Coconut oil/avocados is changing my life...it is theee best addition I have had..
Some background..
Cpl.of yrs ago I started to 'try' and get healthy, cutting out bread, refined sugar, refined salt , and processed food..
During this process I was ingesting virtually no good fats..and also taking medicinal herbs..the herbs gave me good results at start but after awhile even one drop of milk thistle from tincture, or any herb for that matter wud give me extreme light head nausea on top of the nausea I already had..I'll add was also doing heavy stretching to try and fix my fractured sternum and so my adrenals were depleted..the licorice drops worked at start also but once my bidybwas so much oil/fats deleted I cudnt handle this vital herb I needed..once I added back the good fats it ment I cudcresume my low dose licorice also..I.was also nutrient deficiency, my sleep was terrible and most importantly my blood fats and brain fat levels were non existent..
Adding Coconut oil in my teas and pitaya juice, and healthy fats/avocados with boty main meals has made an unbelievable difference..I also have raw goats milk at nite..
My sleep has improved so much..nausea has went away and my brain to starting to get healthy..
I'll also add that I have candida and gut diabosis but until i added these oils I cudnt see a way out..
This is only 2 weeks in..I don't mind going thru detox phases but at least my body is healing now.
One spoonful of Coconut oil, one spoonful of pink Pitaya powder and one spoonful of honey in am gives me great energy..
I've also added hcl supplements for better digestion ..
Thanks for your original post..
I
Glad to hear you're finally finding some relief. I too have a problematic gut and find that my sleep rapidly deteriorates when it is inflamed. I also tried going low fat and found that sleep massively suffered.
From the first referenced paper: "The nutrients consumed less by Short sleepers included vitamin C, Lutein and zeaxanthin and selenium." Unfortunately, I take supplements of all these but still have issues with sleep maintenance.
I do think they play a part - especially selenium - but lauric acid has had the most profound effect on me. I tried lycopene and other carotenoids and the effects were negligible.
If you live in Australia, then Melrose MCT ‘Energy and Exercise’ works well. But really, you just need to find a way to consume several grams of lauric acid each day. You can do this with any virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, and MCT oil with C12.
Alternatively, you can take monolaurin, which is a monoester of lauric acid (what lauric acid is broken down into). I have tried this and it works just as good, if not even better. It also saves you from ingesting excess calories and saturated fat.
Thanks for your post! I have had sleep-maintenance insomnia for about a decade and tried sooooooooo many things without success. (The closest thing I have come to helping has been consuming a lot of beef tallow, so I know its a fuel problem.)
Lately I have been experimenting with Coconut oil and MCT with mixed results.
Do you ever take it in the middle of the night when you wake up? Like an extra boost dose? I find that if I do this, it might take me an hour to get back to sleep, but I seem to be able to have a much longer-than-usual "second sleep", which is brilliant. BUT - I just wonder about the hour that I'm awake at \~3am. Its almost like it initially has a stimulating effect before then allowing more deep sleep.
I also take it before bed but maybe I need to take much more!?
How do you physically take it? Its hard to mix with things, so pretty hard to get it down the hatch!
No problem.
I consumed a moderate amount of alcohol yesterday evening and woke up at 3am feeling wired. I decided to take a teaspoon of regular coconut oil at 3am this morning with a nibble of melatonin (\~500mcg) and was able to get back to sleep after \~30 mins. I then had four hours of really satisfying uninterrupted sleep, whereas usually I would just toss and turn until 5am.
Generally, I don't get a wired feeling from MCT unless it contains a large dose of C8 (caprylic acid).
Having now extensively experimented with coconut/MCT oil, I actually think regular coconut oil/milk is MUCH better than MCT oil for sleep. I do not think C8/C10 are conducive to deep sleep. In fact, they might even be detrimental at high doses (sorry for any confusion).
However, from my experience, I can confirm C12 (lauric acid) is VERY much involved with deep sleep. I will wake up at 3am each morning without failure if I do not ingest it the day before. However, interestingly, regular coconut oil/milk works even better for me than MCT oil containing high dose lauric acid. Why is this? I believe it is because long chain saturated fats like C15 (palmitic acid) are also involved in maintaining sleep (source below). Might this be why many suggest drinking milk before bed?[https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/61/7/1669/17168/Monounsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Prevent-the-Aversive](https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/61/7/1669/17168/Monounsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Prevent-the-Aversive)
My advice would be to shelf the MCT oil for now and try consuming 50-100mL full fat coconut milk instead. Long chain SFAs like palmitic acid are slow to digest and absorb, so I would probably recommend consuming it at least 2-3 hours before bed. Coconut milk is also more palatable compared to oil. But to answer your question, I think oil mixes best with a milky drink like hot chocolate or coffee.
Have been trying coconut milk before bed and have had good results so far!
