When it comes to researching biomedical therapies for autism, I should have my Google PhD right now. I’ve tried many things with the hope that whatever it was would prove to be the magic bullet for us. And I always promised that if I did find something that was helpful or useful for my son, I would share it far and wide with other moms and dads in the autism community.
So what’s gotten me so excited that I have to share with all of you? Drum roll please……. Coconut oil!! I have to say, I’m loving the stuff and how it seems to be making a major impact on my son’s overall health. It’s been especially helpful in controlling my son’s seizures.
Along with SugahTMR, I’ve been researching ways to enhance or increase my son’s neurotransmitter function and have been really interested in the concept of Functional Neurology. I’ve always had coconut oil in the back of my head as something I really need to look more closely at, especially for brain health. I’ve cooked with it in the past, but never used it on a regular basis enough to see if it would be of real benefit to us. This past August I decided to give coconut oil a really good try and use it for at least 6 months to a year before giving my opinion as to whether it was of benefit or not. What I did was start putting shredded coconut in his morning smoothie and using the coconut oil straight from the jar, not just cooking with it.
It’s only been 4 months so far and I’m very optimistic about the changes we are seeing. One of the biggest improvements–only 1 seizure in the past 4 months, the last one being 2-1/2 months ago!!! And the good news is that it was very mild, lasting only 30 seconds and there was no long post ictal phase after. He was up and back to himself within 5-10 minutes. Normally, we were seeing seizures every two to three weeks and my son would sleep for 30 minutes to an hour after a seizure. Sometimes he would sleep for a few hours after a more serious seizure and be very irritable for the entire next day. He is still taking his anti-seizure medication, but I’m hopeful that if we continue using the coconut oil diligently, and remain seizure free for an extended period of time, our neurologist will agree with us to start decreasing the dose of the medication.
Another exciting and great improvement that we are also seeing is increased expressive speech!! We are now getting spontaneous words on a daily basis, and sometimes he will put two words together. Just yesterday as I was leaving the house he said, “Bye, bye, Mom.” That was impossible for him four months ago. Before he really disliked his augmentative communication device, now he will go to it and bring me over by the hand if he wants to communicate something with me. I asked him what he wanted for Christmas this year, and he happily typed in Wii Fit!! I believe the increased seizure control is allowing his brain to function “normally” and not be under attack by epileptic activity on a daily basis.
Here’s a few other improvements I’ve noted in the past few months:
* No more pimples around his mouth.
* Formed bowel movement every day. Distention in stomach is completely gone.
* Increased muscle tone. His strength and athletic endurance has improved. When he smiles now, I can see the dimples in his cheeks again. After his 12-month shots and his immediate regression, he lost a lot of muscle tone in his face.
* Healthier immune system. Last year he was absent for 30+ days due to illness. So far this year he has been out of school due to sickness only twice. (I do use apple cider vinegar also and can attribute his improved health to that as well.)
Why do I think coconut oil is giving us these great benefits? Medium-chain triglycerides are very important for proper functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain and coconut oil is full of them. One particular thing I found out about MCTs is that they work synergistically with Omega-3 fatty acids liberating them from fat stores in the body and allowing them to be utilized by the brain more efficiently — definitely a winning 1-2 punch!!
Coconut oil has antifungal, antibacterial, anti-protozoan, and antiviral properties and a high lauric acid content. I truly believe it is cleansing his inner ecosystem and soothing the inflammation, allowing his body to function better. In our case, we weren’t ready to attack the parasites until my son’s detox pathways were open and ready to excrete the nasty buggers. His bowel function is the best it has ever been, so I’m excited to step up our parasite removal regimen and start seeing even more improvements.
It is recommended that people with diabetes (type 1 and 2) or neurological disease would benefit from up to 8-10 tablespoons of coconut oil daily. Right now, I’m giving 3-4 tablespoons a day. I’m going to up his intake and will report back and let all you all know if we’re seeing even more good things.
~ Savage
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My 4 year son is suffering from Autism please suggest which coconut oil should prefer and level of dos
5years ago my 6yr old son started having seizures. The doctors “benefits outweigh the risks” bull**** never did sit right with me or my son but we obeyed and tried to be good patients until I started reading posts from lifelong patients the Meds don’t work but the doctors keep pushing them when all of these natural and safe alternatives are out there. You just have to want a better quality of life for your child so you keep searching until you find it. Coconut oil is a miracle substance that can bring a better quality of life to many. I know I’m screaming it as loud and as far as I can. My son is seizure free with 4tblspns a day only on his skin . We have recently been trying adding it to water. I have also been using it on myself for all of the health benefits because if I’m in better health I am a much better caregiver for my son. We can not leave our quality of life or our children’s up to doctors, our best interest in their eyes is to take their drugs and make them richer PERIOD.
