Adding Coconut Oil to Your Diet

We are often asked about the best way to "take" coconut oil. This question indicates the perception of coconut oil as a medicine or drug as opposed to a food. Inquiries about coconut oil capsules are further evidence of this perception. A better question would be: How can I add coconut oil to my diet? This shift in thinking opens up a wide range of possibilities for improving one's health by making a change to a more healthful oil.

Coconut oil can be considered a "medicine" in the same sense that other healthful foods are "medicines" which help our bodies achieve or maintain a state of good health by providing the necessary fuel. An analogy can be drawn between running a car on bad gas with low octane and containing water, dirt and other impurities and our consuming a low quality diet. If we add an octane booster and some "dry gas" to the tank along with all of the bad gas we will see some improvement, but not as much as if we replaced the bad gas with good clean fuel. If we add coconut oil to our diet, strictly as a supplement we will reap some benefit (from its high lauric acid content, for example). On the other hand, if we look at replacing unhealthful fats (shortening, margarine and hydrogenated oils in general, as well as (in my opinion) most of the vegetable oils sold at the supermarket) with coconut oil we can anticipate reaping the maximum benefits which it offers. I believe this is true for anyone, but for people who have trouble with fats in the diet such as those with Crohn's disease or other digestive ailments coconut oil offers welcome relief because it is so readily usable by the body without having to be broken down in the digestive tract.

Coconut oil can be added to the diet in various ways, aside from just eating it by itself (although a number of our customer do eat the oil by the spoonful). Perhaps the best way to add coconut oil is to use it as a staple in cooking.  We are often asked about recipes using coconut oil, but essentially any recipe calling for butter, shortening, margarine or vegetable oil can be a "coconut oil" recipe. It is simply a matter of substituting coconut oil for whatever oil is called for in the recipe.

I personally think that the maximum benefits from coconut oil will be seen by using it to the greatest extent possible in place of other fats which range from being less beneficial to downright harmful to our health.