If I ask you to recommend a recipe using coconut cream, you probably thought of curry. What if I change it to coconut oil, what recipe comes to your mind then? Indeed, both provide similar nutritional and health benefits but coconut oil provides stronger health benefits due to its concentrated healthful components.
This nourishing fat protects you against heart disease (yes, contrary to what we're led to believe), diabetes, cancers, liver and kidney diseases, osteoporosis, dental decay and skin infections, viruses, yeast and fungi. It does wonders to your skin and hair too. And an excellent tool to help you lose that excess body fat.
Coconut
Let's take a look at how you can eat coconut oil to reap its full health benefits.
Raw Coconut-Flavored Diets
Salad Dressing - Dribble the oil over your favorite salads to enhance the aroma and texture. But when you serve chilled salads, it's best to mix the oil with olive oil to help lower coconut oil's melting point so it won't solidify easily when in contact with chilled salads.
Spread - I love to spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the flavorful tropical oil on two slices of wholemeal bread with a generous sprinkle of ground flaxseeds. It's a simple yet appetizing spread with high nutritional values.
Cooking with Coconut Oil to Reap Health Benefits
Sauteing, stir-frying and deep-frying - Coconut oil can withstand cooking temperature up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) without breaking down into toxic substances or releasing free radicals due to its very stable saturated fat structure. Basically, you can cook anything and in any way you want as long as you don't overheat it.
No matter what kind of oil, once overheated, will produce toxic by-products that can cause cancers. How do you know if you've overheated the oil? Look out for this telltale sign - it starts to smoke.
Also, foods deep-fried in it don't absorb as much oil as in other vegetable oils. So, you don't have to worry about ingesting excessive coconut oil that may turn into your fat deposits and leave an oily aftertaste when reaping its health benefits.
Baking - Learn to substitute butter, vegetable oil and shortening with coconut oil in baking as it adds sweet-smelling coconut fragrance to baked goods. As a guide, use three-quarter cup of the oil to replace 1 cup of shortening. Don't worry about setting the oven temperature at slightly above its smoke point. The moisture in the food will keep the inside temperature well below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).
Adding to Beverages
You can simply mix it in your hot beverage, be it tea, coffee, hot chocolate or hot soup. Though it doesn't mix well and float on the surface, it won't taste oily or leave an oily aftertaste in your mouth. In fact I enjoy the rich coconut taste in my drink very much.
Eating Coconut on Its Own for Health Benefits
I recommend a daily dosage of 3 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil for greater health benefits for adults when you prefer to eat the oil on its own. But it'll be fine if you keep to just 1 or 2 tablespoons daily.
I'm merely giving you some ideas over here to help you obtain coconut oil's health benefits. You can in fact, generate more ideas when you explore cookbooks and recipes, create your own recipes, and learn from your friends.
How to Eat Coconut Oil For the Best Health Benefits
Laura Ng shows you more details on how to eat coconut oil for health benefits so that you know exactly how to improve your health, lose your unwanted body fat, remove your acnes, and smoothen your skin more naturally and effectively. Uncover more health-promoting foods at her natural health guide now and take your health to the next level.