What are the Health Benefits of coconut oil ?

• Over the past 60 years we have been told saturated fats are bad for us and yet obesity, diabetes and heart disease are at record levels. This doesn’t make sense. Maybe modern day marketers have capitalised on such words as low fat, unsaturated or organic to charge a premium, where it isn’t really warranted. Doesn’t it make sense that maybe naturally occurring saturated fats may actually be good for you, however altered saturated fats typically altered by hydrogenisation are bad for you. Simply put, what does this mean? Saturated fats are hydrogenated to prolong their shelf life so that the product lasts longer than what it would naturally and companies can profit from this.
• Simply put business tries to prolong the life of a product so that they can transport it and make a profit. In general the longer the shelf life of a product the less fresh and healthy it is.
• Not all saturated fats are created equal. Some are altered by manufacturers and some are naturally occurring. It makes sense to eat naturally occurring fats in moderation. The word fat should not be considered generically bad.
• The current thinking is unanimous is concluding the hydrogenated fats ( trans fats) are bad for your health. These are the hydrogenated fats that have their chemical nature changed.
• Virgin coconut oil has a natural occurring saturated fat called Lauric acid. Coconut oil has the highest occurring lauric acid content of any naturally occurring food. The only other food containing a higher percentage of lauric acid is breast milk.
• So what is so good about lauric acid? It is antibacterial, antimicrobial, it is linked to weight loss and lowering cholesterol. It has several health benefits.
• Cocofiji coconut oil, is in our opinion, the freshest coconut oil coming from Fiji to Australia. While we are supportive of all coconut oil businesses, it is important to know how your coconut oil is made. How quickly is the oil made from the time the coconut is cracked, in some instances, with processed copra oil, it can be months. In other instances where virgin coconut oil is claimed, the coconuts can be left for days after cracking before they are pressed into oil. There is much coconut oil coming into Australia from Sri Lanka which is relatively cheap and seems to have a very bland taste. Why is the taste so bland when fresh coconuts don’t taste bland?  This is often a result of being processed in a mill with excessive heat in a factory and refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD oil). The coconut oil is usually pressed in one location and sourced from large coconut farms. The commercialisation of this process as well as often less fresh source for the oil, makes it cheaper to make as this is a factory process of making coconut oil. Often the oil is derived from dried copra which is months old.

coconut oil health benefits