Hmmm, it tastes nice, good for the body: inside and out. But, as with most oils, oils ain’t oils.

I’ve been using coconut oil for years and over that time I’ve learned a few things.

Once wrongly accused of increasing cholesterol levels, coconut oil is now actually being used by doctors in the treatment of a variety of disorders. Clinical studies have shown that coconut oil has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties. Once mistakenly thought to be bad because of its saturated fat content, coconut oil is now known to contain a unique form of saturated fat that actually helps prevent heart disease, stroke, and hardening of the arteries.

The saturated fat in coconut oil is unlike the fat found in meat or other vegetable fats. It is identical to a special group of fats found in human breast milk that have been shown to improve digestion, strengthen the immune system, and protect against bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.

Coconut oil has been used throughout Asia and the Pacific for thousands of years as both a food and a medicine. Another incredible fact about coconut oil is that even though it is a fat, it promotes weight loss!! The reason is again because of the healthy medium chain fatty acids. These fatty acids do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats, but are sent directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy, just like carbohydrates. So the body uses the fat in coconut oil to produce energy, rather than be stored as body fat. Medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil also speed up the body’s metabolism, burning more calories and promoting weight loss. The weight-loss effects of coconut oil have been clearly demonstrated by many researchers. They offer wonderful health benefits and are nowhere found more abundantly in nature outside coconut oil. For the hypothyroid sufferer the medium chain fats rev up the body’s sluggish metabolism and promote weight loss as well.

But back to how oils ain’t oils:

We should all try to stay away from hydrogenated oils, whether it is coconut oil or vegetable oils. Hydrogenated oils are oils with trans fatty acids, which have been altered from their original chemical composition, and have been shown to raise serum cholesterol levels that can lead to heart disease.

Also try to buy unrefined coconut oil, often labeled as Virgin Coconut Oil.

Most commercial coconut oils are refined, bleached, and deodorized. While these oils do in many cases maintain the beneficial chemical structures of the medium chain fatty acids, they also contain chemicals used in processing.

You want to buy oil that has been cold-pressed. When expeller pressed coconut oil is prepared/heated, it is mostly treated with hexane. Even some oils labelled ‘organic’ have been prepared using hexane. Hexane is a hydrocarbon volatile colourless liquid derived from petroleum and used as a solvent in glue used for shoes, leather products, and roofing. Additionally, it is used in solvents to extract oils for cooking and as a cleansing agent for shoe, furniture and textile manufacturing and because it contains carbon as the primary backbone of the molecule it can be technically listed as ‘Organic’.

• Organic
• Unrefined
• Non hydrogentaed
• Non bleached
• Non deodorised

But where to get such an oil? Stay tuned… or click on the banner above!