If you’re looking for the best coconut oil products to buy this year, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also get more info by jumping to our Coconut Oil Products Guide.
Top 10 Coconut Oil Products
| #1 |  |
Nature’s Way Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil | More Info |
| #2 |  |
Barlean’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil | More Info |
| #3 |  |
NOW Foods Virgin Coconut Oil | More Info |
| #4 |  |
Source Naturals Coconut Oil Extra Virgin | More Info |
| #5 |  |
Jarrow Formulas Coconut Oil 100% Organic Extra Virgin | More Info |
| #6 |  |
Nature’s Way Coconut Oil Soft Gels | More Info |
| #7 |  |
Sports Research Organic Coconut Oil | More Info |
| #8 |  |
NutriRise Organic Coconut Oil Capsules | More Info |
| #9 |  |
Young Life Research Coconut Oil Capsules | More Info |
| #10 |  |
Perfect Supplements Perfect Coconut Oil | More Info |
Coconut Oil Products Guide
Coconut oil is one of those miracle products that can be used for almost anything. It can be ingested for its wide array of health benefits, it can improve dental health, or it can be applied to the skin and hair. It’s widely considered a superfood, and has a great taste to boot.
What is Coconut Oil?
Coconut oil is made from the inside flesh of the coconut, which is the fruit of the tall, tropical coconut palm tree. The white meat is removed and then processed into oil. It can be processed using a variety of methods, some of which involve drying out the meat before pressing it. Add more about processing here
Coconuts grow across most of the tropics, and are domesticated in a variety of tropical climates. They thrive on sandy soils in areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall. They prefer high-humidity climates.
Coconut oil is a saturated fat and is generally solid at room temperature. It does liquify under higher temperatures — generally 76 degrees and above. In hot climates, coconut oil will often be a crystallized mix of solid and liquid. It melts easily in the hands for application to the hair, skin or food.
Given the negative reputation of fat, particularly saturated fat, it may seem surprising that health gurus now tout the benefits of adding a saturated fat to your diet regularly. However, the crusade against consuming any fatty foods has been debunked. Furthermore, coconut oil has so many accompanying health benefits that it can be considered one of the “good” fats. If consumed in an appropriate proportion to the rest of your diet, it can have a huge amount of benefits — even weight loss.
In addition to its health benefits, coconut oil is also often used for beauty purposes. This nourishing oil moisturizes the skin and hair, keeping both looking healthy, glowing and youthful. It can be used for many other purposes as well.
Benefits of Coconut Oil
One lovely thing about coconut oil is that it’s one of the most versatile supplements you can buy, particularly if you buy high-quality raw coconut oil (see below). It’s generally not too pricey, and you can use it for a multitude of health, fitness and beauty benefits. It’s like the Swiss Army knife of health supplements.
Weight loss: Coconut oil contains an abundance of capric acid, which has been shown to assist in weight loss. It also contains medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Together, these two components increase energy expenditure in humans by as much as 5 percent over 24 hours. Coconut oil can even reduce cholesterol by aiding in fat breakdown, despite its high levels of saturated fat. Additionally, coconut oil is well-known as a likely appetite suppressant.
Heart health: Coconut oil increases the amount of healthy cholesterol, also known as HDL. It decreases bad cholesterol, or LDL. Decreasing cholesterol helps to promote overall heart health, lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Building muscle: The same medium chain triglycerides that aid in weight loss also help to build muscle in the body. They help you burn energy and calories as well as build muscle mass over time.
Boosts your brain: The triglycerides in coconut oil helped to improve memory problems in older subjects in a neurobiological study from 2004. These MCTs are also metabolized by the liver into ketones, which is a form of energy that’s used easily by the brain. In a 2006 study, coconut oil improved brain function in patients with mild Alzheimer’s.
Antimicrobial: Coconut oil is used as a folk remedy for yeast infections. This is because it contains lauric acid, which is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral.
Pain and fever relief: Coconut oil was found to reduce swelling and have anti-inflammatory effects in a 2010 study. Thus, coconut oil capsules could be useful in reducing fever and relieving pain.
Immune support: Coconut oil doesn’t just help with external infections; it also helps stave off internal pathogens when ingested. Inside your body, the lauric acid reacts with enzymes to form monolaurin, which kills harmful internal pests like Staphylococcus.
Digestive aid: With its antimicrobial properties along with its high concentration of beneficial fats, coconut oil can help fight stomach illness and irritation of the gut. It also improves absorption of essential fat-soluble minerals, including calcium and magnesium.
Hormonal support: Coconut oil contains a unique composition of beneficial fatty acids. These are necessary for maintaining natural hormone production.
