Coconut Oil: Benefits and Contraindications Coconut oil is the 4th most consumed oil in the United States, behind olive oil, soybean oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, and palm oil, whose total consumption combined in 2017 is approximately 14,747,000 metric tons.
The main producers and exporters of coconut oil and coconut butter worldwide are: Indonesia, the Philippines and India.
This oil accounts for just over 75% of all world exports, totaling a combined total of around 455 million metric tons. Brazil and Sri Lanka followed suit, combining at around 5 million tonnes.
That’s a big difference in eating healthy vs unhealthy fats. This is because low-quality oils are full of trans fats and are heavily used by most fast food companies and manufacturers.
It is mainly used by the health care products and cosmetic industries, along with dieters.
He coconut oil It’s even used in many hand creams, moisturizers, hair and body care products, and sprays that appeal to a wide range of people.
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Refined coconut oil vs extra virgin?
It is made in many different ways, regular refined coconut oil and its virgin counterpart have different results, it is better to go for the virgin coconut oil option.
Avoid refined and hydrogenated coconut oil which you will find in major supermarkets and stores at a relatively cheap price, close enough to the canola oil.
The best is ehe extra virgin coconut oil is made by extracting oil from coconut milk and then leaving it unrefined. Since coconut oil is left close to its natural state, its color will not be as bright or white as its refined counterpart.
Since the structure of the coconut milk It is more tender compared to the coconut kernel, the smoking point for organic virgin coconut oil sits at 350°F.
A good quality coconut oil is very healthy and nutritious, being considered a first class food product. The list of coconut oil applications can go on, from physical uses, cooking applications, to helping you lose weight.
Negative health effects are significant but manageable. Problems only arise when you consume too much. The biggest factor for the lack of availability is the high price due to the cost of producing and harvesting coconuts.
When you can get canola oil for just over $1.50 per quart compared to coconut oil or coconut butter, which average $20 per quart, it’s easy to see why the difference in consumption is so big.
It is always recommended to get the highest quality coconut oil you can get, some great selling points of a good quality oil to look for is that it is cold pressed, organic, virgin, and free of preservatives and artificial additives.
So how much coconut oil should you take a day? It depends on what else you are eating on a daily basis and what nutrients you are getting through your diet.
If it is your only cooking oil option at home, you should substitute another cooking oil and reduce your intake to about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to no more than 3 tablespoons per day.
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Coconut Oil Health Benefits
Coconut oil has many amazing benefits derived from its entire healthy list of fats, including:
Saturated fat
lauric acid
Unsaturated fats
Medium chain fatty acids
Eating plain coconut is fine if you’re looking for the raw benefits of coconut oil, but you should keep your total intake low as it’s full of saturated fat. These fats are mostly healthy unless you eat too much, which can start to cause heart complications.
It went through minimal processing before being made into a final product. Coconut oil is usually made by cold-pressing it to extract all of its natural oils, without the use of chemicals.
Refined cooking oils are a lower quality product that has been processed by bleaching and deodorizing the oil, it is best to use cold pressed coconut oil.
It has usually been processed with high temperatures and chemical reactions to obtain a refined product, this kills many of its antioxidants.
The refining process removes the coconut taste and odor and makes the hardened oil a thick white color, rather than a clear white.
1. Virgin Coconut Oil Improves Hair and Skin Health Regular use of coconut oil enhances your physical attributes and helps with body care maintenance.
Applying it to your hair is great for proper hair health, locks in moisture, keeps your hair soft, protects against humidity due to its beneficial fatty acids.
This also increases shine because coconut oil penetrates the hair better than traditional mineral oils.
Using it regularly on your hair and scalp on a weekly basis ensures that you stay free from dandruffregardless of chronic dryness. It also helps keep the head free from licea valuable alternative for skin care.
It has antibacterial properties that help fight dry skin, eczema and other fungal related problems such as candida albicans (yeast infections) and staphylococcus aureus (causes lung and respiratory diseases).
