Coconut milk is often a staple fat source for those following a Paleo diet. From a nutritional perspective, it’s an excellent choice. It’s high in saturated fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which are both easily burned as fuel by the body. MCTs are particularly beneficial in that they don’t require bile acids for digestion, and they’re directly shunted to the liver via the portal vein.
Coconut milk and fruit can be a great snack for Paleo folks, and coconut milk smoothies make a great Paleo breakfast choice – especially in the summer.
So what could be wrong with coconut milk? Here are three things to consider.
Bisphenol-A
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical that has been used in consumer goods since the 50s. It’s found in reusable drink containers, DVDs, cell phones, eyeglass lenses, automobile parts and sports equipment. While the research on BPA is still mixed (some studies indicating harm and others not), given the uncertainty I think it makes sense to avoid it whenever possible.
So what’s the solution here? In short, if you want to be on the safe side and reduce your exposure to BPA, you have to reduce your consumption of canned foods (including coconut milk) as much as possible. I made this recommendation in 9 Steps for Perfect Health-#3: Eat Real Food. A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that families who ate fresh food for three days with no canned food, and using only glass storage containers, experienced a 60% reduction of BPA in their urine. The reductions were even higher (75%) for those with the highest BPA levels at the beginning of the study.
The good news, however, is that there are brands of coconut milk with BPA-free cans or carton packaging. One is Native Forest, which you can purchase on Amazon if it’s not available at your local store.
Coconut milk can also be made quite easily at home, with coconut flakes, a blender and cheesecloth. Here’s a video to show you how (get a load of the soundtrack). I find that blanching the coconut flakes prior to blending improves the results.
Guar gum
It’s primarily the endosperm of guar beans.
Beans and legumes have a variety of compounds in them that make them difficult to digest, especially for people with digestive problems (1 in 3 Americans, from the latest statistics). In my clinical experience, many patients with gut issues improve when they remove guar gum from their diet—including canned coconut milk.
There’s no evidence that guar gum may cause serious harm. So, if you’re able to tolerate guar gum, there’s no reason to avoid it. If it does give you digestive trouble, look for a brand that’s free from guar gum. The other option, of course, is making coconut milk at home.
Fructose malabsorption
Fructose malabsorption (FM) is a digestive disorder characterized by impaired transport of fructose across the small intestine. This results in increased levels of undigested fructose in the gut, which in turn causes overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. Undigested fructose also reduces the absorption of water into the intestine.
Symptoms produced include bloating, gas, pain, constipation or diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue (to name a few). Recent research has also tied fructose malabsorption to depression.
Lest you think this isn’t a common problem, studies have shown that up to 30% of people in Western countries suffer from fructose malabsorption.
Even in healthy people without fructose malabsorption, however, only about 20-25g of fructose can be properly absorbed at one sitting. Glucose assists in transport of fructose across the intestine, so in general foods with equal amounts of glucose and fructose will be better absorbed than foods with excess amounts of fructose (in relation to glucose).
While fructose malabsorption can cause symptoms in anyone, those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are particularly affected. While the prevalence of FM is the same in healthy populations and those with IBS & IBD, the experience of FM appears to be more intense in the latter group. This is probably due to the increased visceral sensitivity common in IBS and IBD patients.
In fact, one of the most promising clinical approaches to managing IBS & IBD right now is the low-FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides And Polyols. These include:
- fructose (fruits, honey, HFCS)
- fructans (wheat, onions)
- lactose (milk sugar)
- polyols (sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol & mannitol, along with fruits like apples, pears and plums)
- galactooligosaccharides (legumes & beans, brussel sprouts, onions)
- other sweeteners like polydextrose and isomalt
Studies have found that restricting FODMAPs can significantly improve the symptoms associated with IBS, IBD and fructose malabsorption.
What does this have to do with coconut milk, you ask? According to Drs. Gibson & Barrett, experts in fructose malabsorption, coconut milk is a FODMAP and should be avoided by people with digestive conditions like IBS & IBD.
According to NutritionData.com, coconut milk has very little sugar of any kind – including fructose. Nevertheless, I do have patients that cannot even tolerate homemade coconut milk (which has no guar gum in it), even though they are fine with coconut oil. I assume that they are reacting to the fructose in the coconut milk – but I can’t be sure. According to Monash University, small quantities (up to 1/3 of a cup or 80g) of coconut milk may be tolerable for those who are sensitive to FODMAPs.
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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
Want organic coconut milk – but without the BPA and guar gum?
There are available options to buy organic, guar-gum-free coconut milk in a BPA-free container. Or, with a little extra effort, you can easily make this at home yourself.
- Purchase coconut cream (Let’s Do Organic and Artisana are good choices) and blend with water to make coconut milk.
