Here are the top seven reasons why you should use coconut oil as an alternative to other common cooking oils.
1. Coconut oil doesn’t turn to fat in your body.
Unlike many other common oils, like soy (vegetable) and corn, coconut oil won’t make you fat.
Coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which are an easy fuel for the body to burn, without turning to fat. Most other cooking oils and fats contain long-chain triglycerides (LCT). LCT’s are usually stored as fat.
Since coconut oil is a MCT, it is more easily absorbed and converted to energy quicker.
People in the tropics have relied on coconuts as a traditional staple in their diet for centuries. They consume large amounts of coconut oil every day. Instead of getting fatter, it helps them stay healthy, lean and trim. Switching from coconut oil to our modern oils, they develop obesity and the health problems that our modern society faces.
When animals are fed vegetable oils, they put on weight and produce more fatty meat, unlike when they are fed coconut oil, they become very lean.
2. It can increases your metabolism.
Not only does it convert to energy quicker in your body, it increases your metabolism, which promotes weight loss. Because it boosts your metabolism, it helps your body burn fat more effectively.
Coconut oil may triple your calorie burn. It converts energy so quickly that it creates a lot of heat. This is great news for people who have thyroid problems, since this oil improves sluggish thyroids by stimulating the production of extra thyroid hormones.
3. It has omega 3 fatty acids.
Most cooking oils contain omega 6 fatty acids, something we get way too much of in the United States. Our omega 6 to omega 3 ratio should be 1:1 but it is more like 50:1. We need to drastically cut back our omega 6 oils and consume much more omega 3 oils to be healthy. Coconut oil is filled with these healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
4. The oil gives you energy.
Because of the healthy omega 3 fatty acids and the fact that it increases the metabolism, most people that switch to this oil feel a burst of added energy in their daily life.
It’s nature’s richest source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT’s), many people with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia have found that adding coconut and coconut oil to their diet was helpful to them.
5. One of the best things you can use on your skin and hair is coconut oil.
This oil one of the best things you can apply directly on your skin and hair. It gives temporary relief to skin problems like rashes. It aids in healing and restoring skin to a younger appearance. People who suffer from yeast infections in the skin, as well as many other skin problems have also been know to benefit.
Not only does is soften and smooth your skin, it has antioxidant properties that protect the skin from free radical damage. (Side note: It makes excellent massage oil too.)
6. It has healthy benefits that most other oils do not.
Evidence is mounting that coconut oil has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects when both consumed and used topically on the skin.
Most oils oxidize and turn rancid very quickly causing free radical damage in our bodies. It is not easily oxidized and does not cause harmful free radical damage like polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Free radical damage is thought to be responsible for many ailments in our body from arthritis to increased susceptibility to cancers.
Coconut oil also helps our bodies absorb other nutrients more effectively, such as Vitamin-E.
7. It is one of the best oils you can use for cooking.
It has a higher smoke point than olive oil, which means it can take higher temperatures better. There are several healthy omega 3 oils we can choose to consume, such as flax and olive oil, but they don’t do well under the high heat we use for cooking. Coconut oil can be used in higher cooking temperatures.
It is harder for this oil to go rancid, unlike other cooking oils, which are usually rancid long before you even bring them home. Rancid oils cause free radical damage in the body, which is a leading cause of cancer. It is stable for over a year at room temperature.
Because of the misinformation we have been given for years, we have lost out on the healthy benefits that this oil has given the people of the tropics for centuries. But now it has been rediscovered!
