coconut oil

[Angelic]

I found some raw organic coconut oil (solid) that is on sale and I was wondering, what kind of recipes could I use this in? I guess I could use it making raw cookies, raw crust, not sure what else?

[Sharon in Colorado]

I will use it sparingly in recipes that are chilled and need to be somewhat solid, such as fudge or ice cream. The oil helps it solidify.

It's good for hair or skin too.

[juliebove]

I found some raw organic coconut oil (solid) that is on sale and I was wondering, what kind of recipes could I use this in? I guess I could use it making raw cookies, raw crust, not sure what else?

I tried it in corn chips. The corn chips didn't turn out but it wasn't because of the coconut oil. No corn chips I've made have turned out. Tried it in some breakfast cookies. They were not raw but done in the dehydrator. Didn't work. The oil just leaked out. Put some in RP's brownies. That worked!

[Lunar*Fey]

I've heard of people mixing it with a little raw sweetener (honey, agave, etc) and raw carob or cacao and forming into little balls and freezing. Never tried it though....
I just like to eat a little spoonful plain. It tastes perfect plain to me...I can only handle one spoonful though, or else I get sick.

[JennaBoBenna]

I like to add it to my green smoothies. I only use a little bit(maybe a tsp), otherwise it realllly overpowers the smoothie :eek:

[TP]

i drop it in my green smoothies too.. usually about a tablespoon..

[raw-a-go-go]

what is the cocnut oil good for - other than hair and skin? Is there some other nutritional value?

[luckitri]

Google coconut and you will find lots of information about the health properties. They claim it can kill candida and some sites even claim it will keep you from getting the Aids or the SARS but I haven't seen well documented studies to that effect. On the more believable side it is claimed that it will regulate your pancreas - sugar - insulin sitation and many other things. I started with organic coconut oil and now I do one young coconut every day and I am starting to see much benefit. I don't need creams for my body anymore either. I drain the juice into the blender and then scrape the meat into it and blend it. Today it was all I had all day until I got home from work. It fills you up without tiring you (or me). Babies are given young coconut juice if they can't nurse and during WWII they used it for IVs when they ran out of regular supplies. It is full of the electrolytes that you need from what I read. I LOVE young coconut and I have been raving about it all over this board so much that the price is going to go up!

[gyllisa]

lunar fry...why do you get sick if you use more than a tablespoon? stomach ache? hmm.....ate some raw chocolate sauce that had it in it, and stomach was upset...thought I just did bad food combining as that is new to me......

[juliebove]

what is the cocnut oil good for - other than hair and skin? Is there some other nutritional value?

It's excellent for weight loss. That's why I bought it to begin with. My ND told me that my daughter and I need to eat at least 1-2 T. of the stuff per day. She suggested to me that I try it on bread or crackers like I would eat butter. I then reminded her that I don't usually at bread or crackers. Okay, flax crackers I do eat, but only a tiny piece at a time. I did try putting it on a piece of flax cracker and indeed it tasted like butter.

She told me to melt it over my veggies. I reminded her that I don't eat cooked veggies. She told me that I could just eat a spoonful of it. She said that was what she was doing until she decided to bake with it. She always has samples of various things in her shop, usually gluten free for people to try. She said she never used to eat cakes, cookies, etc, but she decided to try eating them with the coconut oil in them. All her excess belly fat melted away in 2 weeks! Now granted she wasn't overweight to start with, and frankly I didn't see any excess belly fat but she said there was some. I noticed immediate weight loss once I began and my proportions are shifting to the way I want them. I've always had no read end, a tummy (even when overweight) and more recently a largish chest and belly. I am now losing inches from the chest and waist, the belly is getting flatter and I now have some hips and rear end! Never had those before. I also used to have a huge amount of excess skin around the belly after having my daughter and now that seems to be melting away! It's like a miracle. I am finding a way to eat the stuff even if It's just a tiny piece of cracker or apple or whatever with it on there.

