Coconut Oil

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evayna
evayna Posts: 66 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've heard that consuming coconut oil can help aid in weight loss, has anyone tried this?
I personally love putting it in my coffee in the morning, and throwing it in a blender. It makes it creamy without the aid of creamer or milk. But my issue is that 1 tbs is 120!! It's so calorie dense, do the benefits out-way the cons? I really don't want to give it up!
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Replies

  • JackieMarie1989jgw
    JackieMarie1989jgw Posts: 230 Member
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    It's a healthy source of fats, for sure, but like any fat moderation is key. I dont know if it will necessarily help you lose weight. Too much of a good thing is bad, even if it's healthy too much will make you gain. Weight aside, though, it is a more heart healthy option than animal fats which will benefit your health in the long run! So my advice would be to keep using it but always measure out how much youre using and use it in moderation
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Something to think about. What if I told you that regardless of what you eat (coconut oil, grass fed beef, broccoli, brown rice, pizza, Twinkies, pop-tarts, acai berry, and/or whatever the new "eat this one food to lose weight" is), eating less calories than you need will cause you to lose weight and eating more calories than you need will cause you to gain weight.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I'd rather eat my fats. Buttered toast with one egg over easy. 300 calories and I'm good until lunch.
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
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  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    It tastes good in some things and my dog loves it. It's not magical.
  • JackieMarie1989jgw
    JackieMarie1989jgw Posts: 230 Member
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    AmazonMayan wrote: »
    It tastes good in some things and my dog loves it. It's not magical.

    This. It's a heart healthy fat, just like many others (olive, avocado, etc). Like any other fat it requires moderation. Besides being better than animal fat health-wise, it's not really special
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    It's a healthy fat like olive oil or avocado oil, etc and has some good nutritional properties, but good nutritional properties doesn't translate to "aiding in weight loss." Like any fat, it's about 120 calories per TBS.

    You need dietary fat, but this whole dumping spoon fulls of it into your coffee and whatnot seems absurd to me....just cook with it and other good, heart healthy fats like a normal person.
  • evayna
    evayna Posts: 66 Member
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    I think I should note that aside from the coconut oil I really do not have a lot of fat in my diet. I stay within my calorie limit with using it. I've been using it for a couple of days now, and I've noticed that I don't hit my usual hunger pains by 12:30! So that is a bonus in and of itself! I'm mainly looking for feedback from people who use this as a regular dietary aid.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    AmazonMayan wrote: »
    It tastes good in some things and my dog loves it. It's not magical.

    It's AMAZING on sweet potatoes, and it's my go to for Thai cooking. Like said above, other than being better for you than some other oils, it has no magical properties. (It is, however, my preferred makeup remover and hair oil. :smile: )

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    evayna wrote: »
    I think I should note that aside from the coconut oil I really do not have a lot of fat in my diet. I stay within my calorie limit with using it. I've been using it for a couple of days now, and I've noticed that I don't hit my usual hunger pains by 12:30! So that is a bonus in and of itself! I'm mainly looking for feedback from people who use this as a regular dietary aid.

    Dietary fat in general is satiating and is absolutely essential to your body functioning properly. Coconut oil isn't a dietary aid. I use it all of the time in my diet (noun) because it's a delicious and a heart healthy fat. That's what people are trying to tell you...it doesn't have any magical dietary aiding properties. It's just a fat just like olive oil or avocado oil, etc...it's good for you nutritionally in appropriate quantities...but there's nothing magical about it.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    evayna wrote: »
    I think I should note that aside from the coconut oil I really do not have a lot of fat in my diet. I stay within my calorie limit with using it. I've been using it for a couple of days now, and I've noticed that I don't hit my usual hunger pains by 12:30! So that is a bonus in and of itself! I'm mainly looking for feedback from people who use this as a regular dietary aid.

    All fats are satiating, coconut oil is not magic, that's part of the reason why you're not hungry until 12:30. The other reason is because that's what you've gotten yourself use to. Coconut oil is not going to aid in weight loss, if you like it, use it. I know you are looking for someone who had success with it, but you don't always find what you want to hear.
  • SoleilxStitch
    SoleilxStitch Posts: 95 Member
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    I love coconut oil , I'm not sure about its weight loss helping properties but its definitely been a good for my health problems which I wont mention because gross D: but a little bit of coconut oil goes along way. I take coconut oil as a supplement , 22 cals and then I just have a tub anyway which I use for cooking. I have had the tub for six months and its nowhere near finished.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    It is a safer fat to cook with and less likely to go rancid. It's MCTs are thought to be used as a primary fat source and it s thought to confer some health benefits of ketones on people who are not eating a ketogenic diet (and not over eating). It has a very mild thermogenic effect and i have heard some people say they find it mildly warming.

