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.
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Hello,
I’m a first timer, recently celiac/pre diabetes and going paleo. So, refrigerated coconut milk in a carton, and Almond Breeze, cocounut and almond milk have become staples. Are these ok, being in cartons? Thank you!
Dear Chris,
Thank you for the article. It was useful to learn about coconut cream, as I’m planning to experiment making homemade curries. Some of the curries contain coconut milk; and I was concerned about using canned goods. I want to give my family a variety of good quality food and great information to prepare them for adulthood and self sufficiency. Your articles are a help in that effort.
Thanks,
Scott
Someone else linked to your site on a forum I frequent. Thanks for a good article and a fine, informative website. Sorry about the petulant band of gypsy trolls who can only tear down and can create nothing of their own that is useful.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and all the great articles you write. Much appreciated.
While everyone may not agree with everything written there is never a need to be rude or obnoxious.
Merry Christmas.
I believe the title of this article should be changed to “The 3 things to be concerned when consuming canned coconut milk.” I know this would have made the article received with more positive views. I am a proponent for coconut milk as it’s nutritional values and benefits are numerous, however, most people drink it from an container and not a can – especially in California where we are blessed with more options. Thank you for showing me the pro’s and con’s of a canned coconut beverage. Enjoy Life, Vic 🙂
Here’s a link for BPA-free canned products that some may find useful:
https://www.treehugger.com/green-food/7-companies-you-can-trust-to-use-bpa-free-cans.html
Just found the brand “Natural Value” at our local Food Coop – in BPA-free cans and no added guar gum – ingredients: coconut extract, water. Just FYI. 🙂
Hi Chris
My husband has been recently diagnosed with Crohns after losing 20kg in 6 weeks with terrible diarrhea and a bowel abscess and joint inflammation led to hospital, colonoscopies etc. We looked at his diet and cut out all sugar, most fruit all gluten and dairy. In four months he has nearly regained all his weight and can eat most things now except gluten and dairy and he still restricts fruit and sugar. He did a short, two week course of Prednisone in the beginning after diagnosis to control the arthritis and get him from rock bottom and hasn’t looked back since. He has just had another colonscopy after 3 months and although not completely healed, they are very happy with the healing that has taken place. His energy levels are still not back to normal but he can function fairly well again. My question is about coconut yoghurt. When he was very depleted he started eating lots of coconut yoghurt. Natural with live cultures. Honestly, it is too rich for me but he was eating about two cups full a day and doing really well with it. I’m sure it has helped him put on weight. Of course, this is made with coconut milk and he has IBD so should he not be eating this????
In addition to this I was making him a lot of stocks and soups and fresh vegetable juices with just picked organic vegetables and he has been taking slippery elm and probiotics. The only time he felt any kind of relapse was after eating a small slice of sourdough bread which we though would be predigested enough but clearly not.
Thank you for the article. Would fermenting the coconut milk (homemade or otherwise) clear up the FODMAP issue? Thanks.
In my experience: sometimes yes, sometimes no. Depends on the person.
Great article. I am following Fodmaps due to IBS and find coconut milk a problem. Also want to avoid BPA of course and often find it on the linings of even organic tinned food. Awesome!
Chris, WOW…I am amazed at all the controversy with such a simple article. Being celiac with IBS myself I appreciate having you put the info out there so simply. I am so sorry that so many people have the need to attack you. I just wanted to thank you for having a place I can send my patients to for straightforward info simply put without a lot of cultism involved. There is not such a thing as one diet. Would it be that simple.
Thanx, Sharon.
Chris, thanks for this article. I thought the title was straight forward and not at all misleading, the information you provided was also clear ans concise. I just made my first batch of coconut milk from the recipe you provided…so easy and nice to know that my diet gets cleaner and cleaner as I heed the advice of practitioners who rely on current evidence based data. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and helping people become healthier. Btw, I discovered you on Dave Asprey’s podcast (thought you would like to know one of the many way people find your blog). Cheers, Elle.
Hi , I knew the risk of cans with BPA lining and I try to avoid them as much as I can. Even my plastic containers have a sticker on them that says ” BPA Free” and are made in China. I understood that a part of the article is talking about the risk of Coconut milk that comes in BPA lining cans , what about the cans without lining ? because I just went to the kitchen and took I look to my coconut milk can in the fridge and it does not have a BPA lining on it, just metal. The brand of my coconut milk is ” THAI Kitchen” with Ingrediens: Coconut milk, water, guar gum. Thank you for answering me
What about So Delicious Dairy Free UNSWEETENED COCONUT MILK BEVERAGE ?
https://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/products/coconut-milk-beverages/unsweetened
Ingredients: ORGANIC COCONUT MILK (ORGANIC COCONUT CREAM, WATER, GUAR GUM), CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CARRAGEENAN, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, VITAMIN D-2, L-SELENOMETHIONINE (SELENIUM), ZINC OXIDE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B-12.
It comes in shelf-stable quarts & refrigerated half gallons.
Nice article Chris. Thanks for the insight regarding coconut milk in cans, quar gum, etc.
Aw… I knew it. I bought home a can of fairtrade coconut-milk last week. Before I took a proteine whey shake with whole milk now and then. It got rid of my migraine attacks at night and made me sharp almost instantly. But I still got food cravings of the wrong kind (pasta and the like). So then I mixed a little cocnonut milk with the proteine shake I take. Thinking my body needs the fatty acids as well. BOOM! No more cravings. I almost forget that I didnt have dinner yet. No more hunger!
But it did concern me that the milk came in a can. But for some reason I neglected that because I was happy I got a hold of some coconut-milk in the first place…
And now I read this :\
i can tolerate coconut oil in small doses, but coconut water, any brand or container it seems, nauseates me and I get a terrible headache, so intense that I can’t drive. I’ve tested this out many times, and it seems to be one of the few foods I just cannot tolerate, along with any and all rice, short or long grain, brown or white. Two foods that are supposed to be great anti-inflammatory foods, and I cannot tolerate either one.
This could be because of the high potassium or electrolytes in cococnut water. I dont do too well with it either, but I do ok on coconut milk and oil.
Im getting tired of everything been considered bad these days. What is bad for all of us is the food industry. people have digestive problems because all the processed food they eat. I live in the Caribbean where we have been drinking coconut milk, coconut water, eating coconut meat, using coconut oil,using all of these in cooking for ages, without the population having any big health problems. It was nt until people began to use other oils, lots of fruit juice (even natural) and processed food that trouble began. So if you already have digestive or intestinal problems, there s a lot of things that are going to be bad for you. The article should had focus on these digestive troubles and include coconut in a long list of foods. To focus on coconut as something bad in general in the title is misleading. Make your own milk and oil from real dry coconuts and no problem.
Well put!
I have a question about the Inner-eco product. Is this safe for people with digestive issues? I would think the probiotic aspect would be helpful, but it does have cocnut water. If not, what probiotic would you recommend? Thank you!
canned coconut milk sets my intestines on fire. however, coconut oil, coconut meat, and coconut milk in the carton are 100% fine. I wonder what the problem is.