Thanks for the story, Kelley! I’ve heard many wonderful things about coconut oil from parents of kids with seizures.
Wow thank you all so much for the information. I will be trying this with my son.
I just want to give all of you a hug. Hah! I’m having one of those weepy days. As I read the article and comments, I couldn’t help but think how hard we are all working for our kids … and we won’t stop.
Love to all
S
The classic therapeutic ketogenic diet was developed for treatment of paediatric epilepsy in the 1920s and was widely used into the next decade, but its popularity waned with the introduction of effective anticonvulsant drugs. In the mid-1990s, Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams, whose son’s severe epilepsy was effectively controlled by the diet, created the Charlie Foundation to promote it.,-‘;
Most current piece of writing straight from our personal internet site
<http://www.healthmedicinejournal.comek
Diana Gonzales says:
December 10, 2012 at 9:58 am
We’ve also started coconut oil 2 weeks ago and my daugher has made amazing progress. No seizures, very good mood, hapiness and words… Lots of new words coming from her lovely lips every day. She is heaving 4 tbsp per day and we are using nutiva extra virgin coconut oil. We are also using algae complex from Bioage wich helps improve her immune system. Her seizures get worse when she has infections. Please keep tracking your son’s progress it’s very inspiring 😉
So,so happy for your daughter’s progress!!! 🙂
Hi I’m very interested in starting to use coconut oil for my 35 yr old daughter .uncontrollable seizures .she has tonic clonic seizures every day..she’s very stiff an irritable .having lot of trouble getting her on cannabis oil so I’m going to try this..My question. Could you use the coconut oil with do’terra oil..
I use Nutiva coconut oil and mana. I’m going to be ordering there flour and sugar soon and trying them.
Thank you for your info, didn’t realize it should be as much as 8-10 tb daily, will work up to that and hope i see similarbenefits
Great info! I recently found the most amazing chocolate recipe ever, and it is made with coconut oil! The only other ingredients are vanilla, raw honey,
cacao and a little salt.
Super simple! My daughter is on the GAPS/Paleo diet and she can eat it. I added almond raisins and a dash of Celtic salt. Sooo good! 🙂 The link is below!
http://www.homemademommy.net/2012/05/easy-homemade-chocolate.html
Thanks for posting! It sounds really good 🙂
I have been using coconut milk from so delicious for some time now.. but recently learned that the ingredient carrageenan used to thicken the milk is really not good for you..
Found in wikepedia:
Health concerns
The Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives states that, “based on the information available, it is inadvisable to use carrageenan or processed eucheuma seaweed in infant formulas”.[16] There is evidence from studies performed on rats, guinea pigs, and monkeys that indicates that degraded carrageenan (poligeenan) may cause ulcerations in the gastro-intestinal tract and gastro-intestinal cancer.[17] In the 21st century similar experiments have been performed using human tissue showing similar results, but none have been definitive.[18]
Any comments? When using coconut milk do you suggest canned organic coconut milk instead?
I would try to find a brand without any additives, which can be tricky. I found this one online that says their cans are BPA free too. http://www.naturalvalue.com/ or you can make your own, which seems like a pretty easy process using fresh coconuts. http://nourishedkitchen.com/how-to-make-coconut-milk/
My son loves coconut yogurts – but you can go broke buying them! Can someone share a recipe for home-mad coconut yogurt?
http://bodyecology.com/kefirinstructions.php This is to make a kefir. Using coconut milk will make it thinner, but still doable. That’s my next goal–to start making it myself to save money.
Naturally, The minute I read this I immediately made a coconut milk with coconut oil and cherry shake for my son. It is so nice to have real answers from a real group of thinkers. Thank you, Thank you. Lets keep it going.
That sounds super yummy! Thank you for your support 🙂
Great info! Thanks for sharing! We’ve been coconut milk devotees for a while now, want to try the oil. You have me motivated.
thanks 🙂
Congratulations on all the improvements!
I’m giving my daughter 6 2/3 tablespoons of coconut oil per day – 8 teaspoons in the morning before school, and the rest spread out over the remaining time before bedtime. I do not give any within an hour of her bedtime. Along with the morning dose, I give her 2 teaspoons of MCT oil. I am seeing improved fine motor ability.
Have you read “Stop Autism Now! A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Reversing Autism Spectrum Disorders” by Bruce Fife, PhD? He combines coconut oil with a version of the ketogenic diet; he also advises adding red palm oil (as a cooking oil). I haven’t implemented the ketogenic diet or added red palm oil yet. Has anyone tried this and if so, what results have you had?
Thank you for the book reference. I will definitely have to check that one out. I haven’t done a ketogenic diet since my son has diabetes and high ketones would be a dangerous situation for him if he were to have elevated blood sugar at the same time. I do know personally of families that were helped tremendously by implementing the keto diet.
