I regularly receive atleast couple of emails a week where readers complain that coconut, coconut oil, coconut meat etc. has not worked for them. It has caused no harm but also did not have any beneficial effect also. I can understand this feeling very well, especially if you have just started using coconut or coconut products. Based on what readers tell me, I believe the following are the reasons why this happens:
Duration for which coconut is used : In most cases, this is the reason. We need to understand that coconut and its products do not act like normal medicines we take which have fast effects (including lots of side effects). Action of coconut is more subtle and slower. Thus, one needs to be patient while using it and keep using it for a long period (3-4 months atleast) for affects to show up nicely.
For example, I received one email saying that reader has been using coconut oil for 15 days for an old scar but there is no effect. I wrote back saying that something which has not faded in years cannot fade overnight and she has to use the oil effectively for min 3-4 months to see the difference.
Thus, before you give up on coconut ask this question if you have given it fair chance to perform.
People do not change lifestyle and eating habits : Whenever we visit a doctor for a disease, based on it, he also advice us on what to eat and sometimes even exercises etc. Both of these play an important part in healing process of our body. I observed that some readers were just dependent on coconut oil and did not change their unhealthy lifestyle along with it. I always keep mentioning that exercising and healthy lifestyle are necessary for best results.
One of the readers mentioned that she is taking half coconut per day but her bowel movements are still not proper. Asking a few more questions revealed that she has not changed her diet which mainly consisted of pizzas, burgers, refined foods and highly polyunsaturated fat. Further she has a sitting job and hates exercising. I would say in this case eating coconut meat would help, but only a little.
Proper dosage : If your doctor prescribes a medicine 3 times a day will you get well if you just take one dose and ignore two? no, you will not. Again, will you recover if you keep skipping doses? again, answer is no. Some readers did not understand how much coconut and its products they should take to have a noticeable change and some others used coconut once a week. It is obvious that in such cases the benefits will be limited at best.
Typical daily dosage of coconut oil is 3.5 tbps. Of course younger people can take a bit less too. You can take this in any form - externally (massage oil etc.) or internally (cooking, coconut meat, coconut milk, etc.). Further, for coconut oil to have an impact, it should be included in your diet like you include fresh vegetables and fruits.
It is not "one thing cure all" solution : Coconut and coconut products can help in numerous body disorders but not in all. In some cases their impact may not be direct and may depend upon other things you do. For example, coconut improves nutrition absorption, but if your diet does not have nutrition then there is little coconut can do.
So these were some of the reasons why in many cases readers do not get desired benefits. If you have tried coconut and coconut products and were dissatisfied with it see if you fall in any of the above categories? If yes, make changes and then try coconut again.
I would like to add one last point here, coconut is not best used like a traditional medicine we take once we have a problem. It is best used to prevent health problems from happening. It is well know that - 'prevention is better than cure' if we use coconut according to this philosophy results would be much better.