Dr. Oz: Coconut oil, weird worm therapy and brushing 101
By: Mehment Oz and Michael Roizen
Washington Examiner
June 30, 2010
Q. My friend is discouraged because she's not losing weight. She's heard that coconut oil will make you lean and healthy. What do you think? -- Brenda, Frederick, Md.
A. Did you know that there's a manufacturing plant in the Philippines that is turning coconut oil into a biofuel? We say put it in your car before you put it in your body. While most plant products are good for you, coconut oil is a complete misfit. It is loaded with saturated fat, the kind that clogs up your internal engine (your arteries and heart) with lousy LDL cholesterol and puts you on the wait list for the cardiac care unit. Virgin coconut oil recently got a PR makeover, claiming it can do all kinds of miraculous things, from speeding up weight loss to stopping cancer. Coconut oil is a health food? Not! It has more saturated fat than butter, burgers, even lard, which means it can lead to everything from heart attack to -- if you live long enough -- dementia. Some say it is a medium chain saturated fat, and that makes it healthy. That's BS (bad science). The data give coconut oil no more a clean bill of health than butter or menthol cigarettes.
What makes you lean and healthy isn't the trend-of-the-month PR, it's a no-BS lifestyle: plenty of fruits, vegetables, beans, fish and whole grains that fill you up without filling you out; modest amounts of skinless white-meat poultry and the good fats found in nuts, avocados, olive and canola oils; and walking for 30 minutes every day.
Q. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007. My doctor wants me to start taking medication to prevent paralysis, but it has side effects I don't like. I've found some research that says swallowing worms called helminths can ease MS. Could that be true? - Anonymous
A. Remember that old childhood ditty, "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me; guess I'll eat some worms"? About a decade ago, some serious scientists must have been humming that as they began investigating whether swallowing certain parasites might help Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis patients. It's not a therapy someone just pulled out of the air -- or the ground -- either. It's an outgrowth of the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which suggests that asthma, allergies and some chronic conditions are on the rise because we're just too clean. That is, because our immune systems aren't challenged enough as kids and overreact when confronted by pollen, peanuts, the family cat or wriggly, parasitic helminths, like whipworms.
One study has found that feeding helminths (well, actually, their eggs) to people with inflammatory bowel disease turns off the inflammation and sends them into temporary remission. Another reports that swallowing them could alter the immune system in a way that suppresses MS. In fact, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has funded a helminth study. Interested? Check for clinical trials of the treatment at www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=helminth+therapy. We're not ready to endorse this one, or dismiss it, yet.
Q. What's the best way to brush your teeth? When is the best time to floss? I am 68 and know how I was taught, but things change! -- Margo, Morriston, Fla.
A. One of the biggest things that has changed is why you should brush and floss. Today, we know that oral hygiene doesn't just keep your teeth around. It helps keep you thinner and younger, largely by squelching inflammation. Researchers suspect that inflammation from gum irritation and infection can lead to cardiovascular problems.
So floss at least once a day. If you don't, you'll miss cleaning 40 percent of each tooth. Don't snap the floss in place; gently slide it between your teeth, then move it up and down. If you're all thumbs, try a floss holder. Make it a habit to start and end in the same place, and you won't miss a spot.
At least twice a day, position a soft-bristle brush at a 45 degree angle where your teeth meet your gums, then gently scrub in a circular motion. To clean the inside surfaces and biting edges, hold the brush vertically and use gentle, short, back-and-forth strokes. Then lightly brush along the gum line and over your tongue. This should take two minutes twice a day. Follow these steps, and you'll head off dentures and heart disease, and keep your brain younger.
The YOU Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of "YOU: Being Beautiful -- The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to realage.com, the docs' online home.