- Purchase shredded coconut (again, Let’s Do Organic is a good choice), and follow the instructions below for making homemade coconut milk.
Homemade coconut milk instructions
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1.5 – 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Heat water until hot (but not boiling).
- Add shredded coconut and water to blender (preferably a Vitamix!) If all of the water won’t fit, you can add it in two batches.
- Blend on high for several minutes until thick and creamy.
- Pour through a colander to filter out the coconut pulp, then squeeze through a cheese cloth or nut milk bag to filter the smaller pieces of coconut.
- If you separated the water into two batches, put the strained coconut back into the blender with the second batch of water.
- Drink immediately or store in the fridge. Fresh coconut milk should be used within 3-4 days of making it for the best flavor and texture.
) If all of the water won’t fit, you can add it in two batches.
to filter the smaller pieces of coconut.
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I tried the Coconut Milk from Whole Foods(Thai Product, Organic); tasted OK, added to my Lamb gravy for pretty color and taste. But 30 minutes after Lunch the burping started, continued non-stop for 6 hours. What caused it, I am not sure! I have had Coconut Milk before in Thai dishes, do not recall the ballistic burps happening before. May be it is the Guar gum, not sure. Not buying that product again, will try Coconut Milk again, if I can find it without additives and in carton.
I found this article not fascinating but very helpful. I just read an article in “Eating Well” about the harmful BPA’s in microwaveable food containers, i.e. frozen meals, and was appalled. I had no idea that this was harmful to us or that it affected our hormones. Consumers today need to know what we are being served – right down to the last microbe. If it’s something that goes into our system and we’re paying for it (literally) we have a right to know as much as possible. Thanks for the highly informative article….
I recently had SO DELICIOUS Coconut Milk in a carton. That was my very first time drinking coconut milk out of a carton but later that evening I got a really bad cramping stomach pain and diarrhea. I have never had a problem with the canned coconut milk (the ones you find in the Asian section of the grocery store) when i use it for cooking. Could there be another ingredient in the coconut milk in the CARTON that is affecting me? I LOVE Coconut milk and would like to find one that I can tolerate. I also cook with Coconut OIL and seem to have no problem. That would be a bummer if COCONUT in general is causing the problem. I have never really suffered from IBS so not sure what is going on. I’ve been doing Paleo for 30 days now.
These comments or I should these critical, rude comments are exactly why I don’t like joining blogs. I grew up believing that people should be able to speak and if you disagree you state your position without deliberately insulting the speaker or presenter. I disagree and am very opinionated but I do try not to be rude and nit pick the author’s writing style or his presentation. God forbid, it could be my own inability to comprehend the article and not the writer’s presentation. It seems as people forget or don’t care about being polite.
I’ve gotten some very good information from Chris Kresser’s site. I appreciate that. If I ever disagree, I hope to state it in a way that’s not inflammatory or rude. But then, I’m a pretty happy person who believes in ‘live and let live’, ‘treat others the way you want to be treated’, ‘apologize when you should’, etc. So this criticism going on and on is unpleasant to me.
I agree
I for one am grateful for this article. Having been diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption Disorder a couple of weeks ago (following hydrogen testing). Coconut Milk is officially on the “eat safely” list provided by the dietitian when commencing my elimination diet. I was frustrated when experiencing symptoms immediately on consumption of homemade icecream (from coconut cream & lactose free milk). Today I was pregnant looking by the time I consumed a bowl of soup made with safe foods and coconut milk. This article has confirmed my suspician – as a FructMal coconut milk is not good for me; exactly why is irrelevant, as it clearly cannot remain on my personal “safe” list Thank you.
I enjoyed this article as it is timely after I noticed a steady increase in weight after adding canned CM. Recently, I used 1.5 cans of Thai Kitchen brand CM over two days. While I noticed a slight increase in the past when I made a delicious curry chicken dish, I thought maybe I used too much salt—maybe not! So, after omitting the CM for the last two days, I am down 1.8#. Does this mean I give up on CM? No, but I will seek CM without guar gum. If nothing else, then I will make it myself from some of the threads found here. Thank you so much, Mr. Kresser!
Here’s the answer to all the BPA and Gum problems: http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Organic-Creamed-Coconut/dp/B00113ZZ5U/ref=cm_rdp_product
Ingredients: Organic Coconut
http://www.edwardandsons.com/popinfo.php?id=181
Nice job on the article as always….
You state: “Nevertheless, I do have patients that cannot even tolerate homemade coconut milk (which has no guar gum in it), even though they are fine with coconut oil. I assume that they are reacting to the fructose in the coconut milk – but I can’t be sure.”
