Coconut is a fruit from which milk, water, oil, flour, sugar are extracted, including alcohol, vinegar, jelly, ropes, mattresses , charcoal, musical instruments and so on ...

Coconut oil comes from Asia, the Pacific islands, Africa and Central America: where the coconut grows naturally. A coconut produces 50 to 150 fruits per year and it takes 11 to 12 months for the fruit to mature.

The oil comes from the mechanical pressure of the fresh meat, which explains why it keeps a subtle taste that perfumes the dishes. It is then said to be a virgin coconut oil. It should not be confused with coconut oil, which is made from the dried flesh of the nut and undergoes a very different treatment: it is bleached through carbon filters, refined (eliminate the bacteria and molds that have formed during drying in places where it is wet and warm) and finally deodorized. As this oil is mostly hydrogenated, its fatty acid content makes it less favorable to the body and the refining process causes it to lose its nutrients. It is used by the food industry for industrial pastries, confectionery and fried foods.

Benefits

Despite its high content of saturated fatty acids, coconut oil, on the contrary, has a protective effect on the arteries and the heart, thanks to its process of metabolism: the body immediately uses the fat stores without storing them. There is no risk of deposits which could ultimately block the arteries.

Antibacterial and antimicrobial properties are available. In particular, lauric acid, present at 48% in coconut oil, would have an effect on herpes outbreaks.

Kitchen

It can be cooked at high temperatures without denaturing (unlike polyunsaturated oils, such as linseed or nut oil, which are very fragile and must not be cooked) and can therefore be used to frying.

Its ease of absorption through the intestines and then use by the liver makes it a product of choice for people wishing to set up a ketogenic diet (Ketogenic diet is a diet that virtually excludes carbohydrates to promote a very rich diet lipids and proteins, and the body derives its energy source from lipid degradation, which generates ketone body production (it’s a substances caused by the degradation in the liver of certain amino acids and fatty acids). It allows the body to produce its own energy without dependence on external glucose inputs a metabolic mechanism that occurs naturally during fasting producing the same effects without stopping eating is another paradox the success of this oil.

Coconut oil is also a real asset for vegetarian/vegan people because it is a perfect substitute for butter: it is thus possible to make pastries or pasta tarts as easily as using butter.

Diet

In the case of a balanced diet, without excess calories, coconut oil is attributed the ability to increase cell activity, thus energy expenditure, to assimilate food (thermogenesis). Each food induced a different one. Thus, protein increases it, which explains, among other things, that the meat often occupies a place of choice during a diet. Coconut oil seems to burn more calories than any other source of fat.
However, few studies confirm that it helps to slim down. If coconut oil increases the caloric expenditure of the body, its effect lasts only one month, beyond which the body gets used and stops losing weight.

Beauty

Like avocado oil, coconut oil can be used in the bathroom. It can replace the moisturizer, make-up remover (even for waterproof mascara), hair masks and nail care. Coconut oil smells good and nourishes the skin. It can also be used to make toothpaste or mouthwashes because it has the reputation of maintaining a good teeth and whitening teeth (I will give you some homemade toothpaste recipes in a future post).

Risks

A reasonable daily intake (one to three tablespoons) does not bring a health risk when the oil is virgin. People who are allergic to nuts do not have to worry because the name is misleading: coconut is not a nut ! (it is a seed or, more exactly, a drupe. It is a fruit that contains a nucleus, such as peach, mango or cherry, and in drupes the fruit may not be edible, as is the case with coconut, although the flesh is edible, the same kind of kernel is found in apricots, and there is an almond, somewhat bitter, which the Italians use to make their famous amaretti biscuits. It is nevertheless possible that allergies trigger as with any other food.

Focus on organic oils

The cultivation of the coconut does not require the use of fertilizers and pesticides. The main coconut disease (lethal yellowing) is controlled by an antibiotic that acts preventively, but its use is by no means universal: plantations only in Florida benefit. Only the extraction method is likely to modify its quality: prefer coconut oil extracted by cold pressing which keeps the greases of good quality (as for the olive oil if you consume them).

The coconut production mode seems durable, unlike its cousin palm oil which defrays the chronic by being the cause of massive deforestations. The environmental cost, however, is not neutral, since, produced in the islands, it is necessary to make travel the coconut oil to non-tropical regions ...

In a future post I will talk about the benefits of coconut water and also coconut sugar.