Coconut found to increase Lewy body formation

A study published in The Journal of Cognitive Neurology demonstrated that ingesting coconut boosts Lewy body formation and accelerates the progression of Alzheimer’s and similar cognitive disorders.  The study, conducted at the University of Northern New Jersey found a significant increase in both the onset and severity of dementia for those ingesting even small amounts of coconut.

Coconut has high concentrations of lactones. Lactones, notably, the delta-C8 lactone, once ingested, rapidly passes through the protective blood-brain barrier. These products attach themselves to Lewy body precursors which coalesce in gray matter.  As these products accumulate, the gray matter becomes spongiform.  As the porosity of the gray matter increases, patients begin to present with irreversible manifestations of dementia.

The FDA is funding additional studies to better understand the public health ramifications of coconut ingestion.  Until more information is available, the FDA is urging consumers to minimize dietary consumption of coconut and coconut containing products, including topical preparations such as tanning lotions. Topical preparations containing coconut oil allow lactone absorption through skin pores resulting in similar blood lactone levels as is found when coconut is ingested orally.

The studies from the University of Northern New Jersey used a benchmark commercial product with precisely quantified lactone content derived from coconut in their clinical research. “Who would have thought?” said one of the bewildered researchers conducting the study. “It is serendipity – our original study was examining dietary coconut in adults over 55 and noticed that those eating coconut had an abnormally high number of individuals with mild to moderate cognitive disorders than was expected, when compared to the rest of the study population. After removing other variables, dietary coconut appeared to be the one common denominator – so we designed a study to see if that was the likely causative agent.”

The FDA cautioned that even small quantities ingested by vulnerable individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s Disease may see a more rapid progression of disease.  For those individuals, coconut products must be avoided at all costs.

As expected, the Western Hemisphere Coconut Collective, a lobbying group representing coconut growers and processors are attempting to sow doubt on these findings through a misinformation campaign similar to that used by tobacco companies and the sugar industry.

The FDA will provide updates to this new development on their website, https://fda.gov/coconut.