Can Crohns Disease Patients Find Relief by Eating Coconut Cookies?
If you saw a newspaper headline which stated “Crohn’s Disease Patients Find Relief by Eating Cookies” you may think the editor was a little “kooky”. Dr. L.A. Cohen of the Naylor Dana Institute for Disease Prevention in Valhalla, New York wouldn’t think so, not if the cookies were made with coconut. Dr. Cohen notes the ease with which medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) in coconut oil are digested and absorbed and says they “have found use in the clinic as a means to provide high energy lipid to patients with disorders of lipid digestion (pancreatitis) lipid absorption (Crohn’s disease), and lipid transport (chylomicron deficiency).” Eating coconut cookies has made an impact on Gerald Brinkley, a Crohn’s disease sufferer for 30 years. “When I read that eating coconut macaroons could ease symptoms,” Brinkley says, “I decided to try them myself. Coincidence or not, my symptoms have improved since I began eating two cookies a day.
