Studies have also shown that ingesting coconut oil significantly increases the production and resulting number of ketone bodies in the blood. According to a article in Science Daily , fungal infections cause more than 1. More than half the composition of coconut oil is a saturated fat that belongs to the classification of medium-chain fatty acids.
These powerful properties of coconut oil can effectively relieve fungal infections. Do you wash your hands repeatedly throughout the day to prevent potential infection? Are you exposed to extremely cool or dry conditions because of your climate?
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Do you suffer from a skin condition that is exacerbated by lifestyle or environmental factors? Uncomfortable dry skin can affect any part of your body. Not only do you want to get rid of dry patches on your skin, you want a dry-skin soother that also provides protection from infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and microbes that can attack the vulnerable areas of the skin that have become cracked and irritated by dryness.
This benefits your body by helping it better absorb and deliver essential nutrients needed for optimal skin health. By maintaining a daily dietary regimen that includes the consumption of coconut oil for skin health, you can quickly, easily, and safely improve internal conditions that prevent dry skin and keep your skin moisturized regardless of the external conditions it has to endure.
Bioactivated Alive Organic Coconut Oil Hands down the highest quality and freshest coconut oil available. Then they press the old, dry coconut meat to extract the oil, which is not ideal and results in a significantly less healthy oil. The clogging of the pores, which are responsible for purging bacteria, dirt, grime, and germs that cause irritation, can lead to redness, irritation, blackheads, whiteheads, or acne. Products that contain salicylic acid, a powerful synthetic acid intended to kill bacteria that cause acne, can actually cause more irritation and can lead to other conditions including dryness, overproduction of oils in response to the dryness , inflammation, and possibly contribute to wrinkles.
Coconut oil: Healthful or unhealthful?
By opting for a more natural treatment method—coconut oil—for your skin, you can achieve results that will leave your face acne-free and moisturized, without unpleasant side effects. Soak a cotton ball in liquefied oil and apply a light coating of oil to your skin as often as desired. It can also assist in maintaining a healthy balance of oils on the skin and keep your skin free of acne-causing bacteria to further minimize the development of acne.
An acne study published in the Journal of Dermatological Science in found that lauric acid inhibited bacterial growth and reduced inflammation. This anti-inflammatory property can reduce redness and irritation on the skin where blotches and discoloration occur. Try blending in tea tree, oregano, or rosemary essential oils for added benefits. Additionally, these potions and lotions may be packed with harsh chemicals that can damage your hair or seep through your scalp and infiltrate your blood stream through the numerous veins that lie just below the skin of your scalp.
Its moisturizing properties help to maximum moisture retention at the base of the hair shaft. The oil also benefits and stimulates collagen production, due to its lauric acid and capric acid that combine to promote the regeneration of skin cells and hair follicle production , which can help improve hair quality and encourage new hair growth. A teaspoon of coconut oil added to their water bowl could result in a more active dog or cat. Another key to all of these coconut oil uses is the product's affordability. A jar of coconut oil isn't expensive at all, and when you factor in all of its possible uses, its value goes up even further.
Many of these uses fall under the body and beauty category, and while beauty brands have certainly jumped on the coconut oil train, there are plenty of ways you can use the oil on your own, straight from the jar. For instance, the health, wellness, beauty, and style magazine Self checked out nine uses and chose coconut oil as a makeup remover as its top hack. Meanwhile, the women's health monthly Prevention placed a spotlight on coconut oil as a simple, natural balm for dry skin.
For your DIY beauty coconut oil uses, consider it as a skin moisturizer including a coconut oil night mask , a shaving cream replacement, or a salve. For your hair, coconut oil can be used to treat damaged or unruly locks, much in the same way as a hot oil treatment can. In addition to nourishing the scalp , coconut oil can coat the hair and protect it from losing sebum too rapidly.
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As noted earlier, there's an ongoing debate on the food benefits of coconut oil. Though coconut oil is high in saturated fats, the kind of fat — medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs — aren't stored in the body and thus, those who swear by the oil will tell you that this is what makes all the difference. According to WebMD , athletes turn to MCTs for "nutritional support during training, as well as for decreasing body fat and increasing lean muscle mass.
This said, a recent survey by The New York Times , in partnership with the Morning Consult , found that the court of public opinion is vastly different from that of nutritionists when it comes to certain foods, among them coconut oil. While 72 percent of the public would describe coconut oil as "healthy," less than 40 percent of the nutritionists surveyed could say the same 37 percent.
Secret ingredient: 'Medium-chain' fatty acids
Thus, when talking about the food uses for coconut oil, do some research. As in most all cases, it's always best to have as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
Fat suffered a bad reputation for a long time and we were told to opt for low-fat options instead. But the tides turned eventually, prompting us to see fats in a new light. Our lives became simpler. We learned how to avoid bad saturated and hydrogenated fats and eat good unsaturated ones to keep our tickers and arteries healthy.
Then the humble coconut came along in , and the waters were once again muddied.
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Seen by some as a superfood but recently labeled by the American Heart Association AHA as part of the pool of unhealthful fats, the controversy goes on. So, what are the scientific facts behind the coconut oil hype, and what are the latest developments? Many of the purported health claims surrounding coconut oil stem from research published in by Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.
St-Onge found that in overweight women, consumption of medium-chain fatty acids — such as those found in coconut oil — led to an increase in energy expenditure and fat oxidation compared with women who ate long-chain or saturated fatty acids. St-Onge used a specially formulated fat diet in her study, not coconut oil, and she never claimed that coconut oil was the secret to the results seen in her research.
In fact, a study involving 40 women showed that 30 milliliters of coconut oil — consumed daily for a week period — increased good high-density lipoprotein HDL levels, accompanied by a reduction in waist circumference.
Despite the number of studies casting coconut oil in a favorable light, the AHA issued an advisory note on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease in June , recommending that we replace saturated fats with more healthful unsaturated fats. This includes coconut oil. Saturated fat is bad for our cardiovascular health. However, there is another twist to this fascinating tale.
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While low-density lipoprotein LDL is generally thought of as "bad" cholesterol , the HDL type is widely accepted as being its "healthful" counterpart. Yet in , we covered three studies that potentially turn what we know about fats and cholesterol on its head.
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The first strudy found that saturated fats may not "clog" our arteries after all, while the second one uncovered a link between "good" HDL and mortality. The third study , published in November , showed that high levels of HDL may not protect us from heart disease , as previously thought.
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One of the problems with the controversy surrounding coconut oil is the lack of good-quality, large-scale human studies. Kay-Tee Khaw, a professor of clinical gerontology, and Dr. Nita Gandhi Forouhi, a professor of population health and nutrition — both at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom — the team compared the effects of coconut oil, olive oil, and butter in 94 human volunteers. Each study participant was asked to consume 50 grams of one of these fats daily for 4 weeks.
The results came as a surprise.