The health benefits of coconut oil just keep coming to light. From using it to prevent balding hair to using it as toothpaste and a facial scrub, the applications for coconut oil are never-ending. While it can work wonders as a beauty product, the benefits of eating just two tablespoons of coconut oil daily will have you running to the store to stock your cabinets with it, if you haven't already!
Here are five great reasons to eat coconut oil daily:
1. Coconut Oil Can Help You Lose Weight
While most people are in a caloric deficit state when trying to lose weight, the foods that they're eating still matter, even if they stay within their calorie limit. Coconut oil is a great healthy fat option to aid in weight loss.
Yes, coconut oil is a fat. But it's a good fat. It consists almost entirely of medium-chain fatty acids (MCTs) that give your metabolism a boost. Coconut oil is also more thermogenic than many other foods, so eating it can increase energy expenditure and help you burn more calories.
Maintaining healthy organs is key to losing weight right. Coconut oil helps to protect your liver, allowing your thyroid to function at a higher level. Whether you're just kicking off you're weight loss journey or you're mid-way through it, you'll want to incorporate coconut oil into your daily routine.
2. Coconut Oil is Pro-Health and Anti-Everything Bad!
Coconut oil not only tops the list of anti-inflammatory foods. Its health benefits go much further:
Anti-bacterial - stops harmful bacteria and infections dead in their tracks
Anti-carcinogenic - boosts immunity and keeps cancer cells from spreading
Anti-fungal - destroys fungus and yeast that lead to infections
Anti-inflammatory - repairs tissue while suppressing inflammation
Anti-microbial - fights infection and inactivates harmful microbes
Anti-oxidant - protects against damage from free radicals
Anti-retroviral/parasitic/protozoa/viral - rids the body of lice, and parasites such as tapeworms; kills infection in the gut, destroys viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis and more
Just two tablespoons a day of this superfood can help protect you from disease and infection, and keep your body healthy and happy!
3. Coconut Oil Stabilizes Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
Although it is a fat, coconut oil can indirectly help control blood sugar and insulin levels. It helps glucose enter your cells, slowing and reducing insulin levels in the blood. The healthy fat in coconut oil slows the digestive process to allow for a steady stream of energy from your food.
Other vegetable oils such as soybean, corn and canola oils are made up of long-chain fatty acids which can actually decrease the cells' ability to absorb blood sugar, and aggravate diabetes or insulin resistance. This is why doctors typically recommend a low-fat diet for diabetics. Coconut oil, consisting of medium-chain fatty acids, is the exception.
4. Coconut Oil Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease
Populations that consume coconut oil have been found to be some of the most heart-healthy. A study done on people in Papua New Guinea (who thrive on coconut oil and other coconut foods) found no signs of stroke or heart attack in the study's participants, while a study done on Polynesians, who consume over 60% of their total calories from coconut, also showed participants to be in great health, with no evidence of heart disease. Unlike polyunsaturated fatty acid oils, coconut oil does not cause arterial damage. Instead, it helps to lower risk of heart disease and other heart problems.
5. Coconut Oil Kills Candida Fungus
If you haven't heard of Candida, you can read about it here. It's a fungus that spreads throughout the blood stream and shows itself in many different forms, and it is estimated that one out of three Americans is affected by it. There are a variety of causes, from birth control or stress to a diet high in sugar. Candida can be the reason a person is unable to sleep, unable to lose weight or unable to reduce their stress level. Coconut oil helps to fight the rampant fungus and stop it before it spreads!
Check out the video below for more info on the many benefits of adding coconut oil daily to your diet!