I pop popcorn in it. No it's not raw, I know. I am still not 100% raw and this is one of the few cooked things I do eat on a regular basis. For my daughter I make zucchini bread and any other baked things (she doesn't get a lot of baked things mind you, but I do have to make them from scratch due to her allergies) with it in there. I add it to spaghetti sauce along with some olive oil, about 1/2 and 1/2. You could use it in place of olive oil in any recipe. But if you want the olive oil taste to shine through then you should probably use the 1/2 and 1/2 mix.

It's also purported to clear up skin problems such as psoriasis. I had some sort of odd spots on my face. Actually I developed some weird skin condition this past winter. My mom thought it was rosacea. She has it. Could be. I don't really know. I bought a bar of soap some time ago for rosacea and I began using it each night and also slathering some cream on my face that I bought at a gift shop on some island near here. My entire face cleared up except for one little spot on my chin. That just would not clear up! I ran out of the cream and have been unable to locate it anywhere since. I believe it was handmade due to the way it was packaged and all the writing wore off so I have no clue as to the brand or anything. Since I've started eating the coconut oil, that spot is cleared up. Now I can't say for certain that the coconut oil did it because the ND also started me on some supplements including one called HSN-W, Hair, Skin and Nails formula.

But for the weight loss and belly fat in particular it is stellar! So much so that people are noticing it on me and trying it just because of the results I got. Now granted some of the people I know hate the taste of coconut and have resorted to taking it in pill form. Those people claim not to have seen any results. But it may well be that what they are taking is not pure and raw.

I copied this information from the Swanson Health Products website. I copied it rather than posting a link because I didn't want this to look like spam. I have bought products from them before and I trust them to be a reliable source of information. My ND and my mom's ND have looked at their products wanting to find fault with them most likely because they themselves sell similar products, but they really couldn't find anything wrong with them.

"
“The truth about coconut oil was far too valuable to remain hidden forever.”

Lee Swanson, President of Swanson Health Products




Swanson Ultra
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
16 oz (454 g) Solid Oil
SWANSON $7.39

In the 1950s it seems like our two biggest fears were Communism and coconut oil! As crazy as it sounds now, saturated fats and Nikita Khrushchev were vilified with equal intensity. After all, butter, egg yolks, palm oil and coconut oil were seen as the culprits responsible for the sharp spike in heart disease evidenced throughout the course of the 20th century—a genuine threat to the nation’s health and happiness. What I’ve come to appreciate over the years, however, is that a bigger thing to fear is how one bit of misinterpreted information can appear to be the incontrovertible truth, and in some situations, cause untold damage. This is surely the case with coconut oil. I wonder how many health problems could have been averted if the general public had known the facts about it.

So what is the truth about coconut oil?
While it’s true that coconut oil is a saturated fat, the flawed conclusion was that all saturated fats are harmful. If this strongly held opinion wasn’t originally an error made by the scientific community, then it was an outright piece of marketing propaganda by the vegetable oil industry. The irony of the latter situation is that it’s the polyunsaturated oils like safflower and corn oil—the very oils that were held in high esteem—that can be deleterious to health. But the medium-chain triglyceride forms of saturated fats such as coconut oil are decidedly beneficial for us.

I thought butter was bad for us…
Chemically speaking, coconut oil and butter are very different from each other. Butter belongs to a class of saturated fats known as long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), whereas coconut oil is a medium-chain triglyderide (MCT), and this makes all the difference in the world. Along with transfatty acids and hydrogenated fats, we should avoid saturated LCTs as much as possible. Foods in this class include butter, ice-cream, half-and-half cream, cheese and fatty meats. On the other hand, MCTs are good for us. Another example of an MCT that you may have heard about is conjugated linoleic acid or "CLA."

