Coconut Oil: Under Rated

Coconut oil gets a bad rap from the health industry – and it really shouldn’t. It’s a natural, tropical food that can do wonders.

Coconut Milk, Juice and Oil: What’s the Difference?

Most people think that coconut milk is the liquid inside the coconut, but this is not the case. The liquid inside the coconut is known as coconut water or juice – this is not where the milk comes from as many people think or assume. Coconut milk is made from the expressed juice of grated coconut meat and water.

Coconut oil, on the other hand, is the fatty oil that comes from the coconut meat.

The Fat in Coconut Oil

All fats, whether they be saturated or unsaturated, contain the same number of calories. The MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) in coconut oil, however, are different. They contain a little less. Because of the small size of the fatty acids that make up coconut oil, they actually yield fewer calories than other fats. MCT oil, which is derived from coconut oil and consists of 75 percent caprylic acid and 25 percent capric acid, has an effective energy value of only 6.8 calories per gram. (1) This is much less than the 9 calories per gram supplied by other fats. Coconut oil has at least 2.56 percent fewer calories per gram of fat than long-chain fatty acids (LCFA). This means that by using coconut oil in place of other oils your calorie intake is less.

MCFA are not packaged into lipoproteins and 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 a carbohydrate.

So when you eat coconut oil, the body uses it immediately to make energy rather than store it as body fat. As a consequence, you can eat much more coconut oil than you can other oils before the excess is converted into fat. It has been well documented in numerous studies using both animals and humans that replacing LCFA with MCFA results in a decrease in body weight gain and a reduction in fat.

Learn what to look for in a quality coconut oil and discover coconut oil’s incredible health benefits to you such as:

• Lose weight, lower cholesterol
• Reduce risk of heart disease
• Helps with diabetes, thyroid, chronic fatigue
• Improve Crohn’s, IBS, and other digestive disorders
• Boost daily energy
• Rejuvenate skin, prevent wrinkles

There is a small percentage of unsaturated oils in coconut oil by nature and these usually will become rancid; however, in coconut oil they do not. It is believed that the other saturated oils have an antioxidative effect, which prevent this occurrence.

One food that can rev up your metabolism even more than protein is coconut oil.

Up until now most people have been afraid of using coconut oil because of the propaganda war waged by the soybean industry. People were led to believe that coconut oil was both unhealthy and fattening, neither of which are true.

The fats in coconut oil, for the most part, do not become fatty issues on our bodies. They produce energy. This is one of the reasons why food manufacturers put coconut oil or MCFA in sports drinks and energy bards. Soybean oil, on the other hand, does just the opposite. It promotes weight gain, yet we use more soybean than ever before. Over the past couple of decades, as soybean oil has replaced tropical oils in our foods, the problem of obesity has mushroomed. Has the soybean industry’s war on coconut oil has contributed to our expanding weight problem? That’s difficult to say, but knowing the truth about coconut oil can be helpful – and we’re not getting it from the main stream media.

If interested in purchasing coconut oil, be sure to find a quality one – read the label carefully. We recommend Virgin Coconut Oil by Vitabase. (It’s on sale today but we don’t know when the sale expires.)

Other Heart Friendly Oils

Substitution is the key: Replacing butter, lard or other saturated fats with vegetable oils that contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can pay dividends for your heart.

Canola oil is the very lowest in saturated fat, with other choices such as safflower and soybean oil close behind; the differences are small enough that you should pick whichever polyunsaturated oil you prefer.

Olive oil has the highest proportion of monounsaturated fat and has earned heart-healthy labeling from the FDA. Olive oil does add a touch of taste to your foods, so you may wish to pick and choose what you use it in.

Let taste drive your choice: When you want flavor-free oil, go with polyunsaturated (canola, safflower, soybean); when you want flavor, pick  coconut, olive or peanut oils.

Whichever you choose, remember that all fat contains 120 calories a tablespoon, so go easy.

Category: Food Fitness