It can be the fructose, but I doubt it. There are a plethora of other antigens that can be causing an improper immune response or a loss of oral tolerance to the coconut. Anything can be an antigen causing a loss of oral tolerance. Coconut can cause Type III and maybe Type IV reactions, no common for Type I and not related to a tree nut. But also it can be a non-immunological cause in that say the fat is just difficult for some people to digest especially the meat and creams.
George
hey chris!
i really appreciated the article, and thanks to it, i’ll now try to source the organic BPA-free coconut cream to blend with water. don’t know why there are so many negative comments at the beginning of this thread. anyways–i have a kind of rookie question here, it sounds a little silly, but if coconut milk has barely any sugar, how is it so sweet? i’ve always assumed there must be some sugar component to it, as i could just eat it with a spoon for dessert!
would love to hear back from you! thanks again.
One cup of coconut milk has about 8g of sugar, which is enough to give it a sweet taste.
Wow this is turning into a very interesting debate. I encourage all to continue to actively participate.
I am a chef and primarily a home cook focused on back to basics. I say why rely on anything commercial?
I had digestive issues for a few years much of it I was blaming it on yeast. That was a red herring. Then I blamed it on a lack of a particular enzime, I am not sure yet, may be another red herring. One thing I am sure of is that buying my coconuts at my local grocer for a couple of bucks, shell it to get the nut material, shred it with my hand grater, add hot water and strain it and voila!. Delicious and has addressed my issues. Very easy, cheap, and even fun. I don’t discard the leftover shreded coconut, I make cookies!! BONUS!! 🙂
Hi. I’ve been making almond milk yogurt and now coconut milk yogurt thanks to my new vitamix. Someone cautioned about the bacteria Burkholderia cocovenenans. Does this occur on dried coconut to ? should I boil to 180 ?
Thanks !
I realize this is an old post but I see the topic continues so I thought I might add my 2 cents.
canned coconut milk = stomach upset for me so I conclude it must be the guar gum.
So I start making my own with shredded coconut that leads me to such severe cramps I’m laying on the couch moaning. Thought maybe it was too much pineapple so I try again with no pineapple 2 weeks later. The waves of cramps start but because I consumed much less I’m able to function.
Shredded coconut also gives me severe cramps but I thought it was the fiber.
Too much coconut oil gives me fungal infections since I am prone to them (see Paul Jaminet’s blog for that) I have to be very careful to keep my consumption low.
So, I understand the enthusiasm for coconut products by people concerned with their health but it is obviously not beneficial for “everyone” like Chris said in his post. And believe me I am truly bummed especially since I am allergic to dairy. I definitely have a problem w/ fructose malabsorption I just never would have connected coconuts with fructose. Thanks Chris for your always informative posts!
I bought So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage in a carton last night then stumbled on this article. As I don’t have any known GI problems and no apparent food allergies and having drunk/eaten coconut juice and meat as a kid, I thought I’d be fine. I drank 1/4 of a cup this morning to taste it then added a little to my coffee (trying to go dairy free to see if my acne improves) and developed pain and pressure in my upper GI. I ended up having to leave work and spent the day either throwing up or in bed! If it hadn’t been for this article who knows what I would have thought was going on. Thanks for the information Chris! Even a person who didn’t think they needed the info ended up needing the info. I’m not sure if it was the coconut milk itself or the carrageenan and guar gum, but at least now I know what to be wary of in the future. I’m Asian and my mom had an I told you so look on her face. lol I think certain coconut dishes give her stomach trouble too. I was mildly lactose intolerant in the past, although it went away for some reason, and this was so much worse. Ugh.
If you have no problems drinking coconut milk, then I envy you since I like the taste, but this type of article is invaluable information to have and empowers the consumer. Plus, it’s the Internet so you just need to use your critical thinking skills. Thanks again, Chris!
So delicious contains guar gum that’s what caused your problems, try the Kara coconut milk.
Hi jb, I tried natural KARA coconut milk in tetra pack, I bought it in local market Sigonas farmers market, close to Standford shopping mall. It was great so far as part of my cooking ingredients. And when I looked into the nutrition facts, I am confident with this product. But please notice, this is for cooking and not for direct drinking. Thanks for mentioned it.
Thanks for this article. Fresh coconut and coconut water I’m fine with but canned coconut milk makes me feel awful. I cook with canned coconut milk occasionally because I love the taste and texture but I’m going to cut it out and go with fresh from now on.
My husband and I both ate So-Delicious ice cream last night and both of us are still having severe stomache pains and wierd reactions. We don’t have any gut problems or food allergies. I got online to see if anyone had the same experience…looks like we are not the only ones!
