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Coconut Oil – Dosage and Health Benefits

Coconut Oil – Dosage and Health Benefits
April 17, 2024

Behold the coconut, is one of Mother Nature’s sweetest tropical fruits. It offers many health benefits, has a delicate taste, and is widely available. The coconut tree belongs to the palm tree family (Arecaceae) (NCERT; class11 biology; chapter-6, Anatomy of Flowering plants), which is botanically a drupe, not a nut, and is claimed as the ‘lifeline of health’ due to its versatile benefits and uses. Coconut oil! Well, it is edible oil produced from the kernel of mature coconuts and it has gained immense popularity in recent years for its innumerable health benefits. Almost thousands of studies have proven coconut oil to be one of the healthiest foods. The many uses and healing benefits of coconut oil and it is indeed a true “superfood”. It’s also an extremely versatile oil with a number of uses you may not be aware of.

FACTS

What is coconut oil?

Coconut oil is an edible oil that is considered one of the most popular oils. It is among the most used oils. So much popularity of coconut oil is due to the nutrients found in it. Coconut oil has many advantages and uses, which is why it is used in every household. Its medicinal properties keep your health, beauty, and hair healthy. It makes skin and hair naturally soft and shiny. Whether it’s for moisturizing the skin or conditioning the hair, coconut oil is considered the best option.

Coconut Oils are typically available in two varieties -virgin and refined oil. Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is produced by cold pressing the liquid from the coconut meat, later extracting the oil from milk and water, and has a milky appearance. It is 100% natural, unbleached, and cold-pressed. Virgin coconut oil on the other hand is popular for its pleasant aroma, taste, powerful antioxidants, healthy fatty acids, and essential vitamins.

Benefits of coconut oil:

There are numerous benefits of Coconut oil such as:

Coconut oil has a unique taste and cologne which is heaped with a whopping amount of essential fatty acids and antioxidants. This liquid gold provides you with a host of medicinal and therapeutic properties.