    Like others said, it isn't a miracle food, it is just a good healthful food.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Coconut oil is wonderful but it does nothing particular for weight loss. There are no magic potions for losing weight.

    Weight loss is simple math, consume less calories than you burn.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    evayna wrote: »
    I think I should note that aside from the coconut oil I really do not have a lot of fat in my diet. I stay within my calorie limit with using it. I've been using it for a couple of days now, and I've noticed that I don't hit my usual hunger pains by 12:30! So that is a bonus in and of itself! I'm mainly looking for feedback from people who use this as a regular dietary aid.

    You're not listening, IT IS NOT A DIET AID. There are no magic diet aids. It is a healthy oil that tastes good, that's it, period.
  • evayna
    evayna Posts: 66 Member
    edited January 2016
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    beemerphile1 wrote: »
    evayna wrote: »
    I think I should note that aside from the coconut oil I really do not have a lot of fat in my diet. I stay within my calorie limit with using it. I've been using it for a couple of days now, and I've noticed that I don't hit my usual hunger pains by 12:30! So that is a bonus in and of itself! I'm mainly looking for feedback from people who use this as a regular dietary aid.

    You're not listening, IT IS NOT A DIET AID. There are no magic diet aids. It is a healthy oil that tastes good, that's it, period.

    Rude. A dietary aid is a supplement taken to add further nutrition value to ones diet. I consider it as a diet aid for me personally because I don't get enough fat in my diet. Yes, there is no magic potion for weight loss, it takes diet, exercise and determination. Coconut oil contains lauric acid, and the theory is that the Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT's) increase energy expendeture. Some studies have been done that show at most 2-3 lb weight loss with 1 tbs added to a healthy diet in women, although this isn't a significant amount. It is a theory with few medical studies. So excuse me for thinking that some users may have tried this in an effort to lose weight.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    I use coconut oil as a moisturizer and keep a tub for cooking.

    I do love it on my skin. You just have to watch out and make sure it doesn't cause you to break out. I have that problem in my chest and face.
  • talialinn
    talialinn Posts: 30 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Yes, coconut oil can potentially be used as a weight loss aid. The medium chain triglyceride fats (MCTs) in coconut oil are not stored as fat in the body, but are recognized as a fuel source instead. Hello thermogenesis! Here, don't just take my word for it: http://nutritionreview.org/2013/04/medium-chain-triglycerides-mcts/

    It's not as simple as the popular phrase:"calories-in-calories-out" if it were, we wouldn't have dieticians and nutritionists designing meal plans for people to help them with diseases, deficiencies, weight loss, weight gain, body recomposition, etc. If we could all eat whatever foods we felt like and stay healthy, as long as we stayed under a certain caloric threshold, then we wouldn't have hypertension, diabetes or osteoporosis, to name a few. 1500 calories of potato chips is NOT equal to 1500 calories of broccoli, no matter what kids try to tell you :wink:

    Calories-in-calories-out is old school rhetoric that needs to be put to bed.

    Anyway, good luck on your journey and I wish you the best.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    talialinn wrote: »
    Yes, coconut oil can potentially be used as a weight loss aid. The medium chain triglyceride fats (MCTs) in coconut oil are not stored as fat in the body, but are recognized as a fuel source instead. Hello thermogenesis! Here, don't just take my word for it: http://nutritionreview.org/2013/04/medium-chain-triglycerides-mcts/

    It's not as simple as the popular phrase:"calories-in-calories-out" if it were, we wouldn't have dieticians and nutritionists designing meal plans for people to help them with diseases, deficiencies, weight loss, weight gain, body recomposition, etc. If we could all eat whatever foods we felt like and stay healthy, as long as we stayed under a certain caloric threshold, then we wouldn't have hypertension, diabetes or osteoporosis, to name a few.

    Calories-in-calories-out is old school rhetoric that needs to be put to bed.

    Anyway, good luck on your journey and I wish you the best.

    And you are on a calorie counting website, that's funny
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    evayna wrote: »
    So I've heard that consuming coconut oil can help aid in weight loss, has anyone tried this?
    I personally love putting it in my coffee in the morning, and throwing it in a blender. It makes it creamy without the aid of creamer or milk. But my issue is that 1 tbs is 120!! It's so calorie dense, do the benefits out-way the cons? I really don't want to give it up!

    So you have your answer. Adding it to your diet, will mean adding 120 calories per tbs. So, adding it will not help lose weight. If you like its taste more than something else with the same calories, and need more fat in your diet, sure, replace something else with this. But of course it does nto have magic calories that help with weight loss.

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