A Saint Lucia-born woman living in Brooklyn, New York has launched a new career as an entrepreneur from making several products from coconut.
Fernuda Paul who hails from Laffeuille, Monchy said her idea started in October 2014, when she had a dream about coconuts.
“I haven’t disclosed this to too many persons because there’s a saying “when u dream of success never disclose it until you succeed,” she said.
Paul told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, December 16, that having lived in the US for 14 years, she never once bought a coconut until she had that dream.
“I decided to buy four coconuts last year to make coconut oil. I got a good amount where I shared with a friend. After she tried the oil and it was so good, she called and said I should make oil to sell,” she explained.
Paul said she decided to give it a try and started making coconut oil the old fashioned way, by using a grater. She recalled grating coconuts for three hours non-stop.The Monchy girl said the most she ever grated was 40, until she purchased a blender. Now she is able to have 250-300 grated coconuts weekly.
Fernuda Paul
But what started as an experiment has turned into a small business, where Paul now produces a few coconut products, which includes not only coconut oil, but scented coconut oil and coconut oil soap.
Her coconut oil is sold in different sizes: 4oz, 8oz, 16oz and 32oz. Her coconut oil soap also comes in two in one for hair and skin, which is her number one seller.
“The first three weeks of introducing the two in one hair and skin soap, I sold a very large amount that I myself couldn’t believe,” she told SNO.
Paul said she has many customers in the US and she also ships her products to other countries.The entrepreneur said she has a few customers in Saint Lucia, but her products are not being sold in stores yet.
“Here in the US there’s one store that sells my coconut oil and I sell a lot from my home, majority of customers who lives in Brooklyn. I make it very convenient for them. I make most deliveries on Sundays,” she added.
She continued: “So far I have no complains about sales, as time goes by you never know I can definitely expand as coconut oil is really on high demand.”
Paul said it is a dream come true for her and she plans to continue making coconut oil products.
“God has been good to me and he’s also giving me the strength because without him I would be where I am today. I work full-time Monday-Friday and when I get home in the evening, after spending time with my son before he goes to bed, I start my second job making coconut oil,” she told SNO.
The entrepreneur advises everyone to “never say you can’t until you try.”
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"We have been working on developing the biofuel for the last two years in our bid to ensure a zero carbon society. After two years of successfully testing it on diesel engine, we have now applied for patent," said Mohan Kumar, associate professor at the college's mechanical engineering department. They have applied for patent in India and US.
Serious deterioration of air quality in the national capital territory of Delhi had recently led the National Green Tribunal to ban registration of new diesel vehicles in the region till January 6. The Delhi government has also decided to allow plying of vehicles with odd and even registration numbers on alternate days from January 1, in its bid to bring down pollution.
Kumar said the new biofuel was successfully tested on Tata Motor Ace magic, a four- wheeler public transport vehicle, for two years without hassles.
"We developed this biofuel as part of the college's initiative of 'Zero carbon, zero poverty' that aims at developing biofuels as an alternative to carbon-based fuels. To use the biofuel, automobile makers needn't modify their diesel engine but they only need to remove the residual diesel from the fuel tank. The sulphur and carbon content of the biofuel is very low when compared to fossil fuels," said Kumar.
The makers claimed the biofuel provided increased mileage and was fuel efficient. "Using the biofuel, the auto gave a mileage of 22km/litre, which is 30% higher than what was promised by the company," he added.
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Traders said reduced offtake by stockists following tepid demand from retailers mainly attributed fall in coconut oil prices.
In the national capital, coconut oil declined by Rs 50 to Rs 1,900-1,950 per tin.
Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal):
Oilseeds: Mustard seed Rs 2,950-3,050 and Groundnut Seed Rs 2,150-2,900. Vanaspati Ghee (15-litre tin) Rs 850-1,065.
Edible oils: Groundnut Mill Delivery (Gujarat) Rs 9,100, Groundnut Solvent Refined (per tin) Rs 1,700-1,750, Mustard expeller (Dadri) Rs 9,000, Mustard Pakki Ghani (per tin) Rs 1,550-1,600, Mustard Kachi Ghani (per tin) Rs 1,600-1,700, Sesame Mill delivery Rs 7,800, Soyabean Refined Mill Delivery (Indore) Rs 6,600, Soyabean Degum (Kandla) Rs 6,300, Crude Palm Oil (Ex-Kandla) Rs 4,200, Cottonseed Mill Delivery (Haryana) Rs 5,850, Palmolein (RBD) Rs 5,450, Palmolein (Kandla) Rs 5,400 and Coconut (per tin) Rs 1,900-1,950.
Non-edible oils: Linseed Rs 9,100, Castor Rs 9,700-9,800, Neem Rs 5,350-5,450.
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Coconut oil has been described by some nutritionists as "the healthiest oil on earth." Carrington Farms Organic Coconut Cooking Oil is simply pressed and bottled so it retains its original nutrient content and color. And now, they have three wonderful flavored oils, Garlic, Sriracha and Rosemary to accent all of your holiday cooking. Their unflavored coconut oil can also be used in your baking when a recipe calls for shortening, butter, margarine or vegetable oils.
An appropriate amount of fat in a daily diet is a natural energy source and coconut oil is an excellent choice. Carrington Farms Coconut Cooking Oil is a healthy alternative to canola, soybean and vegetable oil. Coconut cooking oil is also high in Lauric Acid, has five times more Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) than regular coconut oil, and is has the stability that other oils lack. Carrington Farms coconut oil is certified organic, has no trans fats or hydrogenated fats, and is perfect for high heat cooking up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a coconut oil of the finest quality that is easily digestible and rapidly metabolized.
You can use Carrington Farms Coconut Cooking Oil as a replacement for butter or olive oil in a 1 to 1 ratio to sauté or roast vegetables, fish and meats. The flavored oils makes popcorn taste delicious and it can also be tossed in snack mixes with cereals, pretzels and nuts. The flavored oils are also perfect for mixing with balsamic vinegar for a delightful salad dressing.
Carrington Farms Coconut Cooking Oils are a versatile product for your holiday cooking needs.
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Except, there’s another oil that’s even more potent, and wellness bloggers are just starting to clue into it: algae oil. I know; it sounds hideous—but despite the unfortunate fishy connotations, this stuff is actually completely brilliant. Trust me, I tried it.
Like its name suggests, the buzzy product is made from algae, which naturally produces oil. One major producer, Thrive, actually grows the algae in fermentation tanks, then presses the plant to make oil that sells for around $12 for a large bottle. Thanks to the hype surrounding sea plants (hello, nori seaweed), algae oil is starting to gain steam on the health circuit.