Antioxidant: Compared to sunflower oil and olive oil, coconut oil contains the highest amount of antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are useful because they help to defend the body from free radicals, which can cause illnesses, disease, and premature aging.
Skin & beauty: Due to its high content of saturated fat, coconut oil is extremely moisturizing when used on the skin and hair. When used regularly, it significantly improves the quality of your body skin, face, lips and hair. Due to its antioxidant properties, it may also have beneficial anti-aging effects and prevent cell damage. It can help skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, likely due to its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Coconut oil can even be used as a natural lubricant.
Dental health: Coconut oil is commonly used for “oil pulling,” which involves swishing the oil around in your mouth for an extended period of time in order to absorb and cleanse toxins from the mouth. Using coconut oil regularly naturally heals periodontal disease and reduces mouth bacteria.
Are There Any Side Effects?
Despite all of its health benefits, coconut oil still has very high levels of saturated fat, so it may promote weight gain if used excessively in cooking. However, scientific studies actually point to the opposite effect.
Additionally, coconut oil can sometimes cause diarrhea-like symptoms if consumed in high quantities, especially if you’re not accustomed to eating a high amount of oil.
Those with nut allergies may wonder if they can safely eat coconut oil, since it’s made from the fruit of the coconut tree. Coconut is not classified as a botanical nut; instead, it’s considered a drupe. However, the FDA does categorize coconut as a tree nut. Thus, this must be considered on a case-by-case basis. Many people with tree nut allergies will experience no adverse effects from eating coconut, others will have an allergic reaction. Consult with your allergist.
How to Take Coconut Oil
There are a variety of ways to ingest coconut oil, whether as a whole food or as a standardized supplement. Firstly, you can use it as a cooking oil. it’s stable enough to be used for high-temperature cooking, so if you’re going to fry something, this is a great alternative to peanut oil or other fats. Note that it won’t make your fried food “healthy” per se — fried food is fried food — but it does have nutritional benefits. Refined coconut oil has a higher smoke point and is more suitable for cooking purposes rather than eating raw. It has less of a coconutty taste.
You can also add it to coffee or tea for a subtle flavor. When emulsified with coffee, it makes for a sort of coffee creamer that’s delicious. Adding coconut oil to smoothies is another great way to get a healthy boost while masking most of the taste.
Another great way to receive the benefits of coconut oil is to take it as a supplement. It’s often sold within capsules, which can be taken with water. This also helps to avoid the taste and consistency of coconut oil, which some find unpleasant (though others find it delicious!).
If you do like the taste of coconut oil, you can simply eat a spoonful in the morning for an energy boost.
For beauty purposes, there are many ways to apply coconut oil to the body. Use it on hair as a hair mask, hot oil treatment, or as an addition to DIY hair products like conditioners or masks. It’s also wonderful as a sealant after using conditioner. In general, the thicker or kinkier your hair, the more coconut oil you can use without it becoming oily.
For the skin, you can apply coconut oil directly all over the body, even the face. Simply warm it in your hands to liquify it and then rub it into the skin. For those with oily skin, you’ll want to minimize use on the face. You should also apply it lightly on the body during hotter months when the skin produces more moisture. You can even use coconut oil on your lips to naturally keep them soft and unchapped.
What to Look for in a Good Coconut Oil Product
With the growing popularity of coconut oil, there are many products on the market and it’s important to discern which ones are high-quality enough to ingest. Whether you’re buying a whole coconut oil or capsules, there are a few labels to look for.
Firstly, look for an “extra virgin,” “unrefined” or “raw” coconut oil, particularly if you intend to eat it whole or use it topically. Virgin or unrefined oil means that the oil was extracted using delicate methods such as cold-pressing, which maintain the nutritional integrity of the plant without using harmful chemicals. In the case of cold-pressed oil, it’s made by mechanically pressing the oil out of the plant without using external heat.
Raw coconut oil is considered even more pure than virgin coconut oil, since it’s exposed to no heat at all and undergoes the least amount of processing.
“Refined” coconut oil can withstand higher cooking temperatures, so it’s suitable only if you intend to use coconut oil for frying. Be careful when buying refined coconut oil, as it may be made using harsh solvents to extract the oil from dried coconut meat.
As with most food supplements, it’s also a good idea to look for organic coconut oil, as this is made without the use of artificial pesticides or fertilizers that may have adverse effects on the environment.
The post 10 Best Coconut Oil Products – Reviewed & Ranked for 2017 appeared first on Supplement Hound - Supplement Reviews for 2016.
from Supplement Hound – Supplement Reviews for 2016 http://supplementhound.com/best-coconut-oil-products/
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