The Endless Benefits of Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is like the holy grail of natural health remedies, boosters, and topical solutions. This all-encompassing wonder of the world can positively affect your life in many more ways than one. From skin and hair care to improving digestion, so many possibilities. We would like to shed some light on the endless benefits of coconut oil in this one stop, learn-all list.
Weight Loss from Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and endocrine system. Containing short and medium-chain fatty acids, it helps in taking off excessive weight. Furthermore, it increases the body’s metabolic rate through reducing stress on the pancreas, thereby burning more energy and helping obese and overweight people lose weight. Include it in your diet daily to see results!
Skin Care
Coconut oil is a natural moisturizer on all types of skin, especially dry skin. Unlike mineral oil, there is little to no chance of this oil negatively affecting your skin with blemishes or over oiling it. Due to its high moisturizing power, it offsets aging, reducing wrinkles and sagging skin. It has antioxidant properties are to thank for the lack of aging. It also helps reduce symptoms of psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections.
Hair Care
Coconut oil replenishes dry and frizzy hair. The moisturizing effects of the oil soak into hair, helping in the regrowth process of damaged hair and giving it a shine. It is also highly effective in reducing protein loss. The oil works against dandruff on the scalp and leaves your hair silky smooth and healthy.
Heart Diseases
There is a misconception that oils from coconuts is bad for heart health due to the fact that it solidifies at room temperature as many saturated fats do. However, in reality, this specific oil is full of good saturated fats and is, indeed, very good for your heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in actively preventing various heart problems like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. It does not affect LDL levels in a negative way, unlike most saturated fats. Also, it reduces the incidence of injury and damage to arteries and therefore helps in preventing atherosclerosis. So eat up!
Immune System
Coconut oil contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties that strengthen the immune system. The human body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which is supported as an effective way to deal with viruses and bacteria that cause diseases like herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and even HIV. This powerhouse oil also helps in fighting harmful bacteria like listeria monocytogenes and helicobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa such as giardia lamblia.
Dental Care
Calcium makes our teeth strong. Coconut oil facilities the absorption of calcium into our bodies. The teeth protection doesn’t stop there, the oil also prevents tooth decay. Recent research suggests that coconut oil is beneficial in reducing plaque formation and plaque-induced gingivitis.
Digestion
Coconut oil helps to improve the digestive system and thus prevents various stomach and digestion related problems including irritable bowel syndrome. Also, The saturated fats present in coconut oil have antimicrobial properties and fight against various viruses and bacteria that can cause indigestion. As said before, coconut oil aids in the absorption of things such as vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, and minerals.
Healing Infections
When applied to infected areas, coconut oil forms a protective layer over the area, protecting it from external dust, air, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Coconut oil is also highly effective on bruises due to the fact that it is able to speed up the healing process of damaged tissues.
Keeping organs Healthy
The presence of medium chain triglycerides and fatty acids in coconut oil helps in preventing liver diseases. This is due to the fact that those substances are easily converted into energy when they interact with the liver. This reduces the workload of the liver and prevents fat build up. It also helps in preventing kidney and gall bladder diseases and helps to dissolve kidney stones. Coconut oil is also believed to be useful in keeping the pancreas healthy as it treats pancreatitis.
HIV and Cancer
Coconut oil plays a role in reducing the viral susceptibility of HIV and cancer patients. Preliminary research has shown an indication of this effect of this on reducing the viral load of HIV patients. The oil from the coconut kills the viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, SARS, and other serious health risks. It also kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and gonorrhea.
Diabetes
Coconut oil can control blood sugar, improving the secretion of insulin. It also promotes the effective utilization of blood glucose, thereby preventing and treating diabetes.
Stress Relief
Coconut oil is very soothing as it reduces stress. Applying it to the head, followed by a gentle massage, helps to eliminate mental fatigue. According to research, virgin coconut gives relief from stress and has antioxidant properties. This can also be done through ingestion.
Bones
As mentioned earlier, oil from coconuts improves your body’s ability to absorb important minerals. This includes calcium and magnesium, which are necessary for the development of bones. In this case, it is very useful for those who are prone to osteoporosis after middle age.
Boosts Energy
Coconut oil is often used by athletes, bodybuilders and by those who are dieting because it contains fewer calories than other oils, its fat content is easily converted into energy, and it does not lead to accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries. It helps boost energy and endurance and generally enhances performance.
There are many ways to incorporate coconut oil into your diet. It isn’t only healthy, it’s delicious and works great as a flavor booster for most dishes. Commonly used as cooking oil as a substitute for vegetable oil or canola oil, both of which are very unhealthy. It also tastes great melted in coffee or tea to add a little good fat to your cup. It can be delicious as a substitute for butter on toast or anything else you can think of that tastes good with butter, which is a lot. Try this for pancakes for a delicious treat. The recipes go on and on, just as the health benefits due. Have fun with it!