OMG Coconut oil!! <3

olivia3263

Update: day 2 - so I never had my ice cream last night - I was pleasantly full and never got hungry enough for anything extra after having my dinner cooked with coconut oil. I did have a little trouble getting to sleep at first, but once I did I slept like a baby. I woke up at 7 without my alarm. I took my resting heart beat which has been consistently low - 45 - and trust me, my fitness level is not THAT good. My resting heart rate this am was 58! And my temp was 98.2! I had a handful of the granola I made last night with half a banana and went out for my run. I went faster than ever (and I am just getting back from an achilles injury) and my muscles didn't feel tired at all. Upon returning I had the rest of the granola on my greek yogurt with blueberries and banana. Yummy

I'm so excited about this stuff. I feel great - Oh, and I was down 2 pounds on the scale this morning too! I'm on cloud nine

olivia3263

And, I think I might need to change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active - I haven't stopped moving since I got up. Crazy!

Hearts_2015

bump

blynnblair

Buying some tomorrow! Excited to see if I have increased energy

ninerbuff

Macadamia nut oil is also another good one. Especially if you cook with oil.

Grokette

Also do you have a separate blog that covers other topics you've shared on here in the past? Such as dry brushing etc.? TIA:happy:

:flowerforyou:

Hey there...............my old username where I deleted the account had the blog about dry brushing and the information.

There is a thread on this site in the the black hole of forum topics where I did a great explanation of dry brushing and all of its benefits...................

I will try and dig it up.

Hearts_2015

Also do you have a separate blog that covers other topics you've shared on here in the past? Such as dry brushing etc.? TIA:happy:

:flowerforyou:

Hey there...............my old username where I deleted the account had the blog about dry brushing and the information.

There is a thread on this site in the the black hole of forum topics where I did a great explanation of dry brushing and all of its benefits...................

I will try and dig it up.

Is this the one? Thanks looks like some great info, thanks for taking time to share it... :flowerforyou:
sorry your old blog is gone. Would have loved to have read it!

ETA: oops! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/101244-cellulite-improvement-dry-brushing-and-cococut-oil-used-as?page=1#posts-4567262

I think what I'm confused about is where to find the proper brush and what type... I'll take a look at your post and see if that info is included. :happy:

questionablemethods

My extra virgin coconut oil finally arrived from Amazon.com (I got Nutiva brand). It is so tasty I have been dipping into it just plain. YUM. I have used coconut oil before, but that must have been expeller pressed or something because it didn't really taste like coconut at all. This stuff has a definite sweet, coconut taste -- which I love!

I think I will try some on my hair the next time I wash it. Come to think of it, I probably should have ordered a larger size....

Grokette

My extra virgin coconut oil finally arrived from Amazon.com (I got Nutiva brand). It is so tasty I have been dipping into it just plain. YUM. I have used coconut oil before, but that must have been expeller pressed or something because it didn't really taste like coconut at all. This stuff has a definite sweet, coconut taste -- which I love!

I think I will try some on my hair the next time I wash it. Come to think of it, I probably should have ordered a larger size....

I use Tropical Traditions and Nutiva................Tropical Traditions is the absolute best in the world.!!!

Please contact me if anyone wants to order from there............

servilia

I bought some organic fresh pressed virgin coconut oil today! gonna try it out.

servilia

Here's a page full of coconut oil recipes!

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/coconut_oil_recipes.htm

olivia3263

1 week UPDATE:

So I've been using coconut oil for 1 week and I thought I'd tell you my results after one week. I built up to 3 Tablespoons a day (over the course of 3 days to avoid adverse tummy reactions, which I did). I've gotten used to having 1 tbsp in my coffee in the am, munch on these yummy banana muffins I made on the weekend (recipe below), and have a tablespoon with dinner. I've also been putting some on my face each night a little bit before bed. I do this everyday, and fit it into my daily calories (I am set at sedentary, losing 1 lb a week, and my net calorie goal is 1370 - for exercise, I aim to run 25-30 miles a week, and try not to eat over 1900 calories in any one day - except on saturday I ran 12 miles so I ate 2200 - still under my net calories a little).

So, the first thing I noticed was a boost in my energy, as I told you before. That crazed "speed-like" feeling eventually subsided and it was just a good healthy energetic lift. I can have a tbsp at dinner and go to bed within a reasonable time. I used to get up a lot during the night to use the bathroom (from all the water) - I'm still drinking the same amount of water, but I'm sleeping through the night.

I also noticed an upward trend in my basal body temperature (went from 96/97 - a constant above 98 - usually very close to 98.6) and my resting heart rate (from 45 - 55). I'm in pretty good physical condition and 55 is right on par with my VO2 max, so I'm happy with that.