  • Great Energy Booster: Coconut oil is mostly used by athletes, bodybuilders, and weight watchers. The fat present in coconut oil is quickly converted into an instant source of energy and does not lead to the building up of fat in the heart and arteries. Furthermore, it helps to boost energy, endurance and boost the overall performance of athletes.
  • Nutrition: Fat is essential to assimilate fat-soluble vitamins, produce hormones, guard the organs, and maintain the body temperature within the normal range. So, Virgin Coconut oil contains polyunsaturated fatty acids- linoleic acid and monounsaturated fatty acids- oleic acid, which seems to have 13.5 grams of fat, one gram of fat provides 9 calories, so one tablespoon will provide you about 120 calories.
  • Vitamins and Minerals: Coconut oil fairly contains iron the mineral which carries oxygen to all cells in the body. Coconut oil also contains a very small amount of vitamin K that aids your blood to clot and vitamin E is a potent antioxidant that prevents free radical damage to the cells.
  • Coconut Oil for Cooking: Coconut oil is an excellent oil source for cooking. It delivers an exotic taste and great texture to foods. Always prefer virgin coconut oil for its superlative quality. Coconut oil has a broad spectrum of uses in the Indian kitchen, mostly in the tropical states of India. It is impeccably apt for sautéing, roasting and frying.
  • Weight Loss: Coconut oil as compared to all other edible oils is easy to digest and aids in proper working of the thyroid and endocrine system and can boost the body’s metabolic rate by getting rid of the stress on the pancreas by burning energy and aiding obese people to lose weight.
  • Supports Heart Health: The reason coconut oil has been touted as heart-healthy (despite its fat makeup) is because of the suggestion that it can raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and because of the type of saturated fats it contains it’s high in “medium-chain triglycerides” while most other saturated fats found in plant-based oils have more “long-chain triglycerides. So, it increases good cholesterol and decreases bad cholesterol, which assists in promoting heart health.
  • Treats Alzheimer’s Disease: Coconut oil breaks MCTs found in the liver into ketones, which act as an alternative energy source for our brain. It is considered an effective way to fix the brain disorders MCT which are mainly epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease as well. The use of coconut oil enhances the cognitive abilities of Alzheimer’s patients, particularly in language and orientation areas. The MCTs present in coconut oil is super-rich in ketones linked with boosting memory. Therefore, you should use coconut oil to make your brain healthy.
  • Improves Dental Health: Coconut oil can be added to keep the mouth clean. Coconut oil has powerful properties against bacteria. It is an easy way to eliminate oral bacteria that cause disease. It is found that these bacteria can be effectively reduced when oil is pulsed for 10 minutes with coconut oil. Pulsing oil daily with coconut oil can also help prevent gingivitis and bleeding from the gums. The benefits of coconut oil are provides relief from skin irritation and eczema. Coconut oil can be used in place of other mineral oils and conventional oils to improve skin inflammation and skin disorders. Children with eczema have found that treating eczema with coconut oil has improved its use in 47% of children.
  • Stress Relief: Virgin coconut oil used as a carrier for aromatherapy is very relaxing and eases stress. Gently massaging coconut oil to the head aids to ease mental stress and fatigue due to its antioxidant properties.
  • Diabetes: Virgin coconut oil helps in stabilizing blood sugar spikes and promotes the secretion of insulin. It also stimulates the effective use of blood glucose which helps to manage diabetes.
  • Bone Health: Coconut oil fosters the ability of your body to absorb vital minerals including calcium and magnesium which are required for the development of bones. Hence it is very useful for women who are more prone to osteoporosis after 40 years of age.
  • Moisturize the Skin: Coconut oil for Moisturize Your Skin. As you know coconut oil acts as a natural moisturizer. You can use coconut oil as a moisturizer for your hands, feet, and elbows. You can also use this oil on your face, but it is not right for those people who have very oily skin. You can also use coconut oil to correct your cracked heel. All you need to do is to put coconut oil in your torn ankles and wear socks and sleep like this overnight. You have to do this remedy until your torn ankles are healed.
  • Save from Infection: Extra virgin Coconut oil for Fight Infections Virgin coconut oil has antibacterial properties that can help treat diseases caused by infection. As its fatty acids contain up to 50% of lauric acid. So, when our body digests the acid, it forms a substance called monolaurin which together can kill harmful pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Even a test tube study shows that these substances help kill the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which causes staph infections, and the yeast Candida albicans, a common source of yeast infections in humans.
  • Increase Your Metabolism: Coconut oil has an important role in the metabolism of the body. Coconut oil contains triglycerides, a type of fatty acid that the body absorbs quickly and provides more calories. triglyceride may play an important role in increasing your metabolic rate. On average, consuming 15 to 30 grams of triglycerides gives you 120 calories more within 24 hours. Therefore, you can use coconut oil to run your metabolism properly.

Intake and dosage of coconut oil:

Coconut oil has very impressive health benefits. But at the same time, some people are really worried about the consumption and quantity of coconut oil. Several studies have investigated the benefits of coconut oil, many of which are attributed to its high content of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs)

For dosage:

Take 1 teaspoon per day, gradually increasing to 2 tablespoons per day over 1–2 weeks. Thus, an intake of 2 tablespoons per day is adequate to get health benefits, but it works up at its best to this amount gradually.

For consumption:

You can cook with it, bake with it, and stir fry and deep fry in it because it has a high smoke point. You can emulsify it in coffee for a great pick-up type drink. It’s great for energy, and for the brain. It is also a natural antifungal and antiviral. Over time it will raise your good cholesterol and reduce the bad cholesterol. No other oil will give you these benefits.

Coconut oil is one of the best things that one can go for as it is well known for being filled with many healthy nutrients required for keeping one healthy and fit. Thus, here are some of the benefits that one may experience from eating coconut on regular basis to stay healthy.

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