Ellen Campbell -Grizzle
CARIBBEAN RESEARCHERS have found that coconut water mixed with mauby brings about significant reduction in high blood pressure. This is in keeping with a widely-held view among Caribbean people that young coconut water is good for the kidneys.
A research project, led by Dr. Trevor Alleyne of the University of the West Indies at Mount Hope in Trinidad and Tobago recently found a pronounced additive effect when a coconut-mauby concoction was consumed by 28 hypertensive patients under experimental conditions.
HYPERTENSION
Hypertension is a major problem in the Caribbean. World Health Organisation estimates suggest that over 30 per cent of the adult population in this region is affected by this chronic illness. Research has shown that compared to Caucasians, persons of African descent are twice as likely to develop hypertension, do so at an early age and have a more severe form of the disease.
The more serious consequences of chronic high blood pressure include the risk of heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and kidney damage. A number of the widely-used conventional antihypertensives are found to be less effective in patients of African ancestry. There is renewed interest into the use of herbs and other natural products for the treatment of the disease. The cost of conventional medicines to individuals and governments has spurred research activities toward the validation of traditional uses of herbs and the development of natural products with medicinal application.
Coconut water is a popular and refreshing drink in Jamaica. More recently, scientific analysis has shown that it is rich in both sodium and potassium, but that the concentration of potassium ions is more than twice that of sodium. Mauby is a dark liquid extract from the bark of the mauby tree (Colubrina aborescens). It is usually diluted with water and sweetened and used to treat diabetes mellitus and increases appetite. The findings of the Caribbean researchers raise the prospect of a combination herbal product with market potential. However, they caution that much more experimentation is needed to support medicinal claims.
THE COCONUT WATER-MAUBY EFFECT
The researchers diluted 180mL of commercial mauby syrup with 5L of bottled water. They collected coconut water from immature coconuts with little or no 'jelly' and mixed 180 mL of diluted mauby with 5L of coconut water. Subjects consumed 300mL of the mixture twice daily for two weeks. Persons taking antihypertensive medication continued to take them and all subjects were asked to make no change in their regular routine. Singly, coconut water and mauby affected the diastolic pressure of only a small fraction of patients ( 29 per cent and 40 per cent respectively). However, when taken together, the combination significantly decreased the diastolic pressure in 57 per cent of the patients. Further studies are needed to disentangle the true active ingredients and their mode of action in this combined use of drug and dietary treatment of hypertension.
This study adds to recent good news about the coconut. It follows research that debunked a link between the regular use of coconut oil to high cholesterol and hypertension. Coconut oil contains mostly medium rather than long-chain fatty acids and, therefore, moderate use is not a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Further, coconut water is very low in lipid content.
In the words of the researchers, "Coconut water probably is not only good 'for your daughter' , but particularly when mixed with mauby, may be also excellent for your hypertensive son."
Ellen Campbell Grizzle, president, Caribbean Association of Pharmacists; director, Information and Research, National Council on Drug Abuse; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