Before I sell you on the taste (and other cooking benefits), the biggest talking point about algae oil is its impressive healthy attributes. Like coconut oil, algae oil is packed with good fats and skimps on bad (saturated) fats—more so than any other cooking oil on the market, in fact.
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Find the Right Shoes for Diabetes
By Tony Rehagen
WebMD Feature
When he was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990 at age 23, Patrick Marshall was not all that surprised. His father had diabetes; so did his grandfather. He knew that exercise was key to keeping his blood glucose in check. So he started a walking routine that, along with a healthy diet, helped him to get his diabetes under control.
Even so, 20 years after his diagnosis, Marshall began to have nerve damage and loss of feeling in his legs and feet. Still, he kept walking regularly. Then, one day, as he was drying off after a shower, he noticed what looked like a boil on the ball of his left foot. “At first I thought, ‘Oh, this will go away,’” he recalls. “But after 2 or 3 days, it only got worse.”
Randy Jackson Tackles Weight Loss, Diet, and Diabetes
Randy Jackson’s struggle with obesity began as a child in Louisiana, with its super spicy, often super-fatty cuisine. Even as an adult, Jackson still doesn't dream of sugarplums at Christmastime. Instead, he dreams of waltzing andouille sausage and grits, jigging jambalaya, and shimmying beignets and bread pudding with bourbon sauce. “For the old Dawg, a holiday party was a chance to have something to eat, drink, and be merry, but the new Randy does not drink or eat at parties,” says Jackson, 52,...
Read the Randy Jackson Tackles Weight Loss, Diet, and Diabetes article > >
Marshall went to the doctor, who told him the bump on his foot was actually an ulcer that had become infected. And it was spreading. If he’d waited any longer, his doctor said, he would’ve had to have gotten his foot amputated.
Fortunately, the doctors only had to remove a small bone in one of his toes. But to prevent another dangerous sore, Marhsall’s doctor referred him to a foot doctor, Katherine M. Raspovic, DPM, who fit him with custom-made shoes and inserts to protect his feet. “It’s funny how one thing -- picking the right shoes -- can make all the difference,” she says.
What Difference Do Shoes Make?
Even though diabetes has become a widespread problem (more than 9% of Americans have it), many people, even those who live with the disease, don’t fully understand what it can do to your feet.
When it’s not controlled, it can cause nerve damage and loss of blood flow, both of which can lead to a loss of feeling in the feet. That means that if there’s a stone, coin, or even a wadded up sock in your shoe, you wouldn’t feel it rubbing against your skin. Over time, it could create a blister or sore that could become infected.
Even worse, nerve damage can cause your feet to change shape. “Your toes start to bend and curl, squishing together in shoes that are too tight,” Raspovic says. “You should never put on a shoe and feel discomfort and say, ‘Oh, I’ll break this in.’”
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The recipe represents the beauty of burgers to me. You can make a burger work in so many ways, and pretty much always, it will work. Really though…
Want a bready bun? Cool. No bread for you? How about a sweet potato bun, or an open-faced zucchini bun, or a polenta round? Oh, no bun at all? No deal, slap some lettuce ’round it. The world is your oyster.
And forget that bun, let’s talk toppings! I love caramelized onions and sautéed peppers on my burgers. Oh you want bacon? Sure thing. Avocado, yes please! Did I hear fried egg? Umm, huge yes. And if you’re from the Down Under, I know you’ve tried beets on your burgers! Speaking of burger… that too can be anything you want it to be! From beef to bison to turkey to veggies… you can have any or all.
Burgers have got to be one of the most versatile foods out there. So please, play away if you’d like to add some other things to this guy; don’t feel stuck. But of course, if you’d like to stick to the script, I think you’ll be pretty darn happy too. This one’s got a little somethin’ for everyone.
If you’re a fan of condiments like me, you can go nuts loading this guy up. It doesn’t need much though… and that’s coming from a self-proclaimed condiment queen. The mushroom caps are pretty sauced up on their own, so they add a lot of flavor, as do the sautéed veggies. But again, the world is your oyster with this one, play as you wish.
I love arugula, so I pile the stuff high, but spinach, kale, or any other green would work well too… this burger screams for a little green. Goes so well with the sautéed goodness.
makes two burgers
The Players
for the mushrooms…
2 large Portabello mushroom caps
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
for the burger…
1 lb ground meat of choice (beef, turkey, bison, etc)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp finely minced garlic
2 tbsp minced onion, any color
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp olive oil
for the veggies…
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced anaheim pepper (or other mild green chile)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil, ghee, or butter
for the toppings…
1 cup fresh arugula (or spinach)
2 fried eggs
optional: sliced avocado, cheese, and/or desired condiments
The How-To
Start with the mushrooms…
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Clean caps and remove stem, if unnecessary.
Place mushrooms bottom-side up in a baking dish.
Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over the caps, then add the thyme, salt and pepper.
Rub the seasonings into the caps until all is evenly distributed.
Roast the mushrooms, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
When you remove them form the oven, they’ll be smothered in liquid…
Ignore that, it’s normal. 😉
Flip them over to release any excess liquid, or shake them off a bit of you’d prefer.
That’s it for the mushies… let them be while you prep the rest.
Prep the burger…
Add the meat, parsley, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper to in a bowl.
Mix the meat together, but don’t over handle… over-worked meat tends to get tough. :/
Shape the burgers into two or three patties (the mister wanted three, two for burgers, one to just nibble… your call).
Tip for burger-shaping: create craters by forming an edge that’s thicker than the center part. This will help make evenly-cooked burgers.
Add olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat.
Add the burgers. Cook for approx 7-10 minutes, depending on preference (less time for medium, more time for well done).
Flip and cook for approx 3-5 minutes more, again depending on preference for meat.
Remove patties and let them rest.
Meanwhile, slice peppers and onion.
Add them to the same pan (you may want to give it a little rinse first), along with salt and pepper.
Add oil, ghee, or butter. Cook for approx 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring often to avoid burning.
Get all desired toppings together.
Fry eggs to your liking.
And there you go….
Ready to assemble!
To serve, plop some arugula over a mushroom patty, bottom-side up.
Place a burger over the greens.
Top with sautéed peppers and onion.
Top with a fried egg and whatever else you may want.
Devour and enjoy.
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Handing developers city's keys
Bronx: Mayor de Blasio’s affordable housing plans read as if they were written by the real estate lobby.
Two key questions need to be asked: How will the city pay for all the deals the mayor is promising the City Council in return for their votes? And what are the costs for promised new infrastructure, schools, transportation, etc.? There is no free lunch. Inevitably, the needed revenue will come from raising our property and water taxes, along with every other tax that we pay.
