The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil...

This is one of the healthiest oils available to man, yet a lot of people are wrongly afraid to take Coconut Oil because of misguided concerns about its saturated fat content.

So before I talk about its health benefits, let me just clarify something here about fats.

Saturated fats from the right sources, such as cocounut oil, and meat of grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free, free range animals -  are not evil...rather they are actually beneficial to your health, and I'll address the health benefits of the group in a separate post. Today's post is about Coconut Oil. 

Coconut contains Lauric Acid, which has been shown to help certain heart conditions, and maintain healthy cholesterol levels (so no, coconut oil won't raise your level of 'bad cholesterol' - processed sugars and fats will, though)

Trans-fats are the ones you're to worry about, those artificially hydrogenated fats found in fast foods, fries, most pastries - those are the enemy: they're responsible for a significant number of fatal heart attacks. They are the ones you must eliminate from your diet, not naturally pure virgin coconut oil!

Coconut oil is about the only one that's safe to cook with because of its chemical structure: it's very stable and doesn't change into dangerous trans-fats or dangerous by products of omega-6 conversion (which happens with many of the popularly used vegetable oils out there...). Its stability means that it retains all of its nutritional properties and health benefits when heated.

(Before you ask me about olive oil let me just say here that olive oil is best used raw as a salad dressing, it's not ideal for cooking because it's not quite as stable and so changes structure when heated, into something less than healthy: heat olive oil causes oxidative damage, and fats which have been thus damaged are bad for you...you could get away with heating it for real short periods though.)

So let me cut to the chase and list you just a few of the health benefits of this wonderful, healthy oil:

• Helps you maintain a healthy weight .
• Maintains healthy metabolism
• Good for your heart
• Helps reduce injuries in arteries, thus helping prevent arteriosclerosis.
• Supports your immune system
• Great for skin and hair (makes an excellent hair conditioner when applied directly onto hair, and contains some proteins essential for repairing damaged hair)
• Maintains healthy cholesterol levels, which you need for several functions of your body
• Helps maintain healthy cell membranes (linings) all over the body.
• Contains antioxidants which help slow down signs of premature aging
• Promotes healthy functioning of thyroid gland and other enzyme systems in the body.
• Improves calcium absorption so helps strengthen bones and teeth.

There are lots more, but I hope this snippet gives you a bit of an idea of just how important Coconut oil is as part of a healthy lifestyle.

So How Do You Really Lower Your 'Bad' Cholesterol ??

If you are worried about raising your bad fats/bad cholesterol levels, here's what you need to do, read this article I wrote on the subject a couple years ago: How To Lower Cholesterol Without Drugs.

• Cut out processed carbohydrates and oils (fast food, cookies, pastries, vegetable oils for cooking etc)
• Begin a regular exercise regimen such as the one described here: 12-week Jumpstart to Regular Exercise.
• Eat healthful foods and oils such as coconut oil
• Maintain healthy social habits stop smoking, minimise or avoid alcohol, etc.