The same thing appears to happen in humans. For example, coconut oil was added to the formula of 46 very low-birthweight babies to see if supplementation was capable of enhancing their weight gain. The group with the coconut oil gained weight quicker. The weight gain was due to physical growth and not fat storage.⁶ The babies gained more weight and grew better with the coconut oil because their bodies were able to digest it easily. The vegetable oils, to a great extent, passed through their digestive tracts undigested and thus deprived them of the fat calories they needed for proper development. MCFA not only allow infants to absorb needed fats but they improve the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and protein.^7,8

Human milk fat has a unique fatty acid composition. The primary fat is saturated, comprising about 45-50 percent of the total fat content. The next most abundant fat is monounsaturated which makes up about 35 percent of the milk fat. Polyunsaturated fat comprises only 15-20 percent of the total. A significant portion of the saturated fat in human breast milk can be in the form of MCFA. Sadly, many mothers produce very little. This can have dramatic consequences on the health of their children.

If breast milk does not contain enough MCFA, an infant can suffer from nutritional deficiency and become vulnerable to infectious illness. Therefore, it is important that mother's milk contain as much MCFA as nature will allow. This can be done with diet. Given an ample supply of food containing medium-chain fatty acids, a nursing mother will produce a milk rich in these health-promoting nutrients.⁹ While cow's milk and other dairy products contain small amounts, the foods richest in medium-chain fatty acids are the tropical oils, principally coconut oil.

The levels of these antimicrobial fatty acids can be as low as 3 to 4 percent, but when nursing mothers eat coconut products (shredded coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, etc.) the levels of MCFA in their milk increase significantly. For instance, eating 40 grams (about 3 tablespoons worth) of coconut oil in one meal can temporarily increase the lauric acid in the milk of a nursing mother from 3.9% to 9.6% after 14 hours.¹⁰ The content of caprylic and capric acids are also increased. "This gives an important benefit," says Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. an expert in lipid chemistry and Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. "The milk has increased amounts of the protective antimicrobials lauric acid and capric acid, which gives even greater protection to the infant." If the mother consumes coconut oil every day while nursing, the MCFA content will be even greater.