Remarkably, de Blasio has succeeded in uniting this city against him. Borough presidents and community boards across the five boroughs have overwhelmingly voted his plans down. Clearly, they studied the proposal’s 1,000 pages and understood the deleterious impacts caused by increased density resulting from luxury high-rise development — serious consequences for a questionable net gain of “affordable” units.
De Blasio is taking a shellacking because he took a top-down approach to his laudable goal of increasing affordable housing. Why not focus on using our scarce resources to preserve and rehabilitate thousands of existing affordable units that are in dire need? The city can meet its affordable housing goals without costly giveaways to developers, unnecessary zoning changes and permanently sacrificing the character of our unique communities. Laura Spalter, co-chair, Broadway Community Alliance
Kudos for Koo
Flushing: I would like to commend Councilman Peter Koo, who, in his official response to the proposed rezoning of Flushing West — a largely industrial area that would become mixed-use under Mayor de Blasio’s affordable housing plan — forcefully spoke out on the negative health impacts of airplane noise and pollution on residential communities, and called on the Department of City Planning to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to return to the noise abatement flight paths that were in widespread use prior to 2012. Flushing has been hit especially hard by harmful LaGuardia Airport flight patterns, approved by the FAA without proper environmental review and over the objections of local elected officials and residents. Subjecting thousands more residents to these hazardous routes would be a grave environmental injustice. Susan Carroll
But no raise, yet
Manhattan: I support the editorial about City Council raises (“More pay today? No way,” Dec. 7). It is outrageous especially when you consider the fact that many hold second jobs on top of their lucrative government salaries. Meanwhile, Social Security recipients did not get a cost-of-living increase. Whitney Devlin
Christian soldiers
Otego, N.Y.: Excellent Dec. 3 front page! (“God isn’t fixing this”). Keep this up because, unfortunately and inevitably, there will be more shootings. Might I also suggest the use of “Christian terrorist” for the likes of Robert Dear, Tim McVeigh and Eric Rudolph. Mark Dye
Hate vs. hate
Pelham, N.Y.: Linda Stasi is being unfairly criticized for being honest and clear about everyone’s responsibility to practice tolerance and understanding toward others (“Bloodbath born of bigots,” Dec. 6). She is absolutely correct that Nicholas Thalasinos and his wife demonstrated openly how much they hated and demeaned the whole Muslim population without distinction. It is valid for the FBI to evaluate how much the disdain Thalasinos may have expressed toward the shooter over the course of their time working together may have contributed to the shooter’s radicalization; that is not blaming the victim. Fran Gautieri Brown
Protect the people, Prez
Warrenville, S.C.: Our delusional President came before the American people spewing his misguided rhetoric on how he intends to protect us from terrorists. He wants the Muslim community to report threats coming from their own — something like what the brownshirts did for the Nazis. He blamed insufficient gun control and the need for more laws to protect us. What about bombs, bows and arrows, knives and rocks, Mr. President? You can take away all the guns you want, but it won’t stop the killing. It only removes from the people a source of protection. We are in a war. It’s time for the people to take up arms under the Second Amendment and protect themselves. Gregory J. Topliff
Fan mail
Weehawken, N.J.: The Daily News had the courage to come out for gun control and against the absurd ritual of NRA supporters always offering up their prayers and condolences. Fantastic and right on point. Joanne Hoersch
Not fooled by the puppies
Brooklyn: The cover of Monday’s Daily News is incredibly offensive (“Everything is awesome!”). The truth is that violent crime is on a decadeslong decline. I don’t remember seeing any headlines about that, though. Maybe waving the bloody shirt to mislead and scare people sells more papers. And all the ways that one could respond to the deaths of innocent people, dancing in their blood to score political points is a disgusting, low-class move. Jeremiah Weiner
Common hoods
Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Congratulations to the Daily News for being the first voice brave enough to state in public what all reasonable people already know: The National Rifle Association is a criminal terrorist organization that should be treated like ISIS or the Ku Klux Klan. What’s the next step? Maybe all the families who have lost relatives to gun violence in the United States should start a class-action suit against the NRA for aiding and abetting criminals. I can’t wait to see Wayne LaPierre behind bars! Kristof Haavik
DIY terrorism
Leonard, Mich.: You just don’t get it there in New York. Taking away guns will solve nothing. Guns can now be made with computer programs out of plastics, in your own home or sent to terrorists via pieces in small packages, delivered by UPS and USPS. There are also other ways of killing masses of people, like chemical weapons. Colleen Wrobleski
Brothers in arms
Brooklyn: Fun fact that everyone loves to play dumb about: Violent crime in America is by conservatives. Liberals don’t support violence (even in self-defense!), nor guns, nor stealing from others. Muslims are conservatives; that’s not even a secret. The right-wing terrorists and anti-abortion kooks are conservatives. Police and military are conservatives who kill with impunity. The Bloods and Crips are both conservative gangs, modeled on the military and police: You solve your problems using violence and there is strength in numbers. Love violence or not, just be honest about it. Conservatives should be brave enough to stand behind their convictions. They cheer violence and death in most situations, so should just commit to it all the time by their team. Nick Enzminger
What’s in a name
Brooklyn: If Mike Lupica really wants to take a stand against gun violence, then he’ll change the name of his Sunday column, “Shooting from the Lip,” to something that evokes less startling imagery. Joe Ferra
Help our heroes, now
Brooklyn: Ain’t this just peachy-keen! The so called right-to-life, superpatriotic Republican Congress is dragging its compassionless feet in regard to providing funds to the first responders who risked their lives on and after 9 /11. Now that these brave heroes and heroines have developed life-threatening diseases, these Republicans are reluctant to approve measures that would assure these poor souls treatments for their illnesses for the remainder of their lives. Shameful. Ralph J. Cuevas
Consider the coconut
Sarasota, Fla.: The Daily News got it all wrong in vilifying coconuts (“Cuckoo for Coconuts,” March 3). They are a wonderful, healthy choice. Yes, coconuts have saturated fat, but it is not metabolized by the liver as fat. Years ago, when coconut oil was demonized and its use stopped, and vegetable and other oils were substituted in the U.S., there was a surge of heart disease, unprecedented in our country. Presumably, this was foisted on the American diet by the soy and other industries. This article does a great disservice. Madeline Fenster
A river runs through them
Secaucus, N.J.: The Dec. 7 Daily News back page says that the Jets’ victory over the Giants gives them the “Big Apple crown.” It doesn’t; it gives them the Garden State crown. Charles V. Bremer
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There are still many unknowns, but a growing body of evidence suggests the unique blend of bacteria in each of our guts helps dictate our likelihood of becoming obese, glucose intolerant and diabetic, among other conditions.
