Can Coconut Oil Kill The Coronavirus?

During the SARS outbreak, only 14 cases and two fatalities were recorded in the Philippines….

How did this tiny island nation avoid the ravages of SARS so effectively, despite how close it is to China and other infected areas?

Scientists think the answer may lie in Coconut Oil, one of the country’s primary exports and most popular cooking oil.

Coconut oil (or copra oil) is an edible oil extracted from the meat (kernel) of ripe coconuts cut from the lofty branches of the majestic coconut palm Cocos nucifera.

The high levels of saturated fat in the husked coconut drupe (botanically, like a berry rather than a nut) make it slow to oxidize and thereby resistant to rancidification. Coconut oil has a shelf life of up to six months at 75F without spoiling. …

Most fat in the average diet is made up of long-chain fatty triglycerides with 13–21 carbon atoms. Short-chain fatty acids have fewer than 6 carbon atoms.

MCTs contain fatty acids that have a chain length of 6–12 carbon atoms. They include caproic acid (C6), caprylic acid (C8), capric acid (C10), and lauric acid (C12).

Scientists have known for years that lauric acid (C12) surrounds and destroys viruses. About 50% – half – of coconut oil is composed of lauric acid. Monolaurin is derived from C12 and also has significant antiviral properties.

After consuming coconut oil as a liquid or in pure form as a supplement, enzymes within the human body naturally produce monolaurin, a metabolite (a substance produced during metabolism).

Sodium lauryl sulfate, a common surfactant (something that lowers the surface tension between ingredients), is often added to household cleaners and shampoo. It is manufactured from lauric acid and has demonstrated its antiviral power.

These three substances, lauric acid, monolaurin, and sodium lauryl sulfate (or sodium dodecyl sulfate), are used in a wide range of commercial products to prevent viral infection.

Dr. Fabian Dayrit, Ph.D. and Dr. Mary Newport, M.D., of Spring Hill Neonatology, published a paper about the potential of coconut oil and its derivatives to battle the new Wuhan coronavirus (named nCoV-2019) that has spread from Ground Zero in China.

The research duo concluded that coconut oil, lauric acid, and its derivatives are effective and safe agents against a virus such as nCoV-2019 and presented a trio of possible causes to explain why coconuts are such potent virus killers:

“Three mechanisms have been proposed to explain the antiviral activity of lauric acid and monolaurin: first, they cause disintegration of the virus envelope; second, they can inhibit late maturation stage in the virus replicative cycle; and third, they can prevent the binding of viral proteins to the host cell membrane.”

The scientists suggest that a safe and effective coronavirus remedy is already available and completely safe for humans: coconut oil.

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