…We all love coconuts.
When you think about the word “coconut”, the first thing that comes to mind are places like Hawaii, the Philippines, or any tropical island known as a summer destination. The coconut itself has become a leader in the renewable industry as it offers a lot of uses ranging from a sweet afternoon snack to a major player in cosmetic ingredients. But among its many parts and functions, it’s the oil that has been receiving quite the attention from scientists and medical researchers alike.
Coconut oil is one of the most useful type of food in the market today. Its range of use covers beauty, cosmetics, antimicrobial treatments, and overall health. A testament to its usefulness is its yearly consumption by people all over the world. In fact, Americans alone consume an average of 516,000 metric tons of coconut oil in the past 5 years. That’s a lot of coconuts.
There’s a lot to say about coconut oil and its many wonderful properties but which health benefit should you actually care about? We compiled a list of the 5 most important health benefits you might find surprising. After all, you wouldn’t actually think a bottle of oil can do so much.
- Protects the brain from dementia
As we age, our brain simply begins to lose function and therefore becomes more prone to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. But research is promising when it comes to how coconut oil affects the brain. This is specially emphasized when studies confirm the benefit of coconut oil to people suffering from Alzheimer’s and Epilepsy.
- A fat that burns fat
Losing weight has always been the hot topic of the health and fitness community. Diet pills, machines, and weird claims on controversial methods, the list goes on with regards on just to lose weight the fastest and easiest way. But we all know losing weight is more about losing the extra fat and coconut oil might just have the thing you need.
Coconut oil is metabolized faster than it is stored as fat which enables your body to have more access to energy. In fact, a study has shown how just including coconut oil in the diet can make your body burn up to 5% more calories per day. If you’re currently using yohimbe pills for weight loss, using it together with coconut oil can be an effective long term approach to trimming off the extra calories.
- Fights Infection
Monolaurin has been shown to boost the immune system by warding off certain viruses and fungi. Monolaurin is a compound that is derived from Lauric Acid and coconut oil is comprised of 50% Lauric Acid which is a lot for a natural source. In this regard, coconut oil can actually help fight off infection and therefore speeding recovery.
- Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
When you get older, you start to worry about certain parts of your body and you realize you have to do twice the effort just to keep some of them functioning normally. One of those organs is the heart and it’s not exactly something that grows better with age.
We can always act in many ways to protect yourself from cardiovascular diseases such as improving your diet, trying to lose weight, or even good old fashioned exercise. But one thing research has confirmed is how coconut oil can also benefit the heart.
Coconut oil has the ability to improve blood cholesterol levels. The saturated fats in coconut oil raise HDL levels (the good cholesterol) while reducing LDL (the bad cholesterol). This is strongly supported by a study conducted in 2009 when it was compared to soybean oil.
- Appetite Suppressant
Eating sweets and processed food are all too common a sight when it comes to today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Due to this, many have grown bigger and heavier due to excessive calorie intake. You can barely go a mile without seeing someone struggle against the weight of their own body. When you think about it, it’s no wonder health and fitness sites and programs have been thriving for decades.
Most diet plans would agree that controlling your appetite for junk food is the key to maintaining a healthy diet. As it happens, coconut oil can indeed suppress a person’s appetite which can directly contribute to losing a significant amount of weight. It all plays out with self-control in the end, however, but coconut oil can help trick your brain to think it doesn’t need to eat your favorite bag of chips.
Conclusion
Coconut oil has displayed marvelous results when it comes to a wide array of health benefits. From protecting the brain to making you naturally lose weight, coconut oil might as well be considered a Swiss army knife as far as capability is concerned.
Fats and oils have earned a nasty reputation for being a catalyst to the dangers of one’s health. It’s only quite recent are we learning about the different ways fats and oils can benefit the human body and research about coconut oil is certainly promising.