It may also influence how our bodies respond to individual foods. A recent study, in which Eran Elinav and Eran Segel from the Weizmann Institute of Science monitored the blood-glucose levels of 800 participants directly after they consumed various foods, found that responses varied significantly among individual volunteers.
For some, blood-sugar levels jumped after eating the usual suspects like ice cream or chocolate. For others, the same outcome was induced by bananas or tomatoes. Counterintuitively many participants' glucose levels spiked after consuming brown rice, says Segel. "In the end, every person had surprising examples."
In his view, this is the problem with modern-day dieting: it's based on general recommendations that, on an individual basis, are often counterproductive. (Lowered blood-glucose levels are correlated with weight loss.) "We believe this may partially explain why diets in general are failing,” Segel says.
Related: Another Large-Scale Study Just Justified Your Coffee Habit
While participants' reactions to foods were influenced by a range of factors, including expected ones such as age and weight, they were also affected by the composition and diversity of their gut bacteria. In the future, Segel hopes to develop personalized diets for people by profiling their microbiomes via stool samples.
Isolating a bacteria that protects against weight gain
If our microbiomes influence how we respond to particular foods, it stands to reason they also influence our weight. Several studies suggest this, including research by Jeff Gordon that shows obesity can be transmitted through microbes transplants in mice."There are major differences in the diversity between fat and thin people but we only know a few of the key microbes," says Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and the author of The Diet Myth.
And so the search continues to identify individual bacteria strains that directly inhibit weight gain.
A new study, published today in Cell, offers some potential clues.
In the study, researchers from the University of Geneva exposed mice to cold temperatures (43 degrees Fahrenheit) for approximately four weeks to mimic the effect of exercise.
In response to the chilled conditions, the mice developed a higher percentage of heat-generating, calorie-burning beige fat.
As a result, despite eating more, initially they lost weight. But after about three weeks, the weight returned. Because their beige-fat percentages remained elevated, the question became: why?
When the researchers opened up the mice, they found their probable answer: The rodents' intestines had grown in both size and surface area and were therefore able to absorb more nutrients from a relatively stable food intake, explains study author Ozren Stojanovic. In other words, the larger and more absorptive intestines counteracted any weight loss that would have resulted from the higher percentage of beige fat.
Related: Those Calorie Counts on Fast-Food Menus? They Aren't Working.
For the mice -- who were burning more calories due to the frigid conditions -- this adaption was useful. For our ancestors, who lived in an environment where calories were precious, a large, efficient intestine would have also likely been a competitive advantage. Nowadays, in developed societies at least, the equation has changed. "It's not necessarily so nice because there is so much food around," says Stojanovic. While additional research is needed, he suspects obese individuals have larger intestines than their leaner peers.
Next, the researchers investigated why the mice developed larger intestines in colder conditions. And – surprise! – it had to do with bacteria.
First, it's important to note that both changes in the cold-induced mice were linked to shifts in their gut microbes. (When their bacteria were transplanted into the stomachs of mice raised in a germ free environment, the germ free mice produced more beige fat and developed larger intestines, too.)
One individual bacterium strain revealed itself to be of particular importance. When mice were exposed to cold temperatures, their levels of A. muciniphila significantly decreased as their intestines grew.
Fascinatingly, when the cold-induced mice were orally exposed to additional A. muciniphila they produced just as much beige fat, but their intestines did not grow as large. In other words, it appears the presence of A. muciniphila inhibited their intestines from absorbing as many calories. Because it did not prevent their production of beige fat, these mice lost weight.
This, says Stojanovic, could be an indication that the strain of bacterium helps negate weight gain by preventing the intestine from absorbing as many calories. It's important to note, of course, that (obviously) mice are not humans. We are far more complex, and a bacterium's impact on mice likely won't translate neatly, if at all.
Still Stojanovic believes if nothing else, his study suggests that bacteria have the power to influence weight. And in the future, we may be able to harness it to treat obesity and other weight-related conditions.
Related: Processed Meats Like Bacon, Hotdogs Linked to Cancer, World Health Organization Says
You think you know everything there is to know about dropping pounds, but a recent survey commissioned by healthcare services company Orlando Health proved there's one thing most of us are overlooking: our mental health. Blame this neglect for why an estimated 95 percent of diets seem to fail us.
In a national survey of more than 1,000 Americans, 31 percent of respondents said they believe lack of exercise is the biggest hurdle to achieving weight loss, followed by 26 percent who believe it's what food you eat and 17 percent who pointed to the financial expenses of a healthy lifestyle. Only one in 10 of the respondents mentioned psychological wellness as a barrier.
"When you talk to anyone about weight loss, they will tell you they don't exercise enough and that they eat poorly," Diane Robinson, a neuropsychologist and program director of Integrative Medicine at Orlando Health, told The Huffington Post. "But we also need to understand why we're eating."
"If we're aware of it or not, we are conditioned to use food not only for nourishment, but for comfort," Robinson said. "That's not a bad thing, necessarily, as long as we acknowledge it and deal with it appropriately."
After devouring a delicious meal, the brain releases dopamine, a chemical that's associated with pleasure. Your body is satisfied, and you feel good. But emotional attachment to food becomes problematic when people heavily rely on food for that feeling. As the Mayo Clinic puts it, "Sometimes the strongest food cravings hit when you're at your weakest point emotionally."
Understanding the emotional aspect of our food behaviors is key to maintaining holistic health. Previous studies, including one published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology in 2014, underscore the complex relationship between mood, food and overeating. Hunger and food intake are regulated by much more than our biology: Emotion plays a critical role in determining what and how much we eat.
This new survey points to the fact that there's work to be done on the inside in order to shrink the outside. At a time of year when so many of us resolve to improve ourselves, Robinson said smaller steps are key to real acheivement. As for weight loss, she said, "If you want to make a real resolution, resolve to get to know yourself better."
Robinson said she suspects we have such difficulty checking in with our emotions when dealing with food because as humans, it's difficult to look at ourselves through that lens. "It's hard for us to label emotions and realize it's the emotion that's driving a thought or behavior. We don't want to piece that together because it makes us uncomfortable," she said. So many of us overlook the mental health aspect of weight loss because while we prioritize our physical health -- you'd go to the doctor for a broken arm or virus -- our emotional well-being is much more abstract: How do you know if you're "sad enough" to see a therapist?.
