since mid 1985. I had a severe relapse in 1993 following a flu vaccination. From this point I was often house and/or bed bound. My husband (my rock) and I have been everywhere and tried everything.

      To cut a long story short, it was suggested by a doctor in London that I should see an endocrinologist in Brussels – at that point I was on hydrocortisone, (BP down to 80/30 which precipitated the prescription.)

      The endo always spent a lot of time lecturing us on diet. Lecturing is not to strong a word, he was very insistent that I should use coconut oil for cooking and not olive oil. Your book (The Coconut Oil Miracle) was shown to us along with a tub of oil. He was against the prevailing
low fat dogma, saying that fat is required by the body for making hormones.

      The second strand of his diet theory was that I should eat a paleolithic type diet : no grains, sugar, dairy. Not too much fruit, loads of veg and salad, plus meat, fish nuts and seeds. My complaint was that I like yoghurt, so I was allowed two a week as a concession. This diet is very healthy especially when combined with the coconut oil and over time I recovered to a point where I decided to get off the meds. Since September 2004 I have been off all meds and my health since then has improved dramatically.

      Apart from my recovered hormonal system (BP now normal and stable) my energy is better, I sleep less but more refreshingly, I don’t get night sweats almost nightly – I don’t get them at all. I used to get a lot of leg pain, a sort of lactic acid feeling and that has dissipated in the past three-four months since I started using Primal Defense.

      I think that my immune system is getting back to normal as I had flu two months ago, was acutely ill and then recovered normally instead of languishing with fluey symptoms for months as previously. I have a few minor problems left, but I am hopeful that another six months should see
me right.

      My husband is also very healthy on this diet. He has lost 35 pounds (I lost 7 pounds after dropping the steroids, back to a normal weight of 125 pounds). Eighteen months ago just after turning forty he took up squash again. As one of his friends commented, most people give up
squash at 40, not take it up again!

      I am very grateful to you for writing your book. I can safely say that it has changed our lives. We are members of The Weston A Price Foundation, and I have re educated myself on nutrition. Coconut oil along with a careful diet has restored health for both of us, and we enjoy cooking together as a hobby.

Health and Happiness, Jo Wilkinson

      I had some concerns of the effects of EVCO (I thought it may bring up my chol/trigs levels.) After a month of use--2tbs a day and after a lipid panel evaluation, no change in these values. They stayed the same as the blood work one year ago had indicated. The proof is in black and white (the lab results).

 Ray Lemoine-- Lafayette, La

      I have very bad eczema on my hands and arms and have tried every prescription cream.  The only thing that has worked in the past is a large injection of cortisone, which greatly lowers your immune function.  I happen to buy some coconut oil for my daughter's thick and curly hair, hoping it would moisturize it.  By chance I put some on my eczema and it really helped.  So I tried an experiment, I stopped using the non-steroidal cream and just put on the coconut oil.  I was amazed that my eczema felt so much better and is starting to go away after only a week.  For the first time all winter I don't have any open skin cracks on my hands (very painful!) and my skin is healing.

Jen Chingwe

      I just thought I would post about my experience this week with virgin coconut oil (VCO) and flu symptoms.

      I was coming down with a sore throat and general aches and pains on Sunday/Monday and that "omg" feeling that I was going to be battling with feeling bad for a week or more.  I was already treating myself with extra Vitamin C (which I have found very helpful through personal experience) and I take 4+tbs VCO a day anyway. 

      I just happened to be flicking through Bruce's Coconut Oil Miracle book where he talks about curing flu symptoms with extra VCO.  So on Tuesday, I added an extra 2 tbs to my diet that day (making a total of more than 6 tbs) and by that evening, I suddenly realized that I didn't feel so bad any more!  The next day (Wednesday) I also added in more VCO than usual and today I basically feel completely well (perhaps a bit tired).

There's nothing like proving a theory for oneself, is there? :)

Katy

      In October 2004, I was introduced to virgin coconut oil (VCO) in one of the trade fairs that I went to in Manila. I bought a small bottle and started taking it internally. I noticed that my pain tolerance increased enabling a measure of comfort from my constant back pain. Later I used it for cooking pancakes and omelets and mixing with the chocolate drinks of my children so that they too can benefit from it. Lately, the changing temperatures are causing people here to be affected with upper respiratory tract infections. My daughter and I had thick and yellow mucus but our energy level was up. We didn't experience fever or cough or any other cold symptoms although we felt like we should already be coming down with the flu, like many people during this season in the Philippines.

