Coconut Oil Passes Muster
Posted by terrepruitt on October 27, 2015
For years I have been hearing about how great coconut oil is. The claims are numerous. You’ve probably heard them, too, right? Things like the information found on Medical News Today: Coconut oil may increase level of HDL (“good cholesterol”). It may also help improve glucose tolerance and reduce body fat accumulation. May help decrease waist size. Coconut oil’s fat structure is more difficult for bodies to convert to stored fat and is easier to burn off. Well, I DO NOT like the taste of coconut at all, I don’t even like the smell. I am not the one that enjoys all that suntan lotion and all those products that smell like coconut. So I have never bothered to try coconut oil. I didn’t want to buy it to try it then end up not liking it. But, I finally decided to try it. It does not taste or even smell like coconut.
I was relieved, even presently surprised that this oil has no odor at all. I also cannot detect any flavor. And it seems to work just like other oil. The issue I am having though is I don’t yet know how much to use. I don’t measure so I am not yet used to eyeing the semi-solid oil. I used it to roast some butternut squash, and I just dropped some clumps of oil on the cut up squash, and it turned out to be a bit much. Tonight I rubbed some on the eggplant I was roasting and I could have used more. I have only used it three times, so I will get better at it. I will, probably break down and start measuring until I can eye it from there.
Wiki has the following to say about coconut oil:
“Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). It has various applications as food or in cosmetics. Because of its high saturated fat content, it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to six months at 24 °C (75 °F) without spoiling.
Many health organizations advise against regular consumption of coconut oil due to its high levels of saturated fat (similar to that of animal fat) having potential to increase risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Also the chart on Wiki shows that coconut oil is only beat out by hydrogenated cottonseed oil when it comes to saturated fat.
So, like everything, if you are interested, you have to do the research and then decide for yourself if it is something you care to add to your diet. Since coconut oil does not smell nor taste coconutty like I thought it would, I might continue to add it to our diet. I will at least finish off this container. We use oil olive which seems to have more health benefits than coconut oil, but as I said, we will at least use up this container.
Do you use coconut oil? Do you use it for all of your cooking or just certain kind? What do you use it for?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Jill Campana said
We only use coconut oil and have for 10 years. We take a teaspoon internally for all sorts of things; it’s good for the skin; it’s great to cook with. We use it to do oil pulling for dental cleanliness. It’s the bomb.
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terrepruitt said
🙂 (waving at you!)
Yeah, I knew there were some people who use only it. Thanks for the input!
XO
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Liv said
You may want to avoid the Trader Joe’s brand coconut oil because to me that brand smells and tastes like coconut…which is not a problem for me but with your coconut aversion, it may be too much for you. I use it mostly to make stove top or kettle popcorn and sometimes bake with it but I forget to use it for regular cooking even though it sits next to my container of olive oil. I’m not sure why…probably because the habit to reach for the olive oil is so ingrained – I only started buying coconut oil last year. I’ve used it for moisturizer too and liked it but my skin is pretty dry in general.
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terrepruitt said
THANK YOU! I was wondering if different brands would be different. I will avoid it. I will probably just buy this one again. I am an online shopper.
Oooooo, popcorn and coconut oil. I’ve use olive oil for my skin. 🙂
Thanks for reading and commenting. Means a lot because I know how busy you are! XO
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