While there's more research to be done on the relationship between mental health and weight loss, Robinson said there are things people trying to lose weight can do today to get the brain to work in tandem with other weight loss efforts. If you keep a food journal, for example, you might also log your moods and track unhealthy patterns. Before you grab a snack, check in with yourself: Are you eating because you're hungry, or for another reason? If your answer is the latter, you might consider looking deeper into the reasons behind motive. For some, working with a therapist may be the key to unlocking some of the emotional aspects behind food behavior.
That’s easier said than done, I know. That’s why I put together a list of top food beliefs that interfere, along with the strategies for overcoming each one.
RELATED: 12 Mental Tricks to Beat Cravings and Lose Weight
“Healthy foods are a chore to eat”
I agree that eating bland “diet” foods can be torture, but a healthy, balanced meal can easily be a feast for your senses.
In order to make clean eating a lifestyle rather than a diet, you have to find food you look forward to eating. This means finding foods and recipes that are healthy, but ones you’d enjoy even if they weren’t. Avocado, veggies roasted in olive oil, almond butter, dark chocolate, hummus, and juicy in-season fruits come to mind for me. It might take some experimenting for you to find yours, but it will be worth it once you do, trust me.
“I can’t get full from a healthy meal.”
Many people I counsel don’t actually know what a “healthy” amount of fullness feels like. Because of a tendency to overeat, a lot of people associate the feeling of being too full, or stuffed and sleepy with satisfaction, so meals that result in feeling “just right” seem lacking somehow.
To overcome this, you have to re-calibrate how you define satisfaction. After you eat, you should feel physically well afterwards, like you could go dancing, or for a long walk. At the same time re-classify your former notion of “satisfied” as excessive. This one shift can change what and how much you decide to eat, not due to rules or “shoulds,” but because of how you want to feel afterwards.
When “balanced” is your new “satisfied” you won’t want to overdo it.
RELATED: 57 Ways to Lose Weight Forever, According to Science
“Food makes me happy”
We are practically taught from birth to use food to feel better emotionally. We use food to bond, show affection, reward, celebrate, and comfort. Many advertisements play up this connection, and it’s completely socially acceptable to gift the people you care about with food, commiserate over it, or eat as entertainment. Food truly is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and that’s totally normal.
What isn’t normal, though, is using food as your primary mood booster. I’ve seen clients pay a lot of money for healthy meal delivery services only to eat extras, not because they were hungry, but because they needed a boost after having a rough day at work. You can’t break this pattern overnight, but you can systematically change it.
Start by focusing on the moments you’re tempted to reach for food when you’re not hungry. Zero in on your emotions, and test out different non-food ways of addressing your feelings, whether that’s reaching for the phone to call a loved one or hitting the gym.
RELATED: Best Superfoods for Weight Loss
You may find that a total re-haul of your habits isn’t required. One of my clients who loved her ritual of brunching with friends to blow off steam learned to enjoy the experience just as much over healthier, lighter fare when she realized that spending time with friends was really what made her happy, not the stacks of pancakes or extra sides of bacon.
“I don’t have enough time”
I hear this a lot, and I can relate. As much as I love to cook and develop recipes I often only have a few minutes to make a meal. On these days, I don’t think about cooking, I think about how I can “assemble” something healthy and filling by combining a few shortcut ingredients.
One of my go-tos is a quick lean protein (like canned tuna or ready to eat vacuum sealed lentils from the produce section) tossed with a little Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, and dried Italian herb seasoning, over a bed of greens topped with either sliced avocado or chopped nuts and a side of fresh fruit. Even a smoothie can stand in for a meal if you don’t have time to cook. Stocking your freezer and pantry with items that require little prep can prevent you from resorting to pizza.
RELATED: 17 Ways to Lose Weight When You Have No Time
“It’s too hard to be different”
One of the most challenging obstacles my clients face is feeling like healthy eating makes them an outsider, and it’s totally natural to feel this way. When everyone around you is eating whatever they want, as much as they want, it can feel isolating to be the only one with special requirements.
I’ve been in that boat many times, but what makes it OK is believing that what I’m getting out of the effort is more valuable than the comfort of going along with the crowd. The truth is the typical American diet just isn’t healthy. You don’t have to be the girl harping on that fact at the next get-together, but you can remind yourself in the moment that you are making choices that are right for you.
When you want to be healthy and feel well more than you want to be in “the norm” you won’t mind standing out from the crowd.
The world of weight loss products and advice will always have customers, and approaching weight loss efforts in 2016 is no different. As reported by Google, nearly 3 million searches per month are entered into the search engine giant surrounding some topics on weight loss. Brutally honest articles like “How to Lose Weight in Four Easy Steps,” as reported by Body Rock TV, are being shared more than 100,000 times across social media as Aaron Bleyaert detailed how he lost 80 pounds in a funny Tumblr post.
This Brutally Honest Guide To Losing Weight Has Gone Viral https://t.co/DxcTdSlJd3 #weightloss http://pic.twitter.com/MvQR5F5CaC
— BodyRock (@BodyRockTV) December 4, 2015
While that “brutally honest guide” to weight loss unveiled some practical tips to losing weight, such as cutting out beer and fruit juice because of the empty calories and pounds they can pack on — it also dealt with the mental aspects of weight loss and working out. However, as 2015 transitions into 2016, people are seeking all the newest and truest weight loss tips they can find in order to get lean for good. As such, the following are new trends for 2016 — and ones that work so well they are likely to last well into 2016 and beyond.
BCAA is being called a workout wonder, reports India Today, as it details why drinking Branched-Chain Amino Acids (or BCAA) is a good thing. BCAA is being called a wonder supplement due to the way it helps reduce muscle soreness and fatigue. It also purportedly helps with weight loss and muscle formation.
Other theories in the past are being debunked, such as the “carbo load” prior to a workout that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s character spoke of in the movie The Game Plan. Instead, getting lean can mean not carb loading pre-workout, reports the Huffington Post Canada, but saving some carbs for after the workout.
Body brushing with a natural brush and coconut oil to stimulate the lymphatic system can be a good part of a weight loss regimen. Coconut oil and dry body brushing, as reported by Forbes, can help get rid of dead skin cells and naturally moisturize the skin. Dry brushing has also been credited with reducing the appearance of cellulite, which is a common goal among those who want to lose weight.
Why I Hate Stock Photos 67574: This is what they run when talking about weight loss http://pic.twitter.com/T8ku42w7j1
— Darick Robertson (@DarickR) December 5, 2015
Another new buzzword in the world of weight loss is fat transporter supplements like Lean Out and other non-stimulant containing products. Unlike the fat burner supplement of the days of old that left consumers super shaky and over-stimulated, new supplements prove that safer science has caught up with the workout world approaching 2016.