Back up a minute. You said that safflower and corn oil are also harmful. How so?
Safflower and corn oils are also long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), but unlike butter, they are polyunsaturated, not saturated, fats, so they don’t tend to clog the arteries like butter does. They’re ok when they’re used at room temperature in a salad dressing; still they may create an unbalanced ratio of Omega-6 EFAs in the body, which isn’t good. However, the real trouble begins when they’re used to fry or cook food because they’re not at all stable when exposed to high temperatures, and the oxidation that occurs when they’re heated causes a flurry of free radicals in the body. It really hasn’t been until the last decade or so that health experts have fully understood the magnitude of how free radicals negatively affect our health. They’re the root cause of all sorts of problems in our body. Coconut oil is much more stable and isn’t damaged at high temperatures, so there are no free radicals created.

Are there any other benefits of coconut oil?
In addition to stability, which is reason enough to use coconut oil exclusively, many of its unique benefits lie in the fact that coconut oil is comprised of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), or medium-chain fatty acids. Another big advantage to MCTs is that they’re easily digested, whereas LCTs can put a big strain on the entire digestive system including the pancreas. And you definitely do not want to overtax this important organ!

But MCTs are fat, so won’t coconut oil make me fat just like butter or cream cheese does?
While coconut oil is a fat and it contains 9 calories per gram like all other fats, the surprising answer is no, it doesn’t make you fat. One of the benefits of MCTs is that they are sent directly to the liver to be used for energy. It’s the LCTs, both the saturated kind like butter and the polyunsaturated kind like soy oil, that are stored in the body as fat. Coconut oil actually stimulates the body’s metabolism, and this action leads to weight loss. Energy levels increase as well. When you boost your metabolic rate other bodily processes improve, too, like cell regeneration and immune system function—two more important reasons to use more coconut oil in your diet!

You’re saying that coconut oil can boost the immune system?
I know it sounds too good to be true, but eating foods directly from nature the way our Creator intended makes sense—they’re compatible with the way the human body was designed to function. Coconut oil contains a compound called lauric acid that is also found naturally in mother’s milk and protects the baby from viral and bacterial infections. In fact, up to 50% of coconut’s fatty acid content is lauric acid. It’s one of the tastiest ways ever to stay healthy and protected from all kinds of would-be invaders seeking to do your body harm. Coconut oil is likely the reason why natives living in the tropics, an ideal environment for parasites, are protected from their virulent effects.

I’m anxious to try it! I have no idea how to use it, though, so are there any easy ways to incorporate it in the diet? I really don’t want to butter my bread with coconut oil!
One of the easiest ways to use coconut oil in the diet is to mix a spoonful in hot tea. Others prefer to blend an exotic smoothie with whey powder, pineapple or papaya juice, a frozen banana (peel the banana and freeze beforehand) and a spoonful of coconut oil. It’s absolutely delicious and incredibly healthful! Many people simply substitute it for cooking oil and use it for frying potatoes, etc. Or how about sautéing shrimp? One of the product specialists here at Swanson replaces the shortening in her chocolate chip cookie recipe with coconut oil (use in a 3:4 ratio, so use ¾ cup for each cup of shortening or butter called for in a recipe), and I remember a former employee who ate it straight off the spoon. I’m told that it even cleared up the cracks in her feet!

Coconut oil is so stable that it doesn’t require refrigeration and will retain freshness even after a year at room temperature. I can’t say enough good things about coconut oil, but I don’t expect you to truly believe me until you try it for yourself. I do know you won’t be disappointed!"

[spicyfull]

I don't use coconut oil. Maybe it is from my many years as a vegetarian and I know that it can be solid at room temperature.

[juliebove]

I don't use coconut oil. Maybe it is from my many years as a vegetarian and I know that it can be solid at room temperature.

Yes. It is solid in the jar but it melts very easily. Put a bit in your hand and it melts. And during this last batch of hot weather, mine melted.

[madmel]

I love the smell of it - open the jar and I think I am in heaven. Coconut heaven that is ;)

I like to pour it over some fruit in the morning or have a teaspoon in my smoothie when I have some.