Second thing I noticed was my skin. I have had these little bumps below my bottom lip forever, and suddenly they just disappeared. I got a few blemishes in the middle of the week, but now they are almost gone and my skin feels like a baby's. So soft and smooth, I love it!

Next, I noticed a change in my body (not my weight, mind you). I was getting a little frustrated that I still didn't see a significant dip in my weight yet, but I noticed some mushy parts in my middle (down half an inch), and my arms - I could see a difference when I put some shirts and coats on.

Lastly, finally, weight. In one week I've lost 4 pounds. The weight finally showed 2 days ago, and seems to be sticking, so I'm super happy about that.

overall....I LOVE COCONUT OIL

Here's the banana muffin recipe

5 eggs (apparently you need a lot of eggs when you use coconut flour on it's own)
2 ripe bananas (I had small ones so I used 2 and 1/2)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut flour (also found at whole foods: bob's red mill brand)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Heat oven to 325
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and mix until smooth. I divided the batter into a greased muffin pan (used coconut oil to grease it) - 12 muffins total (It was a little less than a quarter cup per muffin)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned or set in the middle.

Each muffin is 144 calories, 7 carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 3 grams protein, 12 grams of fat (all from coconut oil so it's good) - recommended dosage of cocounut oil is 2-4 tablespoons a day. I have 2 muffins a day - spread out in halves mainly to give me energy. Half pre-run, half post run, half before lunch, half after lunch. It's filling, satisfying, and gives me a boost.

Fletch0502

yes but it is good saturated fat. If you dig deep into physiology and nutrition our bodies need saturated fat and coconut oil is the best next to olive oil.

Hearts_2015

1 week UPDATE:

So I've been using coconut oil for 1 week and I thought I'd tell you my results after one week. I built up to 3 Tablespoons a day (over the course of 3 days to avoid adverse tummy reactions, which I did). I've gotten used to having 1 tbsp in my coffee in the am, munch on these yummy banana muffins I made on the weekend (recipe below), and have a tablespoon with dinner. I've also been putting some on my face each night a little bit before bed. I do this everyday, and fit it into my daily calories (I am set at sedentary, losing 1 lb a week, and my net calorie goal is 1370 - for exercise, I aim to run 25-30 miles a week, and try not to eat over 1900 calories in any one day - except on saturday I ran 12 miles so I ate 2200 - still under my net calories a little).

So, the first thing I noticed was a boost in my energy, as I told you before. That crazed "speed-like" feeling eventually subsided and it was just a good healthy energetic lift. I can have a tbsp at dinner and go to bed within a reasonable time. I used to get up a lot during the night to use the bathroom (from all the water) - I'm still drinking the same amount of water, but I'm sleeping through the night.

I also noticed an upward trend in my basal body temperature (went from 96/97 - a constant above 98 - usually very close to 98.6) and my resting heart rate (from 45 - 55). I'm in pretty good physical condition and 55 is right on par with my VO2 max, so I'm happy with that.


Second thing I noticed was my skin. I have had these little bumps below my bottom lip forever, and suddenly they just disappeared. I got a few blemishes in the middle of the week, but now they are almost gone and my skin feels like a baby's. So soft and smooth, I love it!

Next, I noticed a change in my body (not my weight, mind you). I was getting a little frustrated that I still didn't see a significant dip in my weight yet, but I noticed some mushy parts in my middle (down half an inch), and my arms - I could see a difference when I put some shirts and coats on.

Lastly, finally, weight. In one week I've lost 4 pounds. The weight finally showed 2 days ago, and seems to be sticking, so I'm super happy about that.

overall....I LOVE COCONUT OIL

Here's the banana muffin recipe

5 eggs (apparently you need a lot of eggs when you use coconut flour on it's own)
2 ripe bananas (I had small ones so I used 2 and 1/2)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut flour (also found at whole foods: bob's red mill brand)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Heat oven to 325
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and mix until smooth. I divided the batter into a greased muffin pan (used coconut oil to grease it) - 12 muffins total (It was a little less than a quarter cup per muffin)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned or set in the middle.

Each muffin is 144 calories, 7 carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 3 grams protein, 12 grams of fat (all from coconut oil so it's good) - recommended dosage of cocounut oil is 2-4 tablespoons a day. I have 2 muffins a day - spread out in halves mainly to give me energy. Half pre-run, half post run, half before lunch, half after lunch. It's filling, satisfying, and gives me a boost.

Good for you olivia3263! Gonna have to pick up some and the coconut flour as well. Need to read through this thread again to find the favorite brand of coconut oil you all are using. You've got some terrific benefits from this and the recipe does sound good and the nutrients in it good ones!

Appreciate you checking back with your progress...definitely feel free to keep adding to this thread as I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves your progress posts!:drinker:

ETA:

My extra virgin coconut oil finally arrived from Amazon.com (I got Nutiva brand). It is so tasty I have been dipping into it just plain. YUM. I have used coconut oil before, but that must have been expeller pressed or something because it didn't really taste like coconut at all. This stuff has a definite sweet, coconut taste -- which I love!

