Does coconut oil actually block 5-ar? Am concerned, what is the verdict on this? Would applying topically lower my DHT? (Really dont want to lower my DHT))

What is the verdict on this? Anyone in the know? I know studies have been done on free form lauric acid and such, but does this mimic what is actually going on in coconut oil?

This is the study I was talking about:
Effects of coconut oil on testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia in Sprague-Dawley rats.
de Lourdes Arruzazabala M, et al. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2007.
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Abstract
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the benign uncontrolled growth of the prostate gland, leading to difficulty with urination. Saw palmetto lipid extracts (SPLE), used to treat BPH, have been shown to inhibit prostate 5a-reductase, and some major components, such as lauric, myristic and oleic acids also inhibit this enzyme. Coconut oil (CO) is also rich in fatty acids, mainly lauric and myristic acids. We investigated whether CO prevents testosterone-induced prostate hyperplasia (PH) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were distributed into seven groups (10 rats each). A negative control group were injected with soya oil; six groups were injected with testosterone (3 mg kg(-1)) to induce PH: a positive control group, and five groups treated orally with SPLE (400 mg kg(-1)), CO or sunflower oil (SO) (400 and 800 mg kg(-1)). Treatments were given for 14 days. Rats were weighed before treatment and weekly thereafter. Rats were then killed and the prostates were removed and weighed. CO (400 and 800 mg kg(-1)), SPLE (400 mg kg(-1)) and SO at 800 mg kg(-1), but not at 400 mg kg(-1), significantly reduced the increase in prostate weight (PW) and PW:body weight (BW) ratio induced by testosterone (% inhibition 61.5%, 82.0%, 43.8% and 28.2%, respectively). Since CO and SPLE, but not SO, contain appreciable concentrations of lauric and myristic acids, these results could be attributed to this fact. In conclusion, this study shows that CO reduced the increase of both PW and PW:BW ratio, markers of testosterone-induced PH in rats.

Thoughts?

Tough to tell man, but I'd doubt it is something to worry about.

First of all, if we take the doses being used on these rats and translate them to relevant human doses, that would require ingesting between 4-5 tbsp of coconut oil daily. That's quite a bit of coconut oil. That puts you at around 50 g of saturated fat daily from the oil alone, which is more than most people are consuming period (especially given that you're getting SFA from other parts of the diet). But perhaps somebody is on a high fat diet.

I wasn't able to find data on the specific inhibitory potency for lauric or myrisitic acids on 5-ar. That would be pretty important data to know. Knowing that the consumption of the oil reduced prostate size is not enough.

But here is the thing, saturated FAs aren't the only ones that inhibit 5-ar. So do many unsaturated ones, including oleic acid found in olive oil. So does GLA - most potent UFA actually. But so do arachidonic acid, linolenic and alpha-linolenic acids, which are common parts of the human diet. Many fats in the diet are shown to have anti 5-ar activity, and many, many plant sterols found in the diet do too. This just bogs the whole picture down because the fats in the diet seem to have a complex control over steroid hormone conversion. And if we get too worried, we're going to start cutting out lots of valuable things from the diet.

One other thing to consider, you're applying topically. Systemic absorption will be less than when consumed orally so there's that.

Overall this is getting into minutia that will probably only serve to make you overthink things. Applied topically and consumed within reason in the diet, its probably not going to have a huge impact on your overall hormone levels. Maybe if you are consuming a great deal of it. So to answer your question, yes the main saturated fatty acids in coconut oil have shown anti-5ar and coconut oil contains by mass between 48-52% of lauric and around 19% myrisitic for the total saturated fat content. But unless you are getting large amounts, I wouldn't worry. And plenty of the foods you are eating contain fatty acids that have been shown to augment 5-ar activity. PUFA in general really.

Thanks for your feedback gates.

Yeah, I just read another account from guy that said he was using a lot of coconut oil daily for around a year. He couldn't figure out what the problem was with his libido until he read up on coconut oil.

So I guess you would have to consume a lot, but since I am very sensitive to 5 ar blockers it got me concerned.

To calm my mind , maybe I could tell myself that nature didn't intend us to eat that much coconut oil, and if consumed within balance it should be ok.

My question was in reference to 1 tsp topically applied for 20 minutes/day and washed off..

Does that sound like a reasonable thought process?

I'm one of the few crazy guys who was consuming 3-5 tbsp of coconut oil daily, and no, my DHT was not lowered that I could tell. When I got on finasteride, that was when my libido spiked super high, because DHT was obviously being lowered and my testosterone was rising to make up for it. If coconut oil lowered my DHT levels, I would have noticed the increase in libido.

Hmm wondering why in those other accounts I read the guys were experiencing low libido...

A lot of men do experience low libido from lowering DHT. We all have different reactions, and the way I know something is lowering my DHT, is I turn into a horny teenager. So, now that you know that you have the opposite reaction(low libido) you're right in avoiding DHT reduction. And, in my case I don't think my reaction is exactly healthy either. Fortunately it's not constant. If I lose sleep, or nutrition falls off, or I forget to supp with zinc, my libido falls off and takes a bit to reach high levels again.

But to get back on topic, I think you're safe with coconut oil, and the only way to know is try. Start slowly, build up. If you want to do topical, do it 2-3 times a week, then every other day, then every day, and see what happens.

I guess my problem is I can never figure out if my libido is actually being effected or if Im psyching myself out, causing a placebo effect.. Unless it's really extreme like saw palmetto and propecia..

Any advice on how to differentiate? Would be very welcomed.

If it's not very severe, it's probably psychological. The mind is especially powerful when it comes to libido. I don't know if you're active at all, but if you're having difficulties in that department with your girl, and never used to, you may want to head back to the drawing board. If however you're just not feeling up to fapping as often, it's probably because you're dwelling on the possibility of not having as high of libido. I don't know about you but if I'm trying to set the mood, thinking about the possibility my libido is gone is not much of a turn-on

SOnofOdin,

How long were you able to sustain the 3-5tbs of Coconut Oil?

What were the results if any? (hair/health)

About 4-5 months. I used high quality extra virgin. I believe my complexion looked better back then, so it must have been doing something for the skin. As far as hair goes I hesitate to say good or bad because while it did not stop my recession clearly, I did feel my hair was looking thicker, but at the time I attributed it to the liver powder I was taking, so who knows. I don't recommend doing this though. Towards the end of these months I started disliking the taste of coconut oil, and because I'm prone to food sensitivities, I backed off because I don't want to lose this as a cooking ingredient.

SonofOdin wrote:About 4-5 months. I used high quality extra virgin. I believe my complexion looked better back then, so it must have been doing something for the skin. As far as hair goes I hesitate to say good or bad because while it did not stop my recession clearly, I did feel my hair was looking thicker, but at the time I attributed it to the liver powder I was taking, so who knows. I don't recommend doing this though. Towards the end of these months I started disliking the taste of coconut oil, and because I'm prone to food sensitivities, I backed off because I don't want to lose this as a cooking ingredient.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have been consuming at least 3 tbsp of coconut oil for 6 months now. No difference in my hair. My libido is better now than it was before I started taking it although I also started working out again. I cook my eggs in it every morning and put at least 1+ tbsp in my 1 cup of coffee every morning.