Coconut oil is the buzzword these days. It seems everyone is talking about how healthy the coconut oil is. But is there any truth to all this buzz? Or it is just another fad? Ask ten people whether coconut oil is healthy and you are going to get 10 different answers. Some are of the opinion that coconut oil helps in weight loss and others speak about coconut oil’s magical healing powers.
In this post, I will try to explore whether coconut oil is really worth all the hype or not. I would be covering:
- What is it that is sold to us as “coconut oil” and what is its history?
- How healthy coconut oil really is?
- Why might it be healthy in comparison to other oils?
- Can coconut oil also used for frying?
- Benefits of coconut oil
History and production
Coconut oil is extracted from the dried flesh of the coconut. It might be new to West, but for the natives of tropical regions, it has been integral part of their diet for thousands of years. It has been even used to treat many kind of diseases.
In 1981, a research carried out by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition found that people who were taking coconut oil in their diet traditionally were much less likely to suffer from heart and circulatory diseases. On the other hand, many studies concluded that people who replaced coconut oil with vegetables oil like sunflower oil, soybean oil etc., which were supposedly healthier, showed a significant rise in heart disease and diabetes.
Is coconut oil the best oil for cooking and deep frying?
Now that we could establish, coconut oil is indeed a very healthy oil, the question that comes to mind is that is it also healthiest for cooking and deep frying?
The coconut oil is one of the naturally saturated fats and therefore coconut oil is ideal for cooking, frying and roasting. In contrast to other frying fats, saturated coconut oil is not hydrogenated. Thus, there are no harmful, unsaturated fatty acids introduced during the manufacturing process.
Most of the oils we have on supermarket shelves these days are not suitable for frying as they contain omega-6 fatty acids, which end up introducing harmful substances, for examples, trans fats, during heating. The antioxidants are destroyed by heat and the subsequent oxidation makes it very unhealthy for our consumption. Organic coconut oil is the only oil that retains its natural, health-promoting properties even after being heated at high temperatures, thus, it serves as an ideal oil to be used in your kitchen.
More benefits of coconut oil
Coconut oil promotes the health of humans in a unique and natural way. It strengthens the heart and the immune system and also supports the smooth functioning of thyroid gland. A good organic coconut oil contains about 50% lauric acid , which is very rarely found in that amount even in the natural foods. It is also antibacterial and thus can be helpful in treatment of a number of ailments.
Conclusion
Coconut oil is time-tested and scientific studies are also establishing that coconut oil is indeed a very healthy oil. So, we can safely conclude that coconut oil is the best oil to be used for cooking, roasting and also deep-frying.
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