Coconut Oil

Trying to keep your health in tip top shape is hard but what if I told you that when you add a little bit of coconut oil into your food each day that it could help improve your health?
Fats have always gotten a bad rap but they are now on the rise with the latest trend in health being good healthy fats... its a trend for a reason, because it makes sense! Healthy fats were never bad for you in the first place!

First off, when I heard about this all powerful magical oil I  had to find out why it was so amazing. To date, there are over 1,500 studies proving coconut oil to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet.
This is what I asked myself when I went to the store to find this goodie:
What is it's purpose, and how does it benefit me?

• Easier to digest
• Not readily stored as fat 
• Antimicrobial and anti-fungal (this is a biggy especially for diy cosmetics) 
• Smaller in size, allowing easier cell permeability for immediate energy
• Processed by the liver, which means that they're immediately converted to energy instead of being stored as fat

What is the best form of coconut oil?
1.) It has to be organic.
When our food is sprayed with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides all over them then it will deplete the dirt of nutrition and we will also be in taking these toxic chemicals into our system. So not only will our coconut oil have less value it will also bring residues into and onto our bodies therefore making our coconut oil almost useless to us.
2.) You really want to look for unrefined coconut oil. Meaning there has really been nothing done to it. So it will be in its purest form and you will get all of the nutriants and vitamins from the coconut and the powers of the oil.
 Tip: Thrivemarket has a really great coconut oil!

What do I do since I'm not big on coconuts but huge on the healing properties?
You just need to look for the refined coconut oil. Refined just means that it has been heated up at a low temperature. It helps the super strong coconut smell to be almost non existent. This process does take away some of the vitamins but not much and all of the healing powers of the oil are still in tact.

How can you apply it to food and cosmetics?
Cooking with Coconut oil is so great for you. Nutritionists also say that it is better to heat up coconut oil in a pan to cook with than olive oil. Because when you cook with olive oil it actually will go bad faster in your stomach.
Tip: When heating up your vegetables in a pan use clarified butter (ghee) or coconut oil. Olive oil has more powers for you when added to raw or already cooked food.

Cosmetic Tip: Coconut oil is great for burns, scars, bruises, acne and dry skin.
 Look out for upcoming recipes on squishy Bananas!


-Rachel