      My right thumb has eczema that comes and goes depending on my immune system performance. My dermatologist prescribed a very expensive steroid cream to treat it when it's active. Three weeks ago, the eczema was making my thumb "weep", itchy, and red. Instead of putting on the steroid cream, I applied VCO and covered it with gauze. The following morning the redness was gone and the skin became dry. I continued to apply VCO 3x a day and after a few days the thick flaky dead skin was gone and my thumb is smooth again.

Another bonus is a smoother complexion as I use VCO as a "night cream."
Since then I have replaced my cooking oil with VCO and my children are
getting used to it. Thank God for VCO!

Lorna Protacio, Philippines

      I didn't have many expectations when I started using coconut oil a year ago. I was overweight, and resigned to it; diets just didn't work with me. In fact, in spite of a basically healthy diet - I really prefer natural, whole foods, organic fruit and vegetables, and detest junk food - I was steadily gaining weight over the years and decades. I was also using what I considered the healthy fats - polyunsaturated oils.

      After reading Bruce Fife's books on coconut oil I switched oils completely. I diligently read labels to avoid hydrogenated vegetable oils - and was amazed at how pervasive they are. I used coconut oil for all my cooking, and even added it to my tea. I lost 20 pounds in a matter of weeks, and what's more important, my weight has stayed at this level for the whole year. Even at times of more indulgence, such as holidays and Christmas, I did not gain. I take coconut oil with me wherever I go and can't live without my daily dose! I'm convinced that it was the polyunsaturated oils that made me gain weight, and coconut oil that helped me lose it. Also, my energy is up; formerly I was prone to inactivity but now I can go all day. Another side effect - my dandruff has disappeared completely.

--Sharon Maas, www.sharonmaas.com

      I am a type-II diabetic. I control my glucose levels thru diet & supplements alone with no allopathic meds. Because I take so many different things, it is hard for me to say what does the most good. But I drink a can of coconut milk every night as my final of 4 meals a day. By drinking coconut milk late at night, I believe it helps regulate my fasting blood sugar measurement. As a little fringe benefit, the night sweats & chills I have experienced for most of the past 40-50 years are almost completely gone.

--Alobar Graywalker

      I was diagnosed at one time to have "shingles" (the old version of chicken pox) which made my hip's skin feel like it literally was being ironed. My doctor said the only way to deal with it is to take some kind of horribly expensive antibiotic! Since it was still bearable, I did not buy the prescription. I put coconut oil on it instead, and what do you know. The thing went away in minutes!!!! My sister came to me with the same complaint coming from her doctor (same as mine). I told her to apply coconut oil, and it also worked for her.

      Two relatives of mine, both avid golfers, have very itchy thick hives on their backs. They have been to good dermatologists and were given prescription creams that cost too much and yet their hives did not go away. They asked for my cream, and overnight the thick hard hives have softened, and after a few days the hives disappeared with no trace.

      It has also been used by one of them for an infected big toe. The infection cleared in a matter of three days.

      A lady OBGYN's daughter is a regular customer. She applies it on her pimples and claims it disappears overnight.

      Another friend of my sister, who has awful dry skin because of the medicines she takes for her heart, diabetes, allergies, etc. has used commercial moisturizers with no success. She used my cream and it helped her skin recover and she said it no longer itches.

      I am a diabetic too and I use it for my body as a moisturizer. I use virgin coconut oil with lavender (liquid form not cream) for my day/night moisturizer and it does remove my wrinkles. However, if I skip using it on my face, the wrinkles come back. I once poured boiling candles on my finger. It got so red and had a blister. It hurt all day. When I was about to go to sleep, I put the cream thickly on top of it and put socks over my hand so that the cream stays on the blister while I am asleep. The next morning, it was not there anymore. No trace at all of the burn.

      A cousin uses it on her grandchild for itchy insect bites and diaper rashes with great success.
      My sister-in-law had very bad black scars on her arms from a brush with a big nail. After applying the cream for a short while, the scar totally disappeared.

      My mother-in-law had injections on her varicose veins. For two years those veins got so black. After a few applications, the vein has turned gray and now is clear of any color.

All this is from the coconut oil.

--Melly Almanzor-Banagale