Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Wonders of Coconut Oil!

Coconut oil has been making a buzz in the health and fitness world. Many health experts claim that coconut oil is a healthy fat and miracle food that brings many wonders to your body. Aside from stimulating your hair growth, it’s said to be capable of lowering your bad cholesterol and even aid in your weight loss.

On the other hand, others claim that coconut oil is nothing but an over-hyped fad. They recommend cutting it immediately from your diet since it’s rich with saturated fat. If you’re confused about the health benefits of coconut oil, this post will help you find the answers to the most highly debated topics about coconut oil.

Can Coconut Oil Help in Weight Loss?

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While incorporating coconut oil into your diet helps you lose weight, the experts still recommend you should not only rely on using the food to reduce your belly fat. You should also eat other healthy foods.

According to the study published in Lipids Journal, the researchers tested the effects of incorporating coconut oil and soybean oil for about three months. The participants in both studies were women with abdominal obesity.

They were instructed to walk for 50 minutes every day and incorporate the oils in their balanced diet to maintain their weight. While the results suggest that both groups lost weight, the group who used coconut oil were the only ones who experienced a shrink in their waist measurements. Another study conducted on older patients who have heart disease also found that those who ate coconut oil were able to reduce their body weight and waistline.

Is It Good For Your Heart?

According to both studies mentioned above, coconut oil has the ability to boost your “good” HDL cholesterol while reducing the bad ones. It seems these results are backed by another study published in BMJ, where it compared the correlation of butter, coconut oil and olive oil to increase the risk of acquiring heart disease.

The participants of the study were divided into three groups. Each group was instructed to eat 50 grams of one of the three fats every day for four weeks. The study’s results showed the butter group experienced an increase in their bad LDL cholesterol. While those participants who use coconut oil had increased their good cholesterol levels compared to the other two groups. Although coconut oil is rich in natural saturated fats, it is believed it only affects your LDL levels, not the HDL that leads to cardiovascular diseases.

Should You Put Coconut Oil In Your Coffee?

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Combining coffee and coconut oil tend to be a common concoction for those who are following the keto diet according to the experts

Thanks to the keto diet (in which 75-90% of your calories must come from eating healthy fats), many people tend to add coconut oil in their coffee in an attempt to increase their fat intake. While it did increase your fat intake, it increases the fat in your coffee, instead of the coconut oil itself according to experts.

Combining the two liquid foods for your breakfast will end in having a super high-calorie meal which can lead to weight gain instead of losing weight. Instead of drinking coffee and putting coconut oil in it, the experts recommend you start your day by eating whole foods. You can dress your coconut oil in your veggie salad or have an avocado, herb omelet, eggs, and fruits for your breakfast.

Can You Use Coconut Oil in Cooking?

While coconut oil can be used in baking and cooking, the experts said to only use it in moderation since it only works in certain recipes.

They recommend you only add the oil for coconut-main recipes to add the rich flavor and texture like that of real coconut. Coconut oil is also best for making crusts, crumbles, bars, and cookies since it tends to hold the ingredients together. In most recipes, it can be a healthier version of butter.

Are all coconut oil the same?

No. According to the experts, a certain coconut oil’s natural components and nutrients depending on the process it had undergone. Most health nutritionists recommend you use organic coconut oil since it’s packed with the most nutrients.

Those coconut oils which had undergone bleaching, deodorizing and refining processes have significantly reduced the levels of nutrients it has. The authors of the BMJ study also recommend you buy virgin coconut oil since it has no chemical processing.