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A common food oil has been found to have potent

antifungal properties that could literally save lives.


The coconut palm is perhaps the world's most widely distributed and versatile food-medicine, and
has been prized and even revered by indigenous cultures for a wide range of health
complaints (http://blog/coconut-earths-most-widespread-medicinal-fruit-plant) since
time immemorial. Increasingly, scientific evidence is emerging validating (/blog/13-
evidence-based-medicinal-properties-coconut-oil) its traditionally ascribed health benefits,
and more, including supporting brain health (/blog/how-coconut-oil-may-rescue-brain-
alzheimers-disease), protecting the heart (/blog/only-1-tbsp-coconut-oil-produces-
powerful-health-changes-study-confirms), and even reducing stress and depression
(/blog/virgin-coconut-oil-more-effective-drugs-combating-stress-and-depression).

But what of anecdotes referring to the presumed antifungal activity of coconut oil? Is
there any basis in scientific research to make such claims?

Indeed, a recent study led by researchers at Tufts University has found that coconut oil is highly
effective at controlling the overgrowth of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans in
mice.

Published in the American Society for Microbiology's journal mSphere and titled, "Manipulation
of Host Diet to Reduce Gastrointestinal Colonization by the Opportunistic Pathogen
Candida Albicans (http://msphere.asm.org/documents/mSphere.00020-15.pdf)," the
study identified C. albicans as the most common human pathogen, with a mortality rate of
about 40% when causing systemic infections.

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C. albicans is normally present in the human gastrointestinal tract, but antibiotics can destroy
commensal bacteria that normally keep Candida populations within a healthy range. According to
the study, compromised immunity is also a major cause of C. albicans overgrowth, and "Systemic
infections caused by C. albicans can lead to invasive candidiasis, which is the fourth most common
blood infection among hospitalized patients in the United States according to the CDC."

Additionally, in a recent article we wrote on the topic of Candida albicans and cancer, we explored
the implications of a paper published in Critical Reviews in Microbiology titled, "Candida albicans
and cancer: Can this yeast induce cancer development or progression?
(http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.med.nyu.edu/doi/full/10.3109
/1040841X.2014.913004)", wherein compelling evidence is presented
that C. albicans overgrowth may play a significant role in carcinogenesis. If this is true,
clearly natural ways to keep C. albicans levels at bay are needed by a global population
increasingly afflicted by cancer as a primary cause of morbidity and mortality.

Like conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy, conventional anti-fungal drugs carry with
them significant risk of adverse effects, and their repeated use leads to the development of drug
resistant strains of fungal pathogens, making natural approaches all the more attractive. The
researchers hypothesized that a coconut-based dietary intervention might reduce Candida
infection in mice. The study design and results were reported on ScienceDaily.com
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151118125325.htm) as follows:

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"The team, led by microbiologist Carol Kumamoto and nutrition
scientist Alice H. Lichtenstein, investigated the effects of three
different dietary fats on the amount of C. albicans in the mouse
gut: coconut oil, beef tallow and soybean oil. A control group of
mice were fed a standard diet for mice. Coconut oil was selected
based on previous studies that found that the fat had antifungal
properties in the laboratory setting.
A coconut oil-rich diet reduced C. albicans in the gut compared
to a beef tallow-or soybean oil-rich diet. Coconut oil alone, or
the combination of coconut oil and beef tallow, reduced the
amount of C. albicans in the gut by more than 90% compared to
a beef tallow-rich diet.

"Coconut oil even reduced fungal colonization when mice were


switched from beef tallow to coconut oil, or when mice were fed
both beef tallow and coconut oil at the same time. These
findings suggest that adding coconut oil to a patient's existing
diet might control the growth of C. albicans in the gut, and
possibly decrease the risk of fungal infections caused by C.
albicans," said Kumamoto, Ph.D., a professor of molecular
biology and microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine
and member of the molecular microbiology and genetics
program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical
Sciences."

These preliminary results have profound implications for the practice of medicine, according to a
statement made to ScienceDaily by Alice H LIchtenstein, D.Sc., director of the Cardiovascular
Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts
University:

"This study marks a first step in understanding how life-


threatening yeast infections in susceptible individuals might be
reduced through the short-term and targeted use of a specific
type of fat. As exciting as these findings are, we have to keep in
mind that the majority of adult Americans are at high risk for
heart disease, the number one killer in the U.S. The potential
use of coconut oil in the short term to control the rate of fungal
overgrowth should not be considered a prophylactic approach to
preventing fungal infections."

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The first author of the study, Kearney Gunsalus, Ph.D. an Institutional Research and Academic
Career Development (IRACDA) postdoctoral fellow at the Sackler School in Kumamoto's lab, also
offered his opinion on the study implications:

"We want to give clinicians a treatment option that might limit


the need for antifungal drugs. If we can use coconut oil as a
safe, dietary alternative, we could decrease the amount of
antifungal drugs used, reserving antifungal drugs for critical
situations."

Previous research, available to view on GreenMedInfo.com (/article/coconut-oil-inhibits-


growth-dermatophytes-indian-hair-oils), indicates that coconut oil is also an effective anti-
fungal agent against the growth of dermatophytes, a type of yeast which can cause infections of
the skin, nails, and hair because they can utilize keratin.

For more research on the health benefits of coconut oil, view our database section on the topic
here (/article/coconut-oil-inhibits-growth-dermatophytes-indian-hair-oils). For more
research on natural interventions to prevent and/or treat Candida infection, view our database
on the topic here (/disease/candida-infection).

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