Coconut oil also increases and improves the cellular health of our outer skin and helps reduce inflammation.
2. It helps you lose weight and increases metabolism It will also help burn fat by increasing your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) by removing excess stress on the pancreas as it is much easier to digest than conventional cooking oils.
This makes coconut oil can help you burn more calories and belly fat, all of which can help you lose weight and lower your body fat levels.
Healthy fatty acid levels help minimize the severity of many common skin conditions, including dryness, eczema, dandruff, and dermatitis.
It can reduce all forms of swelling and blockage while moisturizing the affected area.
The balance of medium chain fatty acids can also help control blood sugar levels by improving your insulin sensitivity, which will reduce your insulin resistance.
Antioxidants also help reduce stress, lowering cortisol (stress hormone) levels can help by further balancing blood sugar and maximizing the hormonal effects of burning belly fat.
3. Maintain oral health and whiten teeth Research shows oil pulling and health benefits of coconut oil for whiten teeth they are the most effective compared to products that are marketed to do the same thing.
The antimicrobial effects of its MCFA help adhere to and neutralize bacteria in the mouth. This helps heal the gums, repair cavities and damage. Coconut Oil: Benefits and Contraindications
Removing excess bacteria around the mouth can begin to whiten teeth and decreases the risk of gingivitisgum disease, cavities and even oral cancer.
It is recommended to extract the oil with coconut oil around 2-3 times a week, swishing the oil around the mouth for 15-20 minutes.
4. Lowers LDL and Increases HDL Cholesterol Levels A study and research paper at Harvard Medical School states that the healthy fats found in coconut oil help raise the levels of good HDL cholesterol in the blood and decrease the LDL cholesterol.
This is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular risk factors. Coconut oil is full of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), some of the health benefits of HDL cholesterol are:
Helps clear blockages in the arteries
Lower risk of heart and cardiovascular diseases.
It has anti-inflammatory effects.
This is also demonstrated by the large number of regions that thrive on a diet rich in coconut oil, such as the Philippines and India. These countries have reduced rates of:
Heart disease
cardiovascular complications
General reduction of inflammation levels.
There are high levels of medium chain triglycerides in extra virgin coconut oil.
MTCs and polyunsaturated fats are much easier to burn for energy compared to long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), and harder for your body to store as fat. That is why coconut oil is beneficial for weight loss.
5. Strengthens your immune system There are many different healthy fats that have the added benefit of boosting your immune system, such as: antimicrobial lipids capric acid caprylic acid Oleic acid linoleic acid and Lauric acid.
All are used for antifungal, antibiotic, and antiaging effects when applied to the skin or taken in by mouth. Just like health remedies and detoxes, coconut oil also helps cleanse your digestive tract and can prevent any digestive problems. Coconut Oil: Benefits and Contraindications
Its saturated fats help coat your digestive tract and kill off any bacteria or fungus that could harm your digestive system.
This benefits and improves your digestion by increasing the absorption rates of vitamins, essential minerals and amino acids. Fats help you absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, K, as well as calcium and magnesium.
6. Helps prevent the risk of Alzheimer’s disease There are countless studies that show that consuming coconut oil can benefit and help people who suffer from the Alzheimer disease.
Healthy ketones released in brain cells help improve memory and reduce the rate of brain calcification. The brains of Alzheimer’s patients cannot produce insulin to properly use glucose for energy, function, or repair.
Ketones do not require insulin to be metabolized, serving as a powerful energy source for the brain to help reduce damage. Coconut Oil: Benefits and Contraindications
Coconut oil also reduces inflammation, which also helps protect against the development of Crohn’s disease or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from the lauric acids and polyunsaturated fats in coconut oil.
7. Detoxifies and cleanses your liver and kidneys The antibacterial properties of coconut oil help to detoxify and cleanse the liver, which reduces the risk of contracting types of heart disease. fatty liveralso called hepatosteatosis.
Lauric acids and other healthy fatty acids in coconut oil also help…