I’ve been reading that coconut oil is beneficial in Alzheimer’s patients, which is also a neurological disorder. My mom was diagnosed with AD 3+ years ago and she is 84 so I’m not sure if there is time left for coconut oil to help her, but I’m going to suggest it to my Dad who is the cook in the family now.
Thank you for this great post.
Coconut oil is something very easy to implement in the diet. It may be worth a try for her 🙂
Oh, thank you, Jennifer! My mother has dementia these days. She’s been drinking coconut water lately, but I’ll suggest that her caregiver sneak in some coconut oil somewhere.
please please also check any medications that your parents are on. Cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) have a very real side effect of dementia! Can start immediately or can start 1-2 years or more after taking these statins. Cholesterol is what the brain is made of so lowering this with statins has a detrimental effect on the brain. So many people are on them, but please look it up- have many friends moms and dads that have been affected. (also statins statistically aren’t that helpful anyway, if you look at the REAL Statistics. ) most doctors are not aware, but WE are.
Medium-chain triglycerides are very important for proper functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain
Can you point me to some evidence where coconut’s oil triglycerides help the proper functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain?
Alain
Great resource information I found : http://omegascience.org/organ_systems/brain.aspx
There are many books out there regarding the specific benefits of coconut oil: http://goo.gl/p8lUH
Thanks so much for this information.
Is it better to put coconut oil in smoothies, or would shredded coconut be better? How much coconut oil is in commercially prepared coconut milk? What would be better, canned coconut milk, or the more heavily processed but more milk-like Silk coconut milk drink?
Regarding the smoothies, it’s a matter of preference and texture whether you use coconut oil or shredded. The oil will make it smoother. A 10 oz can of milk contains 3.5 tablespoons of oil. The less processed the better. I’ve seen some websites where you can make your own milk from the shredded coconut also.
Thank you i am so eager to try 🙂
Hi! Am so curious to know more about coconut oil. What brand you use and are using simply giving your son spoonfuls of the stuff? How are you getting him to take it? Thanks so much!
I use shredded coconut in smoothies, coconut milk, and I use coconut oil in place of butter or other oil in most recipes. There are some fantastic websites on raw food and paleo diets that have great recipes for incorporating coconut.
Thank you for your quick response. Is there a brand of coconut oil that you trust?
Tropical Traditions and Nutiva. Always use organic. 🙂
I was wondering which brand of coconut oil you are using?
I like Tropical Traditions and Nutiva brands. Always use organic.
Look for “certified organic” , “extra virgin” and/or “raw” on the label. I’ve been buying mine from Vitacost, which carries various brands and varieties, including coconut oil in softgels (for those of us who hate the taste/consistency). Here is a link to $10 off: https://www.vitacostrewards.com/6YIYwT
Yay for coconut oil! I have a hard time getting it down but I found this recipe and it tastes great (I usually start to gag with the second tablespoon of the day). Now if only I could get my kid to eat them!! http://wholenaturallife.com/2012/12/03/coconut-berry-delights-a-tasty-way-to-eat-more-coconut-oil/
This recipe looks yummy! Will have to try it out. Thanks!
My son thought the picture looked yummy! You can bet I’m trying ’em.
Wow! I always knew coconut oil was good for you, but never realized it could be so proactive. Thank you very much!
You’re welcome 🙂
We’ve also started coconut oil only 4 weeks ago and LoRenzo has improved BM’s and speech. I’ve been cooking with it but I started putting a couple tablespoons in his smoothies and in his food like dips and sauces. We’ve also traded our toothpaste for a coconut / baking soda homemade paste and, by George! I really think we’re on to something! BTW, this is the 1st natural thing we’ve tried that has had noticeable effects in a very short period of time!
Wonderful news Diana!
This is such an informative post! We just recently switched to Coconut Oil ourselves on the encouragement of others and a workshop we attended on healthy foods/benefits at our Chiropractor’s office. Such an encouragement to read your post and how you have seen such a significant improvement in speech and bowel in your son. Like you, when you discover something that you see a noticeable differnece, you want to share it far and wide with our Autism Community to help others. Thanks so much for sharing Savage. Onward healing & recovery!!!
Exactly Laurie! Couldn’t keep this to myself. Usually, I’m guilty of trying things and giving up too soon if i think it’s not working. I really made a conscious effort to keep using it even if I didn’t see immediate results. It’s been 4 months now and starting to see some improvements finally!
How do you include this in the diet in addition to using it when you cook?
I use shredded coconut in smoothies and spread coconut oil on GF bread or waffles in place of butter. Coconut milk is a great option too and you can make yogurt from it so it’s casein free. I did start with small amounts so my son could get used to the taste.