Coconut is widely known for its health benefits and versatility. With its many uses including being a superfood as well as used for personal care and grooming, it is often called ‘the tree of life’. It is interesting to see how many ways you can use this amazing health-nut.
FUN FACT: Did you know coconut water has been routinely used as a short-term intravenous hydration treatment? How amazing is that!
The oil extracted from coconuts has some extraordinary benefits when it comes to improving your health and shrinking your waistline.
Let’s discover the various benefits that coconut oil can bring to our daily life.
Uses of Coconut Oil
- It has a high smoke point - meaning the fat molecules don’t get destroyed and become unhealthy during cooking unlike other oils. Therefore it is great for baking or stir-frying.
- Offers a dairy-free alternative to butter.
- An additive to foods or drinks for improving energy.
- Can serve as a coffee creamer when emulsified into coffee – this is often called Bulletproof coffee
- Serves as a body lotion
- Homemade deodorant
- Eye-makeup remover
- Diaper cream
- Toothpaste
- Lightens age spots
- Helps firm your skin
- Prevents stretch marks
- Sunscreen protection
- Massage oil
How it benefits your body and fat loss?
Coconut oil contains a unique combination of fatty acids that have profound positive effects on one’s health. It’s no surprise that coconut oil is one of the few foods to be considered as a “superfood”. The very special thing about the structure of coconut oil is that it is mostly made of medium chain fatty acids, therefore is easy for your body to metabolise. This means your body is more likely to convert and use coconut oil for energy as opposed to being stored as body fat. Benefits are:
- Weight Loss
- Increases energy expenditure to help burn more fat
- Improves brain function
- Destroys bad bacteria, viruses and fungi such as yeasts in the gut
- Helps you eat less without trying – you’ll always feel full by just eating coconuts or having a tablespoon coconut oil to your meals. Try it!
- Helps reduce the occurrence of seizures
- Improves blood cholesterol levels and lower the risks of heart disease
- Moisturises hair and skin
- Works as a sunscreen
- Promotes healthy thyroid function
- Helps in healing dry skin and lips
- Help sooth irritated skin conditions such as psoriasis
As you can see there are plenty of reasons to add coconut oil to your must-have stables in your home. So give it a go!
To help you improve your health as well as shrink down your waistline here is once of our favourite fat-burning recipes for you made with coconut oil.
CHEESY KALE CHIPS (WITHOUT CHEESE!)
Recipe from Nik Toth, www.TheLeanBodyCoach.com
INGREDIENTS
- 1 bunch of kale, washed, dried, and stems removed
- 3 tbsp Cocolife Australia coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¾ cup cashews
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
- pinch tsp red chili flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp Salt to taste
- 1/3 cup water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 140C/~280F.
- Wash kale, pet dry – this is important.
- Cut or tear the kale into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Place the cashews, peppers, nutritional yeast, lime juice, water, coconut oil and spices in a blender and blend until creamy. (You may need to add a little water to get the consistency right ). Pour the sauce over the kale pieces, generously covering them and spread them out onto a baking sheet
- Bake for about 15 minutes, give them a toss, flip them around and continue cooking until crispy. About 10 more minutes.
Cocolife Australia – Cocolife is a 100% Australian owned company that delivers the highest quality coconut products to Australian households. They are very passionate about coconuts and live and breathe the benefits of this versatile fruit. They ensure that they only source the best quality coconuts!