Coconut oil has many health benefits that include hair care, skin care,
stress relief, cholesterol level maintenance, weight loss, boosted
immune system, proper digestion and regulated metabolism. It also
provides relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood
pressure, diabetes, and cancer, while helping to improve dental
quality and bone strength.
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| Coconut |
These benefits of oil can be attributed to
the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and their
respective properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal,
antibacterial and soothing qualities.
Coconut oil is used extensively in tropical countries especially
India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines etc., which have a good
production of coconut oil. At one time, the oil was also popular in
western countries like the United States and Canada, but there was a
strong propaganda campaign in the 1970s spread by the corn oil and soy
oil industry against coconut oil. Coconut oil was considered harmful for
the human body due to its high saturated fat content until the last
decade (2000s) when people began to question the claims of the
propaganda. Next, let’s look into some more details of how coconut oil
works in our body.
How is lauric acid used by our body?
The human body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which is
supposedly helpful in dealing with viruses and bacteria that cause
diseases such as herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, It
also helps in fighting harmful bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes
and helicobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa such as giardia lamblia.
As a result of these various health benefits of coconut oil, although
its exact mechanism of action was unknown, it has been extensively used
in Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system. The Coconut Research Center has compiled a list of potential benefits of coconut oil in both traditional and modern medicine.
Before we move on to the benefits of coconut oil in detail, we should first understand its composition.
Composition of Coconut Oil
- Saturated fatty acids: Most of them are medium
chain triglycerides, which are supposed to assimilate well in the body’s
systems. Lauric acid is the chief contributor, representing more than
forty percent of the total, followed by capric acid, caprylic acid,
myristic acid and palmitic.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids: Linoleic acid.
- Monounsaturated fatty acids: Oleic acid.
- Poly-phenols: Coconut contains Gallic acid, which
is also known as phenolic acid. These polyphenols are responsible for
the fragrance and the taste of coconut oil and Virgin Coconut Oil is
rich in these polyphenols.
- Certain derivatives of fatty acid like betaines, ethanolamide,
ethoxylates, fatty esters, fatty polysorbates, monoglycerides and polyol
esters.
- Fatty chlorides, fatty alcohol sulphate and fatty alcohol ether sulphate, all of which are derivatives of fatty alcohols.
- Vitamin E, vitamin K and minerals such as iron.
Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
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| Coconut oil |
Skin care
Coconut oil is an excellent massage oil for the skin as well. It acts
as an effective moisturizer on all types of skin, including dry skin.
The benefit of coconut oil on the skin is comparable to that of mineral
oil. Fortunately, unlike mineral oil, there is no chance of having any
adverse side effects on the skin from the application of coconut oil.
Coconut oil therefore is a safe solution for preventing dryness and
flaking of skin. It also delays the appearance of wrinkles and sagging
of skin which normally accompany aging. Coconut oil also helps in
treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections.
For that exact reason, coconut oil forms the base ingredient of various
body care products like soaps, lotions, and creams that are used for
skin care. Coconut oil also helps in preventing premature aging and degenerative diseases due to its well-known antioxidant properties.
Hair care:
Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrients for your hair. It
helps in healthy growth of hair and gives your hair a shiny quality. It
is also highly effective in reducing protein loss which can lead to various unattractive or unhealthy qualities in your hair.
Coconut oil is extensively used in the Indian sub-continent for hair
care. Most of the people in those countries apply coconut oil on their
hair every day after bathing or showering. It is an excellent
conditioner and helps the re-growth process of damaged hair. It also
provides the essential proteins required for nourishing and healing
damaged hair. Research studies indicate that coconut oil provides better protection to hair from damage caused by hygral fatigue.
By regularly massaging your head with coconut oil, you can ensure
that your scalp is free of dandruff, even if your scalp is chronically
dry. It also helps in keeping your hair and scalp free from lice and
lice eggs.
Coconut oil is therefore used as hair care oil and is used in
manufacturing various conditioners and dandruff relief creams. Coconut
oil is normally applied topically for hair care.