Working out earlier in the day is another tip that can help weight loss candidates get their metabolism going earlier, just like eating earlier in the morning. Whereas some folks fill up social media with posts about fasted cardio — the practice of not eating prior to doing a strenuous cardio routine — other personal trainers believe in drinking more than coffee or eating nothing prior to hitting that treadmill, elliptical trainer, or the Power Mill rolling stairs. They theorize that if you wouldn’t drive to the health club without gas in your car, you shouldn’t start your day without eating early.
Getting protein in new and interesting ways is a trend that will likely keep swimming along well into 2016. Products like Muscle Egg feature liquid egg whites that come in a variety of flavors and are drinkable. Because the egg whites are pasteurized, the threat of Salmonella goes away. After all, not everyone feels like buying dozens of eggs and cracking and cooking them every morning — especially if they want to separate the yolks from the egg whites. Products like the drinkable egg whites mean they can be imbibed alone or placed in smoothies with protein powder, ice, and other substances.
Chicken sausage, salmon, and veggies all add to the typical type of diet of a person interested in weight loss and bodybuilding, along with “carb cycling,” which means a person generally eats a low amount of carbs on certain days, with higher amounts of carbs on other days in order to shock the body into not getting used to a routine. Online carb calculators tell folks how many carbs a person of their gender, weight, and age should normally have in one day, and they adjust their carbs as such. For example, if a woman should normally get between 188 to 321 grams of carbs per day — based on whether her goal is to lose weight, maintain her weight or to get muscular gains — she can vary that amount by carb cycling.
Perhaps three days out of the week she would make “low carb” days, eating 150 to 200 grams of carbs. Then she could launch into a “medium carb” day or two with about 250 carbs eaten on those days. The final two days, which could be the weekend, could represent her “high carb” days of 300 to 350 carbs or more. There’s no hard and fast rules to carb cycling, but exercise fiends like to adopt all these methods to see what their bodies prefer.
“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that carbohydrates make up 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories. So, if you get 2,000 calories a day, between 900 and 1,300 calories should be from carbohydrates. That translates to between 225 and 325 grams of carbohydrates a day.”
The old standbys, like strength training, high-intensity workouts — along with a variety of workouts — still exist. Drinking lots of water — for those whose doctors recommend it — and drinking natural diuretics like roasted dandelion root tea can also help with weight loss. And then there are always the additional tips gleaned by those who’ve lost weight. As seen in the above photo, weight loss experts like Josie Gibson launched the diet website “Slimmables” in 2015.
(Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
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Coconut Oil Shows Promise in the Prevention of C. albicans
In humans, high levels of C. albicans in the GI tract can lead to bloodstream infections, including invasive candidiasis. The research suggests that it might be possible to use dietary approaches as an alternative to antifungal drugs in order to decrease the risk for infections caused by C. albicans (mSphere 2015 Nov 18. doi: 10.1128/mSphere00020-15).
C. albicans is part of the normal gut flora and well regulated by the immune system. When the immune system is compromised, however, the fungus can spread beyond the GI tract and cause disease. Systemic infections caused by C. albicans can lead to invasive candidiasis, which is the fourth most common bacteremia among hospitalized patients in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infection is most common among immunocompromised patients, including premature infants and older adults. Roughly 40% to 50% of individuals who have systemic C. albicans die from the infection.
Antifungal drugs can be used to decrease and control C. albicans in the gut and prevent it from spreading to the bloodstream, but repeated use of antifungal drugs can lead to drug-resistant strains of fungal pathogens. To prevent infections caused by C. albicans, the amount of C. albicans in the GI tract needs to be reduced. Previous research has shown that changes in diet, including changes in the amount and type of fat, can alter GI microbiota. In vitro studies have shown that coconut oil, in particular, has antifungal properties.
The team was led by microbiologist Carol Kumamoto, PhD, professor of molecular biology and microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and member of the molecular microbiology and genetics program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and nutrition scientist Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts. They investigated the effects of three dietary fats on the amount of C. albicans in the mouse gut: coconut oil, beef tallow and soybean oil. A control group of mice were fed a standard diet. Coconut oil was selected based on previous studies that found the fat had antifungal properties in the laboratory setting.
A coconut oil–rich diet reduced C. albicans in the gut compared with that of beef tallow or soybean oil. Coconut oil alone, or the combination of coconut oil and beef tallow, reduced the amount of C. albicans in the gut by more than 90% compared with a diet rich in beef tallow.
In a new National Institutes of Health–funded study, Drs. Kumamoto and Lichtenstein designed high-fat diets containing coconut oil, beef tallow, soybean oil or a standard diet. Mice were fed these diets for 14 days before inoculation with C. albicans and 21 days after. At 21 days after inoculation, GI colonization with C. albicanswas significantly lower in the stomach contents of mice fed the coconut oil diet than mice fed the beef tallow diet (P<0.0001), soybean oil diet (P<0.0001) or the standard diet (P<0.0001). “When you compared a mouse on a high-fat diet that contained either beef fat or soy bean oil to mice eating coconut oil, there was about a 10-fold drop in colonization,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
In another experiment, the researchers switched mice on the beef tallow diet to the coconut oil diet. “Four days after the change in diet, the colonization changed so it looked almost exactly like what you saw in a mouse who had been on coconut oil the entire time,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
“Coconut oil even reduced fungal colonization when mice were switched from beef tallow to coconut oil, or when mice were fed both beef tallow and coconut oil at the same time. These findings suggest that adding coconut oil to a patient’s existing diet might control the growth of C. albicans in the gut, and possibly decrease the risk for fungal infections caused by C. albicans,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
“Food can be a powerful ally in reducing the risk of disease,” Dr. Lichtenstein said. “This study marks a first step in understanding how life-threatening yeast infections in susceptible individuals might be reduced through the short-term and targeted use of a specific type of fat. As exciting as these findings are, we have to keep in mind that the majority of adult Americans are at high risk for heart disease, the number one killer in the United States. The potential use of coconut oil in the short term to control the rate of fungal overgrowth should not be considered a prophylactic approach to preventing fungal infections.”
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Fans of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo know that Mama June Shannon hasn't always been known for her healthy lifestyle choices.
EXCLUSIVE: Mama June Reveals Her Daughters Caught Sugar Bear Cheating!
But that has changed — and prompted the 35-year-old grandma’s impressive weight loss from a size 28 to a size 16!
The reality star exclusively revealed the secrets of her slim-down to In Touch Weekly.