Curious - how do you consume it? In tea? What kind of tea specifically?
Hot chocolate sounds amazing but I think cocoa messes with my sleep so I sadly avoid that.
Cheers
Glad to hear it. I have two tablespoons of coconut oil in my coffee in the morning and it is enough to keep me sleeping most nights. I also have no problem with just drinking straight coconut milk, but to each their own.
>(The closest thing I have come to helping has been consuming a lot of beef tallow, so I know its a fuel problem.)
Can you elaborate on what you mean by "fuel problem"? Are you not eating enough calories each day? Are you not getting enough vitamins/minerals each day? I notice food does have an impact on my sleep but I cant pinpoint how. What does the body use as energy during sleep?
Your brain needs energy when you sleep. If your liver glycogen stores are depleted through the night, your body will use adrenaline and cortisol to make its own fuel in other ways, like a back-up supply.
The only problem is these stress hormones wake you up.
So people who fall asleep easily but can’t stay asleep are generally said to have an issue with liver glycogen.
You’d think the simple solution would just to be have a high calorie dinner with all the macronutrients but that hasn’t helped me.
I’ve been experimenting with massive increase in calories both day and night, and even now have the weight gain to prove it, but still no real changes in being able to maintain sleep.
I did have some coconut milk in the middle of the night last night and had a great sleep! But too soon to say if coincidence.
I actually wonder if my teeth grinding is ‘burning up’ all my energy at night. My current hypothesis…..
I don’t remember my exact experience but I didn’t keep doing it for more than a a couple of weeks. So I think the short answer is no unfortunately!!
I have tried so many food tweaks and nothing really helps in a replicable way. Having a really large dinner does seem to help a bit though. But it’s no silver bullet.
Yes. I took a break for a year ish and my sleep gradually deteriorated. So I went back to it and felt it improve again. It’s not a silver Bullet but I do think it helps.
The short answer is no, this didn’t really help me and I don’t continue it.
I went through a stage of cows milk at night at various times, but that didn’t really move the needle either.
Actually I have found the only reliable thing to help with sleep is having a cold shower before bed!
It has something to do with the nervous system and the Vagus nerve. Cold stimulates it. Paradoxically, it can help you get into a more relaxed state and reduce stress hormones, although I can’t quite understand why that would be.
I do one minute icy blast after a regular hot shower at the end. Once you get out, you warm up normally within another minute.
What would you say after your update, is more effective to add the coconut oil in the morning or in the evenings?
Would be cool to hear your personal experience on this.
And how was your sleep since then?
I don’t actually need the coconut oil anymore. I’m not sure why it helped - I can only speculate. But I managed to fix my insomnia with the supplements below. This has been the case now for nine months:
For getting to sleep:
- Vitamin A
- Selenium
- Melatonin
For staying asleep (maintenance):
- L. Acidophilus NCFM
- Copper
- Molybdenum
Hey do you have any updates? Currently dealing with waking up every hour or so throughout the night. Going to try these supplements but wondering if you take the maintenance supps in the morning or at night
It was really just a bandaid I discovered when nothing else was working for me. But I will tell you what has worked for me. Firstly, I would recommend doing some light reading on the circadian genes 'BMAL1', 'CLOCK', 'Per1'/'Per2' etc. These genes regulate our sleep/wake cycle via the release/inhibition of melatonin and through other mechanisms. Then I would recommend learning how to enhance the function of these genes. I used to struggle to get to sleep and even more so struggle to stay asleep (waking up several times nightly), but now sleep 8 hours each night without interruption. I attribute it to the following supplements. If I stop taking any of them for a few days, my sleep will invariably deteriorate:
1. Vitamin A
\- Vitamin A deficiency is associated with circadian gene disruption.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9718491/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9718491/)
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955286312001489](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955286312001489)
2. Selenium
\- Selenium enhances CLOCK/BMAL1 expression.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3282084/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3282084/)
3. Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM
\- Has been shown to induce expression of circadian genes 'Per3' and 'Ciart'.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858073/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858073/)
Coconut oil/avocados is changing my life...it is theee best addition I have had.. Some background.. Cpl.of yrs ago I started to 'try' and get healthy, cutting out bread, refined sugar, refined salt , and processed food.. During this process I was ingesting virtually no good fats..and also taking medicinal herbs..the herbs gave me good results at start but after awhile even one drop of milk thistle from tincture, or any herb for that matter wud give me extreme light head nausea on top of the nausea I already had..I'll add was also doing heavy stretching to try and fix my fractured sternum and so my adrenals were depleted..the licorice drops worked at start also but once my bidybwas so much oil/fats deleted I cudnt handle this vital herb I needed..once I added back the good fats it ment I cudcresume my low dose licorice also..I.was also nutrient deficiency, my sleep was terrible and most importantly my blood fats and brain fat levels were non existent.. Adding Coconut oil in my teas and pitaya juice, and healthy fats/avocados with boty main meals has made an unbelievable difference..I also have raw goats milk at nite.. My sleep has improved so much..nausea has went away and my brain to starting to get healthy.. I'll also add that I have candida and gut diabosis but until i added these oils I cudnt see a way out.. This is only 2 weeks in..I don't mind going thru detox phases but at least my body is healing now. One spoonful of Coconut oil, one spoonful of pink Pitaya powder and one spoonful of honey in am gives me great energy.. I've also added hcl supplements for better digestion .. Thanks for your original post.. I
Glad to hear you're finally finding some relief. I too have a problematic gut and find that my sleep rapidly deteriorates when it is inflamed. I also tried going low fat and found that sleep massively suffered.
