Coconut Milk ....... Warning - you may wish to avoid coconut milk

[Lynxcat]

I saw this and thought it may be of interest to those of you who love coconut and use it to increase food intake of quality vitamins and minerals:

The latest information indicates that it may be best avoided under the following circumstances ...

"Recommendations

Let’s bring this together into recommendations for three different groups of people:

Women who are trying to get pregnant, pregnant or breastfeeding, children and other vulnerable populations (chronically ill): should avoid canned coconut milk products except for those that are BPA-free, like Native Forest and Arroy-D. Note: Native Forest is organic, but Arroy-D is not.

People with digestive problems (IBS, IBD, GERD, etc.): may want to avoid coconut products entirely, except for coconut oil

Healthy people: may be fine with canned coconut milk, provided they don’t react to the guar gum, and provided they’re willing to take the side of industry scientists that claim BPA doesn’t cause harm in humans"

The above quote is taken from the following website - (to read the whole article please visit the link below:

chriskresser.com/3-reasons-...

[Lynxcat]

Added information - the answer to 'What is BPA?"

peoplespharmacy.com/2012/03...

news.wsu.edu/pages/publicat...

[FionaGFG Administrator]

Lynxcat - please bear in mind that some of these sites are American and are not necessarily proven in the UK. Please also bear in mind that these kind of posts however well meaning may scare many newbie members.

It's always good to post different viewpoints e.g. BBC's guide on the benefits

bbcgoodfood.com/content/wel...

Thanks

[Hidden]

I do worry sometimes at stuff posted on this site as to where it has come from. My doctor daughter often says to me....beware, all sort of stuff can be said but if the research group is tiny and limited then the results of that research are very unsafe.

There is much useful info on this site but sometimes newly diagnosed are steered towards a very limited diet which is not a safe thing to do and can cause other health problems.

[Hidden]

BPA is an issue for everyone to be concerned about and is not limited to consumption of coconut milk.

[Lynxcat]

I realise that on occasion I do use US sites and that is because often the explanation on these sites are easy to read. The information is there on British sites also. The coconut milk and digestive disturbances has been mentioned before - some people may use it without any problems whilst in others cramping occurs and they may wish to rest its use and see if their health improves. The BPA is a different matter some say that you can ingest it and a lifetime of exposure will cause no harm but there is a growing call to finally ban it altogether throughout the world as it is still allowed in certain food containers is known to leach out more quickly on some products than others.

There is an ongoing campaign by Breast Cancer UK:

nomorebpa.org.uk/

BBC's view on BPA:

bbc.co.uk/news/health-15834072

The UK Food Standard's Agency state:

food.gov.uk/policy-advice/f...

The UK FSA also add:

food.gov.uk/policy-advice/f...

dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

France is leading the way and has vowed to ban it in all food packaging by 2015:

packagingnews.co.uk/news/fr...

The Official UK PDF advice booklet for people with Crohn's, Colitis and IBD:

nacc.org.uk/downloads/bookl...

[FionaGFG Administrator in reply to Lynxcat]

Thanks Lynxcat I'm sure these links will be very helpful for people that want to know more about packaging and BPA ; )

[Kestria]

I have IBS, and find Kara Milk (derived from coconuts) is absolutely fine. Whereas I do have issues with soya milk and some lactofree products.

So it's worth seeing what does and does not work for you.

Often things are not 100% okay or 100% not okay, for 100% of people.

[Lynxcat in reply to Kestria]

Hi Kestria, To be quite honest until I started looking around I had no idea that some coconut milk caused any issues at all. My daughter swears by it and uses it in cooking. I tried it - as a drink, neat from a can and didn't enjoy it whereas I do love other forms of coconut and have now begun to use coconut oil which I melt before stirring into yoghurt .. thought it was worth giving a try out. I have found that using it both internally and applying it lightly externally has finally rid me of a rash that I had around my eyes for well over a year. Nothing but nothing else appeared to give any relief to my rash what-so-ever! So I would recommend anyone else who has any skin rash to give it a try - it worked for me - of course, there are never any guarantees that it would work for everyone but I had got to a point where I think I would have tried just about anything to get even the slightest relief from the itch!!

[katiespicer]

So if you don't get any symptoms from eating it can we assume it is safe to keep eating it?

[Lynxcat in reply to katiespicer]

Hi Katie, There are many versions of coconut milk on the market so as long as it is pure and doesn't contain any gluten (if it is not upsetting your tummy) - then the only other concerns mentioned in the original posting referred to some of the canned versions which may have the possibility of being lined with BPA. Canned products in some instances spend many years on the shelf and therefore there can be a problem with leaching of the chemical into the milk.

Hopefully, if we follow France's lead then in the not too distant future it will be banned from all food wrappings and linings.

[sarahstevenson]

Hmmm interesting I am intolerant of coconut especially the oil ha ha there's always an awkward one!