How is it possible that so many people are so monumentally naive? Most people who are currently following a Paleo lifestyle are self taught from various website and books. And while those sources are a great place to start it’s Chris who is letting you know information that maybe you would need. I don’t remember reading anywhere in any book or blog about this info regarding coconut milk. Just because maybe these things don’t effect you doesn’t mean it’s information that shouldn’t be available. Stop being so judgmental, if the information works for you then implement it if it doesn’t then leave it alone.
But he is referring to coconut milk used for cooking that comes in a can! It has nothing to do with the coconut milk we consume as a dairy alternative, that’s why were being judgmental, the article is flawed.
First, of all, thank you so very much Chris for such a wonderful site.
What about coconut aminos? I’ve just discovered them as an alternate to soy sauce,
and I just love it!
Hi Chris,
I very much enjoy your articles and investigations into food health. I suffered a health crisis in 2007 being diagnosed with ideopathic pancreatitis and was written off by the medical community. A very restricted diet and focused health plan brought me back to health; albeit after having lost 1/3 of my pancreas. I continue that journey of optimum health and qualitfy of life. I am very curious re: the fructose malabsorption, which seesm to fit with my health sequelae. Do you know how to diagnose fructose intolerance?
Thanks, Jamie
There is a breath test offered by Metabolic Solutions for fructose intolerance.
The breath test is called a HBT ‘Hydrogen Breath Test’.
TWO DIFFERENT PRODUCTS!
This discussion has become a bit confused, because we’re talking about two different products as if they were the same thing. Allow me to clarify.
The original article was about traditional canned coconut milk, which is a thick, oily, creamy product intended for use in cooking, especially curries and other thick sauces. You’re not meant to drink this kind of coconut milk, and if you did, you would probably feel sick, as if you’d eaten a bar of butter. It usually comes in cans, which usually contain BPA. Since Chris’s original article is talking about this kind of coconut milk, it emphasizes the BPA aspect.
The other product that is being referred to in these comments, but not explicitly in the original article, is the kind of drinkable coconut milk that usually comes in tetra-packs. Rather than thick and creamy, it is lighter, more like milk than cream. It is not “coconut milk” at all in the traditional sense, but merely a recent commercial innovation that has been created, and named, to compete with soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, and all the other “milk substitutes” that people who wish to avoid dairy use to satisfy their craving for dairy products, and products that behave like dairy in cooking and in coffee, etc. The tetra-paks do not, to my knowledge, containing BPA, so that is not an issue. However, as Chris’s article states, coconut meat may be a FODMAP, which means it may cause trouble for some, not all, people. Furthermore, many if not all of these drinkable coconut milks are heavily sweetened, and contain guar gum and carrageenan. Just as an example, here are the ingredients for “So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Beverage”:
INGREDIENTS: Coconut Cream (Water, Coconut, Guar Gum), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D-2, L-Selenomethionine (Selenium), Zinc Oxide, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12.
It occurs to me that this extensive and fascinating discussion would be much clearer and more meaningful if our commenters would recognize the distinction between these two very different products, and comment accordingly. Thanks!
Kara dairy free coconut milk contains only naturally occuring sugar and NO guar gum.
And actually contrary to what you say, it would be more clearful and meaningful if the original article was written better and entitled why ‘products in cans’ could be bad for you. Mentioning cocnut milk in the title was just plain stupid and misleading. Thanks!
This message board is a case study in the lack of critical thinking skills within our society. It would be comical if there were some indication that it was all part of some elaborate, dark, inside joke. Alas, I doubt that it is.
Just want to explain my final question a little more. Milk by nature is meant and only meant for infants, be they human or animal. It was not ever supposed to be consumed by adults neither human or animal, this is a fact of nature. Cows milk is the way it is, because that’s the way nature intended it. Not forgetting a cow has four stomachs to our one, milk is the way it is because those four stomachs are able to digest it correctly.
So hence my question, as animal/human milk is only intended by nature for infants what milk are we supposed to consume? Soya? Well documented as having mainy unhealthy attributes. Rice milk? Lacking in almost everything which brings us to coconut milk.
Now if nature intended animal/human milk for infants, what did it intend for coconuts? Were they just supposed to hang off the trees looking good? Surely, out of EVERY milk there is, this is the only natural ‘milk’ which nature intended for adults to drink, if we didn’t what use would it have? answer = it wouldn’t and its existance would be pointless for the most part. As nature is rarely pointless….
Go on, think about it…
sorry but there is not milk in the coconut, have to be made from it so isn’t natural is it, we don’t have to crush a mammal in a vise to extract milk from it, I agree on the baby having animal milk, remember Romolo and Remo the founders of Rome they were feed from a wolf (ok is not scientific, just gadding relaxed) and many animal could survive because adopted by a mum of a different specie. I think in nature all is permitted and it work, is when man put his contribution that the problems start. Man was meant to do nothing more then enjoy life but ….now we have to deal with…cans..