I haven't seen any weightloss but so many good things are attributed to this oil that I just think it's healthy for you. And it tastes good too ;)

I also put some in my nutbutters when I make them myself, gives them a nice coco-taste that isn't overpowering.

mel

[Minnie]

that there are two different kinds of coconut oil, scented and unscented. I bought white, extra virgin coconut oil and it has a strong smell and taste. Later I was reading another jar of yellowish, more processed, regular coconut oil and it was saying something about "...neutral flavor..." and I'm like, "WHAT NEUTRAL FLAVOR!!! NO WAY!!!" (because I thought it was the same flavor). Then recently, I was is a raw dessert class and learned about the difference between white, scented, strong-flavored, extra virgin coconut oil and yellowish, unscented, more neutral-flavored, more processed, regular coconut oil. :eek:

Later when I went to purchase the regular kind for a recipe I read the two jars of the same brand and the regular said "neutral flavor" and the extra virgin said "unique flavor."

How many of you knew about the 2 flavors of coconut oils? How many of you didn't? :p

Minnie :D

PS The one you want to use for losing weight and more health benefits is extra virgin, but the other one is good for certain recipes.

[juliebove]

that there are two different kinds of coconut oil, scented and unscented. I bought white, extra virgin coconut oil and it has a strong smell and taste. Later I was reading another jar of yellowish, more processed, regular coconut oil and it was saying something about "...neutral flavor..." and I'm like, "WHAT NEUTRAL FLAVOR!!! NO WAY!!!" (because I thought it was the same flavor). Then recently, I was is a raw dessert class and learned about the difference between white, scented, strong-flavored, extra virgin coconut oil and yellowish, unscented, more neutral-flavored, more processed, regular coconut oil. :eek:

Later when I went to purchase the regular kind for a recipe I read the two jars of the same brand and the regular said "neutral flavor" and the extra virgin said "unique flavor."

How many of you knew about the 2 flavors of coconut oils? How many of you didn't? :p

Minnie :D

PS The one you want to use for losing weight and more health benefits is extra virgin, but the other one is good for certain recipes.

I bought Nutiva. It's white, lightly scented and has a very mild taste to it. However, my friend said that of the two they sell at the health food store, this one is the more strongly flavored. Hmmm... I will have to look again. I don't think I've ever seen any that is yellowish.

[Sheryl]

The unscented one is referred to as RBD coconut oil. That stands for:

Refined
Bleached
Deoderized

They need to do this because the coconut is often old, black and rancid when they make this type of oil. It needs to go through many steps to make it usable as a food.

For this reason I would never buy the unscented oil (what a great marketing gimic, to call it unscented). The scented ones are made using fresh coconuts and are much better for you.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Minnie]

Here's some info about what you were saying:
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/what_is_virgin_coconut_oil.htm

But this company's refined coconut oil seems to be processed different. They call it Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil:
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/epco.htm
see how it's yellowish. :p

Minnie :)

[alex]

Expeller pressed
Cold pressed

these are marketing terms and really have no meaning. The two important words to look for are 'organic' and 'unrefined'. Our bodies require some saturated fat.

The melting point of coconut oil is about 75 F.

alex

[Angelic]

Wow! I had no idea that coconut oil had so many uses and good benefits :) , I will definitely get some..the one they were selling was raw, organic, I hope it is still on sale. Thanks for all the ideas!

[raw-a-go-go]

thanks to everyone with all the information. I am off to find some right now.

[luckitri]

My local health food store sells extra virgin coconut oil that is both scented and unscented. I have one of each. My husband was starting to enjoy his food with the unscented one but now he is considering raw. I can't handle much oil in my food at all until I found coconut oil. I often like to shop at the Asian markets for items I can't get elsewhere (like watercress and coconuts and tamarind!) Recently I checked their brand of coconut oil. YECCHHHH!!! It has a stale petroleum product used exhaust smell. I wouldn't want it in my food, on my skin, my hair my dog! Now I have to really search for items to buy with my coconuts there because I don't need the spices anymore!

[Angelic]

Just wanted to let you guys know that the Vitamin shoppe online has the raw organic coconut oil on sale for $20.99 for 54 oz...it is normally 29.99, also the shipping was only 2.99 I also had a promotion code (7234) that got me $10 off my order. :)