23 June 2010

The Wonders of Coconut Oil


One of the most vital areas to be on top of nutritionally is making sure you are using the right fats and oils in your diet. This is an area of great confusion - confusion deliberately created to drive consumers to artificial fats and oils as well as cheapies like canola and soy bean oil. That's another instance of the corporations lining their pockets at the expense of our health. Not to mention all the medico-babble about dangerous fat and high cholesterol, blah, blah, blah, blah... All of which has resulted in poor health outcomes for the public so confused.

So take it easy, Greasy- You got a long way to slide-!

The Wonders of Coconut Oil

NaturalNews) People who really know about health know about virgin coconut oil. It's the oil of choice for health-conscious people, and it's used in everything from smoothies (delicious!) to personal care products. You can use coconut oil both inside and outside your body.It's even useful for cooking because coconut oil has a much higher temperature tolerance than even extra virgin olive oil. Its fat molecules stay intact, in other words, at higher stovetop temperatures, so that makes it safer for use as a cooking oil.

It's also widely used in raw foods recipe as a stabilizer and source of delicious plant-based fats with their own unique nutritional properties.Virgin coconut oil is 44.6% lauric acid, 16.8% myristic acid, and 8.2% palmitic acid, and it's composed mostly of medium-chain-fatty-acids (MCFA). MCFAs are widely regarded as extremely useful for providing sustainable energy due to their molecular structure. Many bodybuilders and athletes rely on MCFAs as a key part of their high-performance diets.I've been an advocate of organic virgin coconut oil for years, recommending all the top companies such as Nutiva (www.Nutiva.com) and Vivapura (www.VivaPura.net). They provide outstanding coconut oil products that I use myself on a regular basis.

How coconut oil is harvested and extracted

Ever wonder how premium coconut oil is actually made? Here's where ours comes from:First, whole coconuts are collected fresh off the tree, then shelled to remove the outer shell (the brown skin).The white coconut meat is removed and ground at low temperatures into granules. These granules are then dried at 104 - 113 degrees Fahrenheit for 2.5 hours.Once dried, the coconut granules are loaded into a customized cold-process expeller that squeezes out the oil. This is also done at 113 degrees or lower in order to preserve the raw nutrients.The oil that comes out is then loaded into a centrifuge machine that spins it at high speed to remove any moisture or particulate matter. (The solid coconut matter that comes out is used to make coconut flour, which can be substituted for wheat in baking recipes.)The resulting oil is called "Virgin Coconut Oil." It is then poured into the final containers, labeled and shipped.Note that there is no cooking, pasteurization, fumigation, hydrogenation or other artificial process involved. This is all about harvesting the coconut meat, drying it, then pressing out the oils to be captured, filtered and packaged. It is probably the most natural process you can find for consuming coconut oil other than picking and eating the coconut yourself.Coconut oil has a surprisingly long shelf life -- up to several years on the shelf due to its ability to naturally resist oxidation. When stored in the refrigerator, it is naturally a solid. When warmed in ambient room temperature, it becomes a liquid.
Using virgin coconut oil

Here are several ideas for using coconut oil. If you're right now cooking in a pan with something like olive oil, try replacing that with coconut oil. Coconut oil resists creating high-heat carcinogens, meaning you can cook with it at higher temperatures without poisoning your food as often happens with corn oil, soybean oil or other cheap, low-end vegetable oils.

Secondly, you can add coconut oil to just about any smoothie to give it a fatty "ice cream" flavor and texture. Try blending frozen fruit with palm sugar and coconut oil! It makes a delicious, ice cream textured dessert that will just blow your mind with its nutritional potency, too. (Your kids can eat this all day long, guilt free!)If you're into raw foods recipes, you'll find yourself using coconut oil for all kinds of things. Especially desserts, where coconut oil is often part of the icing that goes on the raw cake or pie. It's super delicious! (And also guilt free...)

You can use coconut oil in practically any recipe that calls for vegetable oil or shortening. Shortening, by the way, is just hydrogenated vegetable oil. I hope you never eat that because it's terrible for your health. Replace it with coconut oil for the sake of your health...

Coconut oil can also be used as a partial replacement for butter. It doesn't quite have the butter taste, but it's close, and the healthy fats in it resemble butter in many recipes. (Try replacing half the butter in a recipe with coconut oil.)

Finally, you can use this coconut oil to make your own skin care products. Melt a small amount of bees wax in a pan with coconut oil, add some medicinal herbs or tinctures, and you've made your own skin salve! Coconut oil is a wonderful base for all sorts of personal care products. I've even seen it packaged as a personal lubricant (no kidding!). It's great for skin, hair, face and your entire body, head to toe.The key is getting the good quality coconut oil that hasn't been cooked. That's why you'll really like what we've acquired for you here: It's a premium-grade coconut oil that's perfect for smoothies, cooking, baking and personal care needs.Get some while our supplies last. As with most of our specials, this is a one-time shipment that will probably be sold out within a few days.Click here to get some of this coconut oil for yourself today.You'll really enjoy this oil. I'm stocking up on some for my own kitchen!

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