A RANDOMIZED COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF FRESH COCONUT IN A BALANCED YOGIC DIET ON ANTHROPOMETRIC BIOCHEMICAL IMMUNOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

Since the 70s and 80s, cardiologists have preached that coconuts have newlinesaturated fat and are bad for heart health and should be avoided. Findings in the last 2 newlinedecades show that Coconut fats are majorly made of medium chain saturated fatty acids newlineand these have many beneficial effects on human health. So, there is a need to newlinedistinguish between the short, medium and long chain saturated fatty acids (SCSFA, newlineMCSFA and LCSFA) and also the source of saturated fatty acid (SFA) (plant or animal) newlineto appreciate the benefits. We found no studies addressing this important clinical newlinequestion on fresh coconut. There are many studies on coconut oil but are contradictory newlineor show neutral results. It is of significant relevance to Indians as we conventionally newlineuse raw (fresh/dry) coconut sumptuously in everyday cooking and we enjoy doing so. newlineCoconut intervention was given in a Yogic balanced diet. newlineRight kind of food is the central concept for all Yogic practices and lot has been written newlinein all our ancient scriptures and texts. We consolidated few major concepts on food and newlinecombined it with concepts of modern medical nutrition to arrive at a practical Yoga newlinebased balanced diet.The aim is to investigate the effect of fresh coconut provided in a Yoga based diet newlineon bio chemical, anthropometric, physical, immunological parameters, psychological newlineand personality traits (Gunas) in normal adults.To compile data and conceptualise a balanced diet based on the Yogic principles newlineof Satva, Rajas, Tamas and RDA of Medical Nutrition.To investigate whether daily consumption of fresh coconut in a Yoga based newlinebalanced diet impacts plasma lipid profile, erythrocyte lipid profile, high density newlinelipoprotein (HDL) associated enzymes, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, newlineblood glucose, insulin, haemoglobin, inflammatory markers, psychological and newlinepersonality traits(Gunas) in healthy adults.Prashanti Kutiram, SVYASA University, Jigani, Bangalore.Eighty healthy volunteers, between the age of 18 to 40 years, both male newlineand female. newline