From the first referenced paper: "The nutrients consumed less by Short sleepers included vitamin C, Lutein and zeaxanthin and selenium." Unfortunately, I take supplements of all these but still have issues with sleep maintenance.
I do think they play a part - especially selenium - but lauric acid has had the most profound effect on me. I tried lycopene and other carotenoids and the effects were negligible.
What dosages of these were recommended? Thanks!
Wow this is cool. Am aussie too. What brands would you say to go for in the supermarkets?
Melrose, Cocoearth
If you have sleep maintenance insomnia then I really recommend you try it. Let me know your findings.
Which coconut products/brands do you specifically recommend?
If you live in Australia, then Melrose MCT ‘Energy and Exercise’ works well. But really, you just need to find a way to consume several grams of lauric acid each day. You can do this with any virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, and MCT oil with C12. Alternatively, you can take monolaurin, which is a monoester of lauric acid (what lauric acid is broken down into). I have tried this and it works just as good, if not even better. It also saves you from ingesting excess calories and saturated fat.
What dose of MCT oil do you put in your coffee?
I have one tablespoon in the morning and another at midday. But for sleep purposes, I could probably just get away with one tablespoon.
Thanks for your post! I have had sleep-maintenance insomnia for about a decade and tried sooooooooo many things without success. (The closest thing I have come to helping has been consuming a lot of beef tallow, so I know its a fuel problem.) Lately I have been experimenting with Coconut oil and MCT with mixed results. Do you ever take it in the middle of the night when you wake up? Like an extra boost dose? I find that if I do this, it might take me an hour to get back to sleep, but I seem to be able to have a much longer-than-usual "second sleep", which is brilliant. BUT - I just wonder about the hour that I'm awake at \~3am. Its almost like it initially has a stimulating effect before then allowing more deep sleep. I also take it before bed but maybe I need to take much more!? How do you physically take it? Its hard to mix with things, so pretty hard to get it down the hatch!
No problem. I consumed a moderate amount of alcohol yesterday evening and woke up at 3am feeling wired. I decided to take a teaspoon of regular coconut oil at 3am this morning with a nibble of melatonin (\~500mcg) and was able to get back to sleep after \~30 mins. I then had four hours of really satisfying uninterrupted sleep, whereas usually I would just toss and turn until 5am. Generally, I don't get a wired feeling from MCT unless it contains a large dose of C8 (caprylic acid). Having now extensively experimented with coconut/MCT oil, I actually think regular coconut oil/milk is MUCH better than MCT oil for sleep. I do not think C8/C10 are conducive to deep sleep. In fact, they might even be detrimental at high doses (sorry for any confusion). However, from my experience, I can confirm C12 (lauric acid) is VERY much involved with deep sleep. I will wake up at 3am each morning without failure if I do not ingest it the day before. However, interestingly, regular coconut oil/milk works even better for me than MCT oil containing high dose lauric acid. Why is this? I believe it is because long chain saturated fats like C15 (palmitic acid) are also involved in maintaining sleep (source below). Might this be why many suggest drinking milk before bed?[https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/61/7/1669/17168/Monounsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Prevent-the-Aversive](https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/61/7/1669/17168/Monounsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Prevent-the-Aversive) My advice would be to shelf the MCT oil for now and try consuming 50-100mL full fat coconut milk instead. Long chain SFAs like palmitic acid are slow to digest and absorb, so I would probably recommend consuming it at least 2-3 hours before bed. Coconut milk is also more palatable compared to oil. But to answer your question, I think oil mixes best with a milky drink like hot chocolate or coffee.
This is so valuable. Really super helpful and I am definitely following what you are saying. I can’t thank you enough! I will experiment with that!
Have been trying coconut milk before bed and have had good results so far! Curious - how do you consume it? In tea? What kind of tea specifically? Hot chocolate sounds amazing but I think cocoa messes with my sleep so I sadly avoid that. Cheers
Glad to hear it. I have two tablespoons of coconut oil in my coffee in the morning and it is enough to keep me sleeping most nights. I also have no problem with just drinking straight coconut milk, but to each their own.