Heart diseases
There is a misconception spread among many people that coconut oil is
not good for heart health. This is because it contains a large quantity
of saturated fats.
In reality, coconut oil is
beneficial for
the heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in actively
preventing various heart problems like high cholesterol levels and high
blood pressure. The saturated fats present in coconut oil are not
harmful as you commonly find in vegetable oils. Coconut oil does not
lead to increase in LDL levels, and it reduces the incidence of injury
and damage to arteries and therefore helps in preventing
atherosclerosis.
Weight loss
Coconut oil is very useful for weight loss.
It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off
excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy
functioning of the thyroid and endocrine system. Further, it increases
the body’s metabolic rate by removing stress on the pancreas, thereby
burning more energy and helping obese and overweight people lose the
weight. Hence, people living in tropical coastal areas, who use coconut
oil every day as their primary cooking oil, are normally not fat, obese
or overweight.
Immunity
Coconut oil is also good for the immune system. It strengthens the
immune system because it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid,
capric acid and caprylic acid which have
antifungal,
antibacterial and
antiviral properties. The human body converts lauric acid into
monolaurin which research has supported as an effective way to deal with
viruses and bacteria that cause diseases like herpes, influenza,
cytomegalovirus, Coconut oil helps in fighting harmful bacteria like
listeria monocytogenes and
helicobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa such as
giardia lamblia.
Digestion
Internal functions of coconut oil occur primarily due to it being
used as cooking oil. Coconut oil helps to improve the digestive system
and thus prevents various stomach and digestion-related problems
including
Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The saturated fats present in
coconut oil have antimicrobial properties and help in dealing with
various bacteria, fungi, and parasites that can cause indigestion.
Coconut oil also helps in the absorption of other nutrients such as
vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Candida
Coconut has been shown to prevent and even cure candida. It provides
relief from the inflammation caused by candida, both externally and
internally. Its high moisture retaining capacity keeps the skin from
cracking or peeling off. Further, unlike other pharmaceutical treatments
for candida, the effects of coconut oil is gradual and not drastic or
sudden, which gives the patient an appropriate amount of time to get
used to the withdrawal symptoms or Herxheimer Reactions (the name given
to the symptoms accompanying body’s rejection of toxins generated during
elimination of these fungi). But, in the treatment of this condition,
people should systematically and gradually increase their dosages of
coconut oil and shouldn’t initially start with a large quantity.
Candida, also known as Systemic Candidiasis, is a tragic disease
caused from excessive and uncontrolled growth of yeast called Candida
Albicans in the stomach. This yeast is more or less present in
everyone’s stomach, but it doesn’t manifest any adverse effects since
its growth is controlled by the beneficial bacteria which also resides
in our stomach. There are many reasons for this uncontrolled growth of
yeast. For example, if other destructive bacteria or the use of
antibiotics which ultimately end up in eliminating these bacteria, there
can be an imbalance of bacteria and a problem like
Candida can develop.
Also, bleaching or washing of your stomach with medicines or excessive
use of chemical laxatives or ingestion of poisonous material can cause
the yeast or fungi to start growing very fast and can lead to Candida.
Symptoms of candida:
The symptoms of Candida include
infection in the genitals, urinary tract and bladder, stomach &
intestines, ear, nose and throat, itchy and dry skin,
inflammations in
internal organs and skin, patching & peeling off of skin
(particularly in scalp), digestive and excretory disorders and problems
with your hair and nails.
This disease is very common in Europe and America, possibly due to
the cold and moist climate and general food preparation, storage, and
comsumption habits. In these places, a large portion of their food is
comprised of food stuffs which, in some way or the other, are processed
with yeast or fermented. For example, these cultures heavily rely on
foods like bread, other baked items, cheese and above all, wine and
other alcoholic drinks. These things also assist growth of Candida
Albicans in the body. The various fatty acids found in the coconut oil
are beneficial in counteracting the effects of these habits and can be
used to treat Candida.
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