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Coconut Oil

• Extra Virgin Coconut Oil: A Healthy Oil from the Tropics

• Great substitute for margarine and vegetable oils in cooking and baking

Coconut oil has been used for food and health care for centuries in South and Central America, Asia, and Africa. It has been recognized as a health oil in Indian Ayurvedic herbalism for almost four thousand years. Yet in the 1950s, it got a bad rap as a supposedly fattening "tropical oil." Science now proves the traditional wisdom was correct all along: coconut oil is a healthy oil; it is not typically stored as a fat in the body. Since it is not stored, it provides an immediate source of energy, and contains important nutrients for good health.

All saturated fats are not equal; all saturated fats do not raise cholesterol levels in the blood. EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT Oil is a natural saturated oil, not a hydrogenated, unsaturated, or polyunsaturated mutated oil. It naturally contains no toxic trans fats. It is an excellent addition to your wellness program.

Good Fats. Bad Fats

Confused about fats and oils? So are many consumers. Since the 1950s, Americans have been bewildered by the misinformation given to them in the media. They have been provided with misleading and conflicting cholesterol information, they've lacked proper studies of the differences in saturated fats, and they've not been taught that there are fundamental differences in the type and quality of saturated fats a person consumes, not realizing that the health effects vary widely. The confusion was then compounded by misleading information from the edible oils industry - as a result, billions of dollars have been made marketing foods made with hydrogenated vegetable oils. The confusion has resulted in an American diet glutted in hydrogenated, trans fat-laden, highly toxic, rancid, unnatural oils. Only relatively recently have the negative effects of products such as margarine or refined shortening been known to the general public. And in the meantime, the natural, healthy oils have been ignored.

Medium- Versus Long-Chain Triglycerides

Coconut oil is composed of medium­chain triglycerides (MCTs), so it is less likely to be stored in the body as fat as are long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). MCTs boost metabolism because they are absorbed from the small intestine into circulation and to the liver, quickly metabolizing into energy. LCT's, on the other hand, are stored as fat. MCTs help the body increase its metabolism and give a feeling of fullness and increased energy. The MCTs in coconut oil are largely comprised of lauric acid and caprylic acid, both of which aid the immune system.

Supporting Nutrients

The optimum use of EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL is as a part of an overall healthy lipid program, which means that you should also eat or supplement essential fatty acids such as EPA and GLA. Coconut oil, the consumption of fatty fish or omega-3 supplements, and decreasing the consumption of hydrogenated vegetable oils will help you attain a healthy lipid profile.

Part of wellness is knowing when the baby should not be thrown out with the bath water. In this case, the fear of saturated fats was overblown, and consumers have missed a healthy resource for their own well-being by avoiding coconut oil.

EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL imparts a distinctive coconut flavor when used in cooking.  We have found it best used in baking in place of margarine and vegetable oils. It adds a wonderful subtle flavor to items like cakes and cookies.

References:

PDR Health. Accessed at www.pdrhealth.com on April 18, 2005

Roos, N, et al., 2000. American Society for Nutritional Sciences, J. Nutr. 131:242-245. Sun, C., et al. 2003 lmmunology and Medical Microbiology 36:9-17.

Nevin, K.G., et al. 2004. Clinical Biochemistry 37:830-835.

Reprinted with exclusive permission from Source Naturals. 

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