Coconut oil provides additional benefits. It strengthens the immune system and promotes optimal development of the brain and nervous system. It protects against cancer and heart disease, and promotes healthy bones. This may explain the beautiful, velvety skin tone of the Thais. Most of this fat is relatively saturated coconut oil or lard.
Poor families use watered down coconut milk for curries, and lard very sparingly.
But more affluent families eat pork and beef frequently, make their daily curry with luscious thick creamy whole coconut milk and use coconut oil for sauteing. Tiny dried shrimp sauteed in coconut oil and formed into a cake is typical of Thai dishes that are both delicious and nutritious rich in vitamin D, calcium, high quality protein, omega-3 fatty acids and protective saturated fats. The Cornell investigators made their own determinations of the amount of fat supplied by coconut milk, because use of figures now available in food value tables, for coconut milks as prepared in Bang Chan, would lead to gross overestimate of caloric value and fat content of the diets. In an effort to improve the health of Thai villagers, medical workers have encouraged the boiling of water, consumption of whole rice or rice polishings and the use of polyunsaturated oils instead of coconut oil and lard. It is probably impossible to install western type sewage systems in the soggy Thai ricelands.