17 Reasons Why You Should be Using Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has multiple uses and amazing health benefits for your body inside and out. Research suggests that moderate consumption of this oil can help you in reducing weight, improving digestion, boosting immunity, healing skin disorders, moisturizing your skin and hair, and enhancing your energy levels.

Coconut oil has a unique composition, whereas most of its fat is saturated. It is not long chain but rather medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). The MCFAs found in coconut oil are easily converted into energy and prevent accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries. This is the reason it is often used by athletes, body builders and by those who want to reduce weight.

Here are some of the amazing health benefits of coconut oil:

1. Natural Health Supplement: Increases overall vitality.
2. Weight Reduction: MCFAs help in weight reduction by increasing thyroid function and boosting your overall metabolism. MCFAs also help in reducing appetite and burning abdominal fat to help you reach your weight loss goal.
3. Boosting Immunity: The medium chain fatty acid (lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid) content, besides making coconut oil an excellent protective barrier; also provide anti fungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. Therefore, coconut oil when applied topically or ingested boosts your immunity against various (bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic) infections and related inflammation and disease.
4. Improving Digestion: The MCFAs in coconut oil assimilate well in the body, and help in improving digestion of food and absorption of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Also its antimicrobial properties help in averting indigestion, irritation and infection caused by various bacteria, fungi, and parasites in the gut including Candida.
5. Balancing cholesterol levels: Coconut oil doesn’t have cholesterol and its MCFAs help increase HDL “good” cholesterol and lower LDL “bad” cholesterol, which improves the cholesterol ratio. As LDL cholesterol thickens the blood, lower levels of it lead to better circulation and flexible arteries, which help in reducing blood pressure, preventing atherosclerosis and other heart problems.
6. Regulating blood sugar: Coconut oil helps in regulating blood sugar by improving the secretion of insulin from pancreas. Thus, it helps in preventing and treating diabetes by facilitating effective utilization of blood glucose. Lower your risk for diabetes with these foods.
7. Preventing chronic diseases: Because of the above coconut helps fight off oxidative stress and free radical damage, the main reason behind all the chronic diseases i.e. heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and cancer.
8. Supporting Bones and Teeth: Coconut oil improves your body’s ability to absorb important minerals (calcium, potassium, and magnesium), which supports healthy development and maintenance of your bones and teeth.
9. Smooth functioning of vital organs: It supports liver function, prevents kidney and gall bladder problems.
10. Boosting energy: Coconut oil boosts energy levels and endurance, which helps in enhancing the performance of athletes. It can also help in improving focus and mental alertness. These healthy lifestyle tips will help boost your energy
11. Skin and Hair conditions: It is great in helping skin problems such as psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. When applied topically, it promotes healing and forms a protective layer on infected area to ward off external dust, air, fungi, bacteria and viruses. It can be used by pregnant women for reducing stretch marks; lactating women to heal cracked nipples and treat diaper rash in babies.
12. Natural beauty products: Coconut oil is recommended by natural-beauty experts for topical application on your face, arms and hair, as it helps in healing your skin while keeping it well nourished and hydrated. It can be used as carrier oil as it easily gets penetrated into the skin and facilitate absorption of essential oils and herbal extracts:
13. Skin Care: Coconut oil is excellent to soothe and moisturize your body, as it replenishes natural oils and leaves your skin looking healthy and well hydrated. You can also use it for massage, it is rich in antioxidants that help fight off skin damaging free radicals and prevent wrinkles and signs of premature aging.
14. Hair Care: Coconut oil is a good deep conditioner for your hair, as it can penetrate your hair better than other oils. So, let your hair soak it in overnight before washing your hair in the morning. You can also use a little coconut oil to tame frizzy hair and flyaway, while adding a natural shine on the hair ends.  Coconut oil is also known for its amazing “hair repair” benefits, as it helps in nourishing and healing damaged hair.
15. Nail Care: Coconut oil strengthens your nails and its moisturizing effect help in treating damaged cuticles. Further, its anti-fungal properties help in keeping your foot healthy and hygienic.
16. Dental Care: Swishing (oil pulling) anti bacterial coconut oil in your mouth for several minutes, not only reduces plaque formation and plaque induced gingivitis but also whitens your teeth.
17. Make up: You can use it to moisturize your lips and get that glossy effect. It can also be used as a cheek highlighter. Also, you can  effectively remove eye makeup with coconut oil, while leaving that delicate area moisturized.

Besides all these benefits, you can also use coconut oil as the base ingredient to make your own natural, chemical free body care products like scrub, toothpaste, lip balm, shampoo and more.

Coconut oil is delicious too; you can directly add it to your smoothies or morning tea or coffee for that extra energy and boost your metabolism. It remains stable at high temperatures, so it can be substituted for other vegetable oils and butter in baking and cooking. Also, it is solid at room temperature, so you can use it on your toast and sandwiches instead of butter. You can try adding it to your next batch of homemade cookies, granola bars and salad dressings for its great taste.

Here are some natural sugar alternatives that taste good too.

Choose organic, extra virgin, cold-pressed and non-hydrogenated coconut oil for edible and therapeutic uses while you can use unrefined oil for hair and skin care.