Mama June in March 2013 (left) and November 2015 (right). (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
“Honestly, when I first started losing weight, it was just being more active, being busy with the show and doing more things with Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” she said.
“I met with this trainer [Natasha Fett] through my manager… Even though she’s 3,000 miles away, she’s still very supportive through everything. I’m just walking through the neighborhood three miles a day, and just keeping up with that and just keeping up with the kids and just kind of being on the go all the time.”
RELATED: See What the Entire ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ Cast Looks Like Today!
And clearly all the hard work has seriously paid off.
She gushed to In Touch, “I went from like a [size] 28 to a 16 — and these pants are a little too big!”
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"That's not surprising," said Dr. Diane Robinson, a neuropsychologist and program director of integrative medicine at Orlando Health, in a statement. "Most people focus almost entirely on the physical aspects of weight loss, like diet and exercise. But there is an emotional component to food that the vast majority of people simply overlook and it can quickly sabotage their efforts."
Robinson and his colleagues from Orlando Health oversaw a national survey of more than 1,000 people that gauged emotional issues, like stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as body mass index (BMI). Results showed that 31 percent of respondents were under the impression a lack of exercise is the biggest carrier for weight loss. Furthermore, 26 percent said it’s what you eat, 17 percent said it was the cost of a healthy lifestyle, and 12 percent said it was the necessary time commitment. In fact, only one in 10 felt psychological wellbeing played a major role in weight loss.
"If we're aware of it or not, we are conditioned to use food not only for nourishment, but for comfort," Robinson explained. "That's not a bad thing necessarily, as long as we acknowledge it and deal with it appropriately. We feel good whenever that process is activated, but when we start to put food into that equation and it becomes our reward, it can have negative consequences."
This emotional connection to food is nothing new for adults. It starts at a very young age. Just think about how many holidays fetishize food. Candy at Halloween. Chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Turkey, stuffing, and every food imaginable on Thanksgiving. Let’s not even get into how many parents reward their child for being good with a snack.
A similar study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that emotional eating not only affected stressed-out adults, but also children in a stressful environment. Among 41 children between the ages of 5 and 7 who were asked to color a picture with the promise of receiving a toy prize. Only one group was handed enough crayons to finish the picture while the other group was left stressed out over the inability to complete it. Stressed-out children consumed well over half the amount of calories as stress-free kids.
"When we're focused on the physical aspects of weight loss, many of us have no problem joining a gym or hiring a trainer," Robinson said. "How about joining a support group or hiring a psychologist? If getting your body in shape hasn't work out yet, maybe this time start with your mind."
Not wanting to point out actual problems without potential solutions, Robinson and her team recommend taking the emotion out of eating by seeing food only as nourishment and not as a reward or coping mechanism. They also recommend a daily diary that logs food consumption and mood to help examine unhealthy eating habits. Before eating anything, ask yourself if you're eating because you’re hungry or because you’re bored. Finally, understand which food makes you feel good, and determine if it’s because of a certain memory or stress.
Source: Food and Emotions: 90 percent overlook key to weight loss, survey finds: Expert says diets fail because people don't address the emotional aspects of food. Orlando Health. 2015.
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More than half (55%) of nondiabetic study participants who lost at least 5% of their total body weight after 4 months on liraglutide (early responders) had a 10% or more weight loss after 56 weeks on the drug, compared to fewer than one in 10 (8%) patients who did achieve this early weight loss.
Early responders, with and without type 2 diabetes, achieved a mean weight loss at week 56 of 9.3% and 11.5%, respectively, according to researcher John Wilding, FRCP, of the University of Liverpool, U.K., and colleagues.
Wilding presented findings from the post hoc analysis of the SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes and Diabetes trials Dec. 2 at the International Diabetes Federation World Diabetes Congress in Vancouver, Canada.
FDA Approved Liraglutide Last December
A glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, liraglutide 3 mg, was approved by FDA for weight loss last December. The once-a-day injectable drug is also approved at a lower dose (1.2 or 1.8 mg/day) as Victoza for lowering blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes.
With a treatment cost of around $1,000 a month, liraglutide 3 mg is among the most expensive of the new crop of weight-loss drugs now available in the U.S.
In a telephone interview with MedPage Today, Wilding said the analysis gives clinicians prescribing the drug a metric for determining if their patients should stay on it or not.
"Patients who don't achieve at least 5% weight loss after 16 weeks are not likely to do well on this drug," he said. "If a patient loses 5% or more of their total weight during this early period it might be worth the investment."
Canadian Diabetes Association chief science officer Jan Hux, MD, said the analysis provides important information for both clinicians and patients. Hux commented on the study findings for MedPage Today.
"Defining a stopping point beyond which we can say that taking this drug isn't worth it is important in terms of efficient use of health care resources and efficient investment of patient optimism," she said. "Patients who struggle with their weight really do struggle and they are looking for reasons to be optimistic."
Weight Loss Continued for Most Early Responders
The analysis included a total of 2,910 patients randomized to liraglutide 3.0 mg/day along with diet and exercise, including 2,487 who did not have type 2 diabetes. The mean baseline BMI was 38 kg/m2 and 37 kg/m2 for nondiabetics and diabetics, respectively. In all, 2,152 participants without diabetes and 365 with diabetes completed 16 weeks of treatment.
A total of 68% of patients without diabetes who remained on the drug were early responders, with a mean weight loss of 11.5% at 56 weeks.
The analysis revealed that:
- Most early responders (88%) had lost at least 5% of their total body weight at 1 year, and around a quarter (24%) lost more than 15% of their total body weight.
- Among nonresponders without diabetes who failed to lose 5% of their body weight after 16 weeks on the drug, 37% reached this goal by 56 weeks, but just 8% and 2%, respectively lost more than 10% and 15% of their total body weight.
- Half of patients with diabetes who completed 16 weeks on the drug were early responders, and these patients had a mean weight loss at 56 weeks of 9.3%. Four out of 5 diabetic early responders had lost at least 5% of their total body weight at 56 weeks and 12% lost more than 15%.
- Early nonresponders with diabetes had a mean weight loss at 56 weeks of just 3.6%, and just 1% lost more than 15% of their total body weight.
Wilding reported receiving consulting fees from Novo Nordisk.
Except, there’s another oil that’s even more potent, and wellness bloggers are just starting to clue onto it: Algae oil. I know, it sounds hideous—but despite the unfortunate fishy connotations, this stuff is actually completely brilliant. Trust me, I tried it.
