Coconut Oil - what do I need to know?

Nikion901

cakegoddess1 wrote: »

Are you kidding? Use olive oil or canola oil ONLY. And those sparingly. Good grief! We're trying to lose weight and get healthy here...use your heads.

fat is fat, no matter if it's olive, canola, coconut, sunflower, safflower, walnut, etc., etc. ... they all have a place in the pantry or refrigerator depending on how you want to use it.

Actually, if you look up the nutrition on any of them you will see that olive oil and canola oil are more calories per tablespoon than coconut ... Canola comes in at 124 calories, olive oil at 119, cocnut oil at 117.

Oil Type - Calories per 1 tbslp (13.5g) - Total fat g - Sat Fat g - Poly Fat g - Mono fat g

Coconut - 117 - 14 g - 12 g Sat - 0.2 g Poly - 0.8 Mono
Olive - 119 - 14 g - 1.9 g Sat - 1.4 g Poly - 10 g Mono
Canola - 124 - 14 g - 1 g Sat - 3.9 g Poly - 0.1 g Mono
Vegetable - 124 - 14 g - 2 g Sat - 4.6 G Poly - 7 g Mono
grape seed - 120 - 14 g - 1.3 g Sat - 10 G Poly - 2.2 g Mono
Walnut - 120 - 14 g - 1.2 g Sat - 9 g Poli - 3.1 g Mono
Peanut - 119 - 14 g - 2.3 g Sat - 4.3 g Poly - 6 g Mono
Sunflower - 120 - 14 g - 1.8 g Sat - 5 g Poly - 6 g Mono
Flax (linseed0 - 120 - 14 g - 1.2 g Sat, 9 g Poly - 2.5 g Mono

See ... they all come in close to one another in calories for that 1 tablespoon ... what's different is the makeup of the types of fats in the composition of the oil. Cocnut happens to be the highest in saturated fat ... however studies have shown it is high in a the saturated fat Lauric acid (about 50% of it's saturated fat), and this fatty acid is deemed health-promoting.

So ... take your pick and use what you want, just use any of them sparingly. A little goes a long way.
I've known women who wash their hair in olive oil. Some oils are to delicate to be heated and should not be used in cooking with heat. Other oils have a high burning point and do great for high-heat searing, wokking, etc.


PS - edited to add ... thanks for the post and the comment I quoted, it got me looking things up in the nutrition charts and helped me procrastinate away some more minutes instead of vacuuming the floor!

Also i didn't add another oil i keep on hand ... hemp oil ... because google didn't pop up with a handy nutrition breakdown ... but I know that it is a healthy-for-you oil, I just don't care too much for the taste of it. Same for that hemp protein powder in my freezer or those hemp seeds I love to sprinkle on my yogurt.

cerise_noir

cakegoddess1 wrote: »

Are you kidding? Use olive oil or canola oil ONLY. And those sparingly. Good grief! We're trying to lose weight and get healthy here...use your heads.

LOL wut? Fat isn't bad for you. Fat is NOT unhealthy.

WindSparrow

cwolfman13 wrote: »

It's a nice cooking oil....but it's fat, just like any cooking oil. I use it primarily when cooking my eggs and making popcorn. Most of the miracle claims are exaggerated at best and mostly just anecdotal *kitten*.

I think it's hilarious though that the stuff was banned from movie theaters in the 90s and pretty much the "devil" and now it's a "health" food...cracks me up.

The evil stuff used at movie theaters was partially hydrogenated coconut oil, meaning that it had been chemically altered, to add hydrogen atoms and make it more oxydatively stable, increasing nit just shelf life but also the amount of trans fats which are linked to heart disease. The stuff people go on and on about the health benefits of is the virgin, unaltered coconut oil, which is not full of trans fats.

geneticsteacher

Canola oil also contains omega-3.

CMB1979

I mix it with brown sugar and use it as a body and face scrub. I also cook with it - the oil, not the scrub.

Christine_72

CMB1979 wrote: »

I mix it with brown sugar and use it as a body and face scrub. I also cook with it - the oil, not the scrub.

Me too. So much nicer and more effective than any store bought body scrub, and cheaper too!

st476

I have no idea but I just wanted to say that I would feel so weird cooking with coconut oil! I first bought it for reasons other than cooking (putting it in hair to moisturize it, taking off makeup with it, shaving) so I don't even see it as something edible anymore lol.

lilligraz22

Check out Dr oz. 100 uses for coconut oil. I love it in my smoothies and especially in my cauliflower mash!!

ldoucet22

I make chocolate with it, sooooo yummy, just mix with good quality pure cacao powder in equal parts (I use about 1/2 cup) then add either honey or maple syrup to sweeten to your taste, you can add nuts and dried fruits to it. You then freeze them in mini muffin cups. Just pop one whenever you're craving for chocolate or something sweet. It equals about a tablespoon per muffin ;-)

ldoucet22

I started adding more healthy fats like avocado and coconut oil to my diet, and I have never had so much success in loosing weight and maintaining it. I have avocado toast, about 1/4 cup mashed avocado and about 1 Tbs of coconut oil everyday

dopeysmelly

It's a nice sub for butter in baking and add a nice flavor to some cooked dishes like stir fry etc, but it's an oil like any other, so I use it sparingly. For disclosure purposes, I focus on keeping my saturated fat low to keep my cholesterol under control.

Honestly, I'd just rather eat coconut than consume gollops of coconut oil.

laceyn18

Jolinia wrote: »

I've heard of using it to clean your teeth with, but the recommended swishing time is just ridiculously long.

Are you talking about oil pulling? I read an article a while back that says you get most of the benefits in the first 3-5 minutes. I don't buy into all the claims however I've been doing this for a while (using the 3-5 min). Teeth are definitely whiter and I no longer have morning breathe (at all)! I still brush and floss, just added this to the routine.

RachelElser

I asked my nutritionist about and and after she stopped laughing she told me not to use it and stick with olive oil. If you like the taste that's fine, but it's so expensive and apparently not any better for you.

nvmomketo

RachelElser wrote: »

I asked my nutritionist about and and after she stopped laughing she told me not to use it and stick with olive oil. If you like the taste that's fine, but it's so expensive and apparently not any better for you.

I don't think coconut oil is more expensive, and I live in Canada where everything is more expensive.

I buy huge jugs of coconut oil in containers that usually have protein powder in them. I bought it on sale for about $30. The equivalent in olive oil or butter would cost a similar mount if not more.

I like coconut oild for cooking. It has a higher smoke temp.

Christine_72

Coconut oil is definitely more expensive here, if it's on special i can get a 320g (11oz) jar of coconut oil for $8. Olive oil around $8-9 for 1 Litre.

lemurcat12

It's not more expensive where I live (or particularly expensive at all), although olive oil has a huge range of prices.

I prefer olive oil, though, although coconut tastes good with some stuff.

gainerpal

Hmm i love to stick it in my muffins, baking in the bed room is so much fun!!! It has short and medium chain fatty acids so it metabolizes so much quicker than other oils but it will burn off at a lower temp too and it is very high in vitamin E to promote regeneration from the inside out. Its a must for every kitchen.