Coconut Oil and Lauric Acid: The Bacteria Killer
The lauric acid in coconut oil is a natural powerhouse of anti-bacterial protection. Lauric acid can inhibit bad bacteria from forming, as well as reverse the growth of existing bacteria. Let’s delve a bit deeper into why lauric acid from coconut oil is good for cleaning dogs teeth.
Your dogs body breaks down lauric acid into a safe compound called monolaurin. Both lauric acid and monolaurin can kill harmful bacteria, fungi and viruses in dogs bodies.
These anti-microbial compounds are shown to improve immune responses, activating an anti-inflammatory immune response in the body[*].
Yeasts and molds are reported to be inactivated or killed by monolaurin and lauric acid, including some species of ringworm, and research suggests that lauric acid is more effective at killing these pathogens than any other saturated fatty acid[*].
Coconut Oil: What’s In It?
Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from coconut meat. When coconuts are harvested for coconut oil, the coconut meat is removed from the shell and soaked in water.
Shortly thereafter, the coconut oil rises to the top of the mix where its extracted from the non-oil contents. This unrefined oil is typically referred to as “cold pressed” because it is neither heated nor blended with any other compounds.
Coconut oil happens to be unique because its fat content is made almost entirely of medium chain triglycerides.
Medium chain triglycerides are metabolized differently than the long chain fatty acids found in most other foods. Because of this, they have several health benefits that can improve metabolism, mental clarity and other aspects of your dogs health.
Today we are looking at a fatty acid in coconut oil thats right on the cusp between being labeled a medium chain triglyceride and a long chain fatty acid.
Lauric acid is a medium/long-chain fatty acid that makes up almost 50% of coconut oil. In fact, coconut oil just happens to be the richest source of lauric acid in the world.
But what makes lauric acid so beneficial for our dogs teeth and health?
How to Use Coconut Oil to Clean Your Dog’s Teeth
Coconut oil has the greatest amount of lauric acid of all the different oils.
In fact, coconut oil contains almost 50% lauric acid, which is responsible for killing bacteria and viruses.
Additionally, lauric acid is effective at fighting bacteria responsible for bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease[3].
CocoTherapy brushing pets teeth with coconut oil
Even though we feed the same foods, treats, and chews to our dogs, Ginger’s teeth are way worse than her siblings.
We get her teeth cleaned annually at the vet, but six months later, the plaque is already making its way back.
Whereas, Calvin, our 12-year-old, has excellent teeth and has never needed to get a dental done.
Not only does Ginger not have good teeth, but she also has a hard time going to the vet by for dentals. She gets very anxious and panics.
The last time Ginger was in for a cleaning, she had an absolute melt-down crying, and she wouldn’t go into the kennel.
Our vet is amazing, so when as soon as Ginger panicked she took her to her office to get her calmed down, then gave her some medicine to relax her a bit.
But because it is so traumatic for Ginger to go in for dental cleanings, I started to look for home remedies that could help improve the health of her teeth.
That’s when I stumbled upon coconut oil for dogs teeth. Read on to see what I found!