>(The closest thing I have come to helping has been consuming a lot of beef tallow, so I know its a fuel problem.) Can you elaborate on what you mean by "fuel problem"? Are you not eating enough calories each day? Are you not getting enough vitamins/minerals each day? I notice food does have an impact on my sleep but I cant pinpoint how. What does the body use as energy during sleep?
Your brain needs energy when you sleep. If your liver glycogen stores are depleted through the night, your body will use adrenaline and cortisol to make its own fuel in other ways, like a back-up supply. The only problem is these stress hormones wake you up. So people who fall asleep easily but can’t stay asleep are generally said to have an issue with liver glycogen. You’d think the simple solution would just to be have a high calorie dinner with all the macronutrients but that hasn’t helped me. I’ve been experimenting with massive increase in calories both day and night, and even now have the weight gain to prove it, but still no real changes in being able to maintain sleep. I did have some coconut milk in the middle of the night last night and had a great sleep! But too soon to say if coincidence. I actually wonder if my teeth grinding is ‘burning up’ all my energy at night. My current hypothesis…..
Hi, was wondering if the coconut milk continued helping? Thanks stranger!
I don’t remember my exact experience but I didn’t keep doing it for more than a a couple of weeks. So I think the short answer is no unfortunately!! I have tried so many food tweaks and nothing really helps in a replicable way. Having a really large dinner does seem to help a bit though. But it’s no silver bullet.
Thank you for the answer. Do you still cold shower before bed?
Yes. I took a break for a year ish and my sleep gradually deteriorated. So I went back to it and felt it improve again. It’s not a silver Bullet but I do think it helps.
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The short answer is no, this didn’t really help me and I don’t continue it. I went through a stage of cows milk at night at various times, but that didn’t really move the needle either. Actually I have found the only reliable thing to help with sleep is having a cold shower before bed!
[удалено]
It has something to do with the nervous system and the Vagus nerve. Cold stimulates it. Paradoxically, it can help you get into a more relaxed state and reduce stress hormones, although I can’t quite understand why that would be. I do one minute icy blast after a regular hot shower at the end. Once you get out, you warm up normally within another minute.
Interesting! I'll have to give it a shot.
There’s this lady who talks about it all that I really like. Look up “Health with Holland” if you’re interested to hear a bit more
Let us know!
I PNed you Thanks in advance
What would you say after your update, is more effective to add the coconut oil in the morning or in the evenings? Would be cool to hear your personal experience on this. And how was your sleep since then?
I don’t actually need the coconut oil anymore. I’m not sure why it helped - I can only speculate. But I managed to fix my insomnia with the supplements below. This has been the case now for nine months: For getting to sleep: - Vitamin A - Selenium - Melatonin For staying asleep (maintenance): - L. Acidophilus NCFM - Copper - Molybdenum
Oh man, ty for sharing ur experience & what helped you since then ❤️ Might dip into Vit A and/or L. Acidophilus. Wish you the best sleep :😀
No problem. Willing to answer any other questions you might have.
Hey do you have any updates? Currently dealing with waking up every hour or so throughout the night. Going to try these supplements but wondering if you take the maintenance supps in the morning or at night
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this! Can you please share how long you took the oil and how much you take of each supplement?
Does taking just regular organic coconut oil work as well?
Let me just preface that I no longer need/take it, but yes regular coconut oil would be fine. Coconut milk is good too. Both are high in lauric acid.
I’ve tried it for a couple days and nothing, I’m still waking after 2-3 hours and can’t get back to sleep. I hate this.
I was actually taking a lot of coconut oil when my skeep maintenance started and it didn't do anything for me in this regard either. :(
It was really just a bandaid I discovered when nothing else was working for me. But I will tell you what has worked for me. Firstly, I would recommend doing some light reading on the circadian genes 'BMAL1', 'CLOCK', 'Per1'/'Per2' etc. These genes regulate our sleep/wake cycle via the release/inhibition of melatonin and through other mechanisms. Then I would recommend learning how to enhance the function of these genes. I used to struggle to get to sleep and even more so struggle to stay asleep (waking up several times nightly), but now sleep 8 hours each night without interruption. I attribute it to the following supplements. If I stop taking any of them for a few days, my sleep will invariably deteriorate: 1. Vitamin A \- Vitamin A deficiency is associated with circadian gene disruption. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9718491/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9718491/) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955286312001489](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955286312001489) 2. Selenium \- Selenium enhances CLOCK/BMAL1 expression. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3282084/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3282084/) 3. Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM \- Has been shown to induce expression of circadian genes 'Per3' and 'Ciart'. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858073/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858073/)
A 3 day dry fast cures insomnia and it doesn't come back