Coconut Oil-Candida Research

There is good research now that shows the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil kill candida yeast. Caprylic acid is one of the fatty acids found in coconut oil that has been used for quite some time in fighting candida yeast infections. William Crook, M.D., the author of The Yeast Connection and the questionnaire above, reports that many physicians have used caprylic acid successfully for yeast infections and that it works especially well for those patients who have adverse reactions to antifungal drugs.

Besides caprylic acid, two other medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil have been found to kill Candida albicans. A study done at the University of Iceland showed "capric acid, a 10-carbon saturated fatty acid, causes the fastest and most effective killing of all three strains of Candida albicans tested, leaving the cytoplasm disorganized and shrunken because of a disrupted or disintegrated plasma membrane. Lauric acid, a 12-carbon saturated fatty acid, was the most active at lower concentrations and after a longer incubation time."2 This study shows great promise that all the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil work together to kill Candida albicans.

Another study was done in Nigeria in 2007, in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Parasitology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The purpose of the study: "The emergence of antimicrobial resistance, coupled with the availability of fewer antifungal agents with fungicidal actions, prompted this present study to characterize Candida species in our environment and determine the effectiveness of virgin coconut oil as an antifungal agent on these species." Their conclusion: "It is noteworthy that coconut oil was active against species of Candida at 100% concentration compared to fluconazole. Coconut oil should be used in the treatment of fungal infections in view of emerging drug-resistant Candida species."3 A study done in 2010 at Ghent University in Belgium also found that the medium fatty acids in coconut oil killed the yeast Candida bombicola.