Coconut Oil – Nature’s Breast Milk?

Guess what? Coconut oil has breast milk in it. Yeah, and guess what breast milk means for us? Less disease, less HIV and less dry hair. Well ok, not really breast milk. But coconut oil has the stuff that is in breast milk that makes us healthy. Can I get a lauric acid anyone?! Lauric acid, when ingested, turns into monolaurin. Monolaurin, in turn, can attack membrane-covered organisms such as fungus, bacteria, and viruses such as: the common cold, the flu, HIV, herpes, and shingles. Now that I have your attention, let’s explore what’s coming out of nature’s teat.

Production:

Coconut oil is best produced from 2 to 20 month old coconuts. If a coconut is not mature, the oil will be more difficult to extract and not be as high quality.There are two different methods of extracting the oil from those hairy fruits.

The dry method consists of drying the white innards of a coconut in either a kiln, in the sunlight, or over a fire. This creates copra, which is then dissolved or pressed to create coconut oil and a protein-fiber rich byproduct of white mash.

This mash is not suitable for human consumption and is fed to livestock.

The wet process uses raw coconut instead of dried copra. In the wet process the oil has to be extracted from the wet innards through boiling, shock wave, or electrolyte treatments.

The wet-process produces less oil by far and uses more costly energy. Virgin coconut oil is extracted through meat, milk, or residue of any coconut and then put through a centrifuge to separate the oil. Virgin coconut oil is considered the best, most ecological form to buy for beauty products and or consumption.

Medicinal:

Ok folks, this is where I start to drop some science. Coconut oil is something of a medical miracle. Once considered bad for our health because of its high saturated fat content, coconut oil is making a come back involving a red cape and superhuman powers. 

Many people have warned us that saturated fat is the Voldermort of the food world. However, there are many different types of saturated fat. Saturated fats are composed of chains of fatty acids. (Think of those toothpick-marshmallow chains you used to make in high school chemistry class.) These chains of fatty acids are also called triglycerides.

Coconut oil is made up of medium-chain triglycerides more specifically named lauric acid. While 99% of almost all fats we consume are long-chains of triglycerides. Medium-chain triglycerides are easily digestible, create easily accessible energy, and have unique healing properties.

Guess what people? We load up on these medium-chain wonders when we are very small, baby small. The only other abundant source of natural, medium-chain triglycerides is human breast milk! Coconut oil's unique makeup can aid the following ailments (coconutreaserchcenter.org):

• Kills viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, HIV, and other illnesses.
• Kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea.
• Kills fungi and ringworm and athlete's foot.
• Expels or kills tapeworms, lice and other parasites.
• Boosts energy and endurance.
• Relieves stress on pancreas.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Supports tissue healing and repair.
• Functions as a protective antioxidant.
• Helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.
• Promotes loss of excess weight by increasing metabolic rate.
• Provides protection from damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
• Is completely non-toxic to humans.

All these wonderful benefits can be accomplished simply by consuming 1- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil a day!

Beauty:

Coconut oil is not just for your moderate to severe ailments. Coconut oil has proven beauty benefits to help your perhaps seasonally over-dried body.

Because of the fatty acid component in coconut oil, it is extremely good for your skin and hair. It can be put directly on scalp to relieve dandruff as well as on the ends to prevent splitting.

It can be applied directly onto dry skin as well as on chapped lips. Coconut oil is completely natural and does not contain harmful chemicals, dyes, or scents that might irritate overly sensitive skin.

People with hard to treat eczema, and psoriasis can use coconut oil to sooth irritated, itchy skin.  It has also been proven to reduce age spots and wrinkles so it is great to slather on as a night cream. For more beauty tips and tricks check out our honey blog here.

Overall coconut oil is the perfect addition to our food and beauty regime. It’s like the blue ninja turtle: kicks the living membranes out of bad guys like the flu, as well as sensitive and sweet to our skin and hair. Looks like nature got it right in the coconut!

FeelGoodNow Contributor: Iliana Pacheco

When you say red pen, you say Iliana. She is a lover of words and proper comma usage as well as a connoisseur of bass music, a digger of the downward dog as well as a swimmer and a want-to-be chef. She is New Mexican to the core, and that core is made up of organic, green/red chili.


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