Ray Peat on Coconut Oil

January 3, 2026

Weight Loss Through Increased Calorie Intake with Coconut Oil

“I noticed that I lost weight even though I consumed more calories than usual because I added about an ounce of coconut oil to my regular diet. After several months, my weight stabilized at about 15 pounds below my normal weight of the previous 26 years.”

– Nutrition For Women

The Benefits of Coconut Oil for Thyroid and Health

“The easily oxidizable short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids in coconut oil provide an energy source that protects our tissues from the toxic, inhibitory effects of unsaturated fatty acids and reduces their thyroid-inhibiting effects. Animal studies over the past 60 years suggest that these effects also offer protection against cancer, heart disease, and premature aging. Other expected effects include protection against excessive blood clotting, protection of the fetal brain, protection against various stress-related problems including epilepsy, as well as some degree of protection against sun damage to the skin.”

– Nutrition For Women

Coconut Oil, Thyroid Function, and Weight Management

“While using coconut oil allows you to go longer without eating because its thyroid-stimulating effect increases the liver’s ability to store glycogen, frequent small meals are still important to help with weight loss or prevent weight gain.”

– Nutrition For Women

Medium-Chain Fatty Acids and Fat Synthesis in the Liver

“Medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut oil are effective at shutting down fat synthesis in the liver.”

– Nutrition For Women

Thyroid Hormone and Fatty Acids in the Activation of Respiratory Enzymes

“Thyroid hormone, palmitic acid, and light activate a crucial respiratory enzyme and suppress the formation of lactic acid. Palmitic acid is found in coconut oil and is naturally produced in animal tissues. Unsaturated oils have the opposite effect.”

July 2000

Non-Toxic Therapies for Treating Lactic Acidosis

“Therapeutically, even strong toxins that block glycolytic enzymes can improve functions in a variety of organic disorders associated with excessive lactic acid production (or caused by it). Unfortunately, the toxin that has become the standard in treating lactic acidosis – dichloroacetic acid – is carcinogenic and leads to long-term liver damage and acidosis. However, several non-toxic therapies can achieve the same effects: palmitate (which is formed from sugar under the influence of thyroid hormone and is found in coconut oil), vitamin B1, biotin, lipoic acid, carbon dioxide, thyroid, naloxone, acetazolamide, for example.”

July 2000 – (1)

Comprehensive List of Protective Dietary Chemicals

“A complete list of protective dietary chemicals as well as natural medicines or analogs of our endogenous protective factors would be very long, but some deserve special attention. These include, among others, succinic acid, which stimulates respiration and protective steroid synthesis; thyroid hormone and vitamin E, which promote normal oxidation while preventing abnormal oxidation; magnesium; sodium and lithium, which help us retain magnesium; tropical fruits containing GHB; coconut oil, which protects against heart necrosis, lipid peroxidation, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, and histamine damage; Valium agonists, natural antihistamines; adenosine and uridine. Stays at higher altitudes as well as exposure to bright, long-wavelength light can prompt the body to optimize its own anti-stress chemistry. Avoiding the feeling of being trapped is a high-ranking adaptation factor.”

June 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

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