The use of coconut oil diminished when doctors discovered the dangers of saturated fats, but recently coconut oil has come back into vogue. It’s being toted as one of the latest super foods.

Personally, I’m not into the whole super food thing because of a bad experience I had with spirulina, but that’s another story for another blog post. I do use extra virgin coconut oil though. For the longest time I only used it on my skin in place of lotion and to moisture my hair. I don’t like the idea of putting anything on my skin that I wouldn’t eat, and I love the smell of coconut. After doing some reading about the health benefits of coconut oil I decided to use it in my cooking.

Coconut oil has been used in Polynesia and Asian cultures for many years. It’s even used in traditional medicine practices. Now people in the Western world are starting to recognize the benefits of coconut oil.

Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids. This makes it easier for your body to process than vegetable oils. Most vegetable oils contain long chain fatty acids that store as fat in your body. The fatty acids in coconut oil are turned to energy by your liver easily without being stored as fat. It also contains enzymes that help the oil digest more easily and aids in the digestion of other foods eaten with the oil.

It contains lauric acid which is one of the most important fatty acids for boosting immunity. The only more concentrated source of lauric acid is found in human breast milk.

Coconut oil is more stable than other oils. It maintains it’s integrity even when heated at high temperatures, unlike olive oil which turns rancid at high temperature. The fats in oil olive easily become bad fats when heated. That’s why you shouldn’t use olive oil for frying.

Virgin coconut oil is a solid. It can be used in cooking or in baking to replace butter or shortening. It can also be added to smoothies. Good quality coconut oil has a fresh coconut scent. You can buy it at your local health store. It will give your food a slightly coconuty flavor. I find it works best in curries and stir fries.

Photo by KhayaL