Like its name suggests, the buzzy product is made from algae, which naturally produces oil. One major producer, Thrive, actually grows the algae in fermentation tanks, then presses the plant to make oil that sells for around $12 for a large bottle. Thanks to the hype surrounding sea plants (hello, Nori seaweed), algae oil’s starting to gain steam on the health circuit.
Before I sell you on the taste (and other cooking benefits), the biggest talking point about algae oil is its impressive healthy attributes. Like coconut oil, the algae version is packed with good fats and skimps on bad (saturated) fats—more so than any other cooking oil on the market, in fact.
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Today, devotees add coconut oil to coffee, dab it on acne and, following Gwyneth Paltrow's example, swirl it around in their mouths to fight tooth decay. Starbucks has launched a coconut-milk latte. And the coconut-water business has surged to $400 million, with a little help from Madonna and Rihanna.
No one would be more delighted at the coconut's rising star than August Engelhardt, a sun-worshipping German nudist and history's most radical cocovore.
From 1902 to 1919, Engelhardt lived on a beautiful South Pacific island, eating nothing but the fruit of Cocos nucifera, which he believed was the panacea for all mankind's woes. Except that a coconut mono-diet proved to be a terrible idea. At the end of his life, der Kokovore was reduced to a mentally ill, rheumatic, severely malnourished sack of bones with ulcers on his legs. He was only 44.
Engelhardt was resurrected from near-oblivion by Swiss writer Christian Kracht's marvelous 2012 novel, Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas, which fictionalizes the German cocovore's bizarre and poignant story. The English translation by Daniel Bowles was published this year in the U.S. to fine reviews.
Kracht's interest in Engelhardt was sparked by a chance encounter. One day at a yard sale in Murnau, Germany, he came across a sepia-tinted postcard of a scrawny, bearded man in a checked loincloth standing under a palm tree.
"He looked like a proto-hippie, and very modern," Kracht told The Salt. "I really wanted to get to know this person. But there was nothing known about him at the time — no Wikipedia page (there is one now) or anything at all. The only thing I could find was a thesis by a student at the University of Auckland. So I went and met him in New Zealand, but somehow it wasn't enough."
The novelist in Kracht was itching "to embroider Engelhardt's life story," especially "since coconuts are intrinsically funny." Imperium, a stylish satire, invents meetings with Thomas Mann and Kafka, and ends with a leprosy-afflicted Engelhardt eating his own thumb.
But even without a stich of embroidery, Engelhardt's story beggars belief.
Born in Nuremberg in 1875, August Engelhardt was among the disaffected youngsters drawn to the back-to-nature Lebensreform (Life Reform) movement sweeping through Germany and Switzerland at the time. Its proponents yearned after an unspoiled Eden where people ate vegetables and raw food.
Engelhardt was especially taken by Gustav Schlickeysen's 1877 dietary treatise, Fruit and Bread: A Scientific Diet. Influenced by Darwinism, the book claimed that since the natural food of apes was uncooked food and grain, that was also "the proper food for man."
Engelhardt took it even further: For him, even bread and fruit were tainted. In his mind, the only immaculate and mystical fleshpot was the coconut, with its snowy white meat and translucent water.
In 1898, he and fellow vegetarian August Bethmann laid out their vision in a pamphlet called A Carefree Future: The New Gospel.
As the pamphlet's grandiose subtitle makes plain, Engelhardt's ambitions of a Coconut Camelot, with himself as a nude King Arthur, were driven by much more than dietary compulsions: His was a spiritual quest.
"He believed that since the coconut grew high up in the tree, closest to God and closest to the sun, it was godlike," says Kracht. "And since it had hair and looked like a human head, he thought it came closest to being a man. According to his rather crackpot theory, to be a cocovore was to be a theophage – or eater of God."
But being the custodian of these paradisiacal ideas in stuffy steak-and-sausage Germany was no fun. "He chafed against the constraints of Wilhelminian Germany, which was very Victorian," says Kracht. "One can imagine what a misfit a nudist-vegetarian with a very, very long beard would be in this repressive society. He was ridiculed and wanted to get away."
The short-lived cult revolved around two orbs: the coconut and the sun. Soon, Engelhardt's co-author, Bethmann, joined him, and together they wrote up passionate advertorials that were printed in Germany. Have no fear of malaria, they assured their readers: The coconut is more effective than quinine.
At least 15 young Germans, seduced by the fantasy of a tropical idyll where you didn't have to shave, went out to join them. Among them was a Berlin concert pianist, Max Lützow, seen in the picture at Engelhardt's feet.
It ended calamitously. Several cultists — including Bethmann and Lützow — died, while others returned to Germany malarial and furious. Eventually, the local German governor banned any more adventurers from joining.
Left alone, Engelhardt was unfazed. "The coconut is the Philosopher's Stone," he said. "What are universities in comparison to such a lifestyle?" In 1905, The New York Times carried a story on him titled, "Failure of a Womanless Eden in the Pacific—A Strange Story from the South Seas."
Kracht's title Imperium has an ironic double meaning: the absolute power of the coconut in Engelhardt's philosophy, and the imperialism of Germany. Even a dreamer like Engelhardt must have known that his peculiar lifestyle was enabled only by German colonialism. The privileged status he enjoyed on Kabakon was akin to that enjoyed by the ivory trader Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's great critique of colonialism, Heart of Darkness.
"Engelhardt was ultimately a White colonizer, so the local people were made to accept that and not question his authority," says Kracht. "He couldn't simply be naked in Germany, he would be arrested."
But unlike the ruthless and abusive Kurtz, Engelhardt, whom Kracht calls "a thwarted artist," comes across as a pitiable, even likeable, eccentric.
There is, however, an uneasy resonance between the purity-and-utopia obsessed cocovore and another German, whose insanity, says a sardonic Kracht, "was not in a nutshell but on a larger level." The novel makes the Hitler allegory explicit, stating that if "parallels arise with a later German romantic and vegetarian who perhaps ought to have remained at his easel, then this is entirely intentional."
It's easy to laugh at Engelhardt — and yet, his fixation on eating a dangerously narrow "pure" and healthy diet has echoes in modern times.
At the end, Engelhard weighed just 66 pounds and became a freak show for tourists. Imprisoned by Australian soldiers during World War I, he returned to Kabakon after his release and was reportedly found dead on the beach in 1919, though Kracht says no one knows for sure when or where he died.
When Kracht visited Kabakon for his research in 2010, he found no trace of imperial Germany. "No Lutheran churches, nothing. The Japanese blew everything up in the Second World War," he says.
What survive are the sun, the coconuts, the mosquitoes, and the legend of Le Morte D'August – a cautionary tale on the perils of food fanaticism.
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