10 Effective Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is usually referred to as a “super-food as it has a unique combination of fatty acids that can have positive effects on one’s health.

This does include fat loss, better brain function, and various other impressive benefits.

1. Coconut Oil Contains Fatty Acids with Potent Medicinal Properties

Coconut oil is rather high in healthy saturated fats that actually have different effects than no doubt most other fats in one’s diet.

These fats can also boost fat burning and also provide one’s body and brain with quick energy. They also do raise the good HDL cholesterol in one’s blood, which is indeed linked to reduced heart disease risk.

Most fats in the diet are referred to as long-chain triglycerides, but the fats in coconut oil are on the other hand called as medium chain triglycerides (MCTs).

When one eats these types of fats, they do go straight to the liver, where they are made use of as a quick source of energy or turned into ketones.

Ketones can indeed have powerful benefits for the brain and are being observed as a treatment for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s as well as other.

2. Populations That Eat a Lot of Coconut Oil Are Healthy

Coconut is no doubt an exotic food in the Western world, that is primarily consumed by health conscious people.

However, in some parts of the world, coconut (loaded with coconut oil) is a dietary staple that people who have thrived on for many generations.

3. Coconut Oil Can Increase Fat Burning

Obesity is a major health issue nowadays.

While many feel that obesity is only a matter of calories, others (myself included) do believe that the sources of those calories are important too.

It is a fact that different foods affect do one’s bodies as well as hormones in different ways. Therefore one can say, a calorie is not a calorie.

The medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) found in coconut oil can also increase the number of calories one burn as compared to the same amount of calories from longer chain fats).

4. Coconut Oil Can Kill Harmful Microorganisms

The 12-carbon lauric acid does add up to about 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil.

When lauric acid is rather digested, it also does form a substance that referred to as monolaurin.

Both lauric acid as well as monolaurin can rather kill harmful pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

5. Coconut Oil Can also Reduce One’s Hunger, Helping One Eat Less

Fatty acids in coconut oil can also reduce one’s hunger.

This could be on account of the way the fats are rather metabolized, on account of ketones that can have an appetite reducing the effect.

6. The Fatty Acids in Coconuts May Reduce Seizures

A so-called ketogenic (very low carb, very high fat) diet is currently being studied to treat several kinds of disorders.

The popular therapeutic application of this diet is treating drug-resistant epilepsy among children.

This diet does involve eating very few carbohydrates and also large amounts of fat, leading to greatly increased concentrations of ketones in one’s blood.

For some reason, the diet dramatically does reduce the rate of seizures in epileptic children, even among those who have not had success with multiple different types of drugs.

The fatty acids in coconut oil do get shipped to the liver and then get turned into ketones. In fact, they are often made use of in epileptic patients in order to induce ketosis while allowing for a bit more carbs in one’s diet.

7. Coconut Oil Can Raise the Good HDL Cholesterol

Coconut oil does contain natural saturated fats that do enhance the HDL cholesterol in one’s body. They may also do help turn the bad LDL cholesterol into a less harmful form.

By increasing the HDL levels, many experts can indeed believe that coconut oil could be good for heart health as compared to many other fats.

8. Coconut Oil Can Protect One’s Skin, Hair and Dental Health

Coconut oil for hair growth has several uses that have nothing to do with eating it.

Many people are making use of it for cosmetic purposes and to also improve their health and appearance of their respective skin as well as hair.

Studies on individuals with dry skin show that coconut oil can improve the moisture content of the skin. It can also rather reduce symptoms of eczema.

Coconut oil can also be protective against hair damage and effective as a weak sunscreen, blocking about 20% of the existing sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Another application is making use of it like a mouthwash which can kill some of the harmful bacteria in the mouth, improve dental health and reduce bad breath.

9. The Fatty Acids in Coconut Oil Can Boost Brain Function in Alzheimer’s Patients

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia worldwide and does occur primarily in elderly individuals.

In Alzheimer’s patients, there does appear to be a reduced ability to make use of glucose for energy in certain parts of the brain.

Researchers have speculated that ketones can also provide an alternative energy source for these malfunctioning brain cells and reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

In one 2006 study, consumption of medium chain triglycerides does lead to an improvement in brain function in patients with milder forms of Alzheimer’s.

10. Coconut Oil Can Help You Lose Fat, Especially The Harmful Abdominal Fat

Given that coconut oil can indeed reduce appetite and also increase the fat burning, it does make sense that it can also help one lose weight.

Coconut oil does appear to be especially effective at reducing belly fat, which does form in the abdominal cavity and around organs.

This is indeed very dangerous fat of all and is highly associated with many chronic Western diseases.

Waist circumference can measure fat and permits one to know how much fat there is in the abdominal cavity.