I think I will try some on my hair the next time I wash it. Come to think of it, I probably should have ordered a larger size....

I use Tropical Traditions and Nutiva................Tropical Traditions is the absolute best in the world.!!!

Please contact me if anyone wants to order from there............

Can you buy these locally or only on line at this time? I shop Trader Joe's but don't have access to a close Whole Foods and have several other healthy food stores in town but they are much smaller.

Grokette... why the preference in using the Tropical Traditions brand over the Nutiva brand what do you feel the benefits are? Keep in mind I've never tried either but would prefer one that others have already tried & enjoyed. SO far I've heard good from both of you above about TT & N brands.

Thanks to all of you above for the tips... well anyone that's contributed to this thread, much appreciated!:happy:

Here's a page full of coconut oil recipes!

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/coconut_oil_recipes.htm

Thanks for the recipe link Servilia

CherrySunday

WOW!! Thanks for this post, I had no idea about the benefits of coconut oil -- I mean I LOVE coconut to start with, so I'm totally trying this. Right now I'm on Norwegian Lemon Flavored Cod Oil, which has really helped improve my skin (smaller pores and a nice glow), but it sounds like I'll have to mix in the coconut oil for breakfast at least -- I do cereal usually or yogurt with trail mix tossed in. Anyway -- thank you for posting!!

naveej

bump

tigersword

The fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, which so happens to be the SAME fat that people are so insistent on eliminating from their milk by drinking skim instead of whole. It's also found in palm kernel oil and goat's milk.

Besides, while lauric acid may help overall cholesterol numbers, atherosclerosis has nothing to do with cholesterol, and they have yet to prove that lauric acid doesn't contribute to atherosclerosis like other saturated fats. Like everything else, use in moderation, there is no 1 miracle cure.

Personally I'll go with extra virgin or virgin olive oil as my cooking oil of choice, just based on it's polyphenol and antioxidant properties, as lauric acid can come from other sources, the antioxidants and polyphenols in olive oil are unique.

Silverkittycat

The fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, which so happens to be the SAME fat that people are so insistent on eliminating from their milk by drinking skim instead of whole. It's also found in palm kernel oil and goat's milk.

Besides, while lauric acid may help overall cholesterol numbers, atherosclerosis has nothing to do with cholesterol, and they have yet to prove that lauric acid doesn't contribute to atherosclerosis like other saturated fats. Like everything else, use in moderation, there is no 1 miracle cure.

Personally I'll go with extra virgin or virgin olive oil as my cooking oil of choice, just based on it's polyphenol and antioxidant properties, as lauric acid can come from other sources, the antioxidants and polyphenols in olive oil are unique.

Exactly, no miracle cure.

It's just business. Marketing. A loss in sales volume of coconut oil to the U.S. was a "problem" that was easily fixed when millions were spent to promote it. No different than the $ spent on campaigns to put halos on almonds, pomegranate, bottled water and so on.

Clip below is from 5 years ago, before the decisions made by the Coconut industry Investment Fund to create more demand in the U.S. market. You can see the sales projections for the U.S. were quite low. It wouldn't benefit the Philippines to import it to India due to the high import duty, not until/ unless free import was allowed under advance license for value added re-exports.

Philippines keen to export coconut oil to India
Posted: 2006-09-28

The Philippines, the world’s largest producer and exporter of coconut oil, is looking to shift its exports to Asia Pacific region from its traditional markets of Europe and the US. “One of the important markets in Asia-Pacific region would be India,” Coronacion told CrisilMarketWire. Traditionally, The Philippines exports crude coconut oil to Europe and refined bleached oil to the US, he said.

The Philippines, on an average, exports 80% of its coconut oil production. However, demand from Asia Pacific region is growing compared with Europe, the US and Canada, he said.

Demand from traditional markets is being shifted to Asia Pacific due to burgeoning population and prospering economies in the region, he said. “As growths in population and income in these economies spur demand...expansion of oil consumption in the region is expected to be sustained,” Coronacion said.

“The share of the US and Canada has stagnated and that of Europe has declined but Asia Pacific has widened from 14% in 2000 to 32.7% in 2005,” he said. Share of Europe exports for 2006 is projected at 45.0%, down from 52.4% last year. Exports to U.S. are pegged at 33.3%.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, I use coconut oil myself. I do believe it's healthier than many other sources of fat, but not as weight loss "magic". It's used to help with weight maintenance and weight gain in AIDS patients and cystic fibrosis along with other diseases that result in malabsorption syndromes. Celiac disease, hepatic disease, short - bowel syndrome.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it might benefit those who've restricted the fats in their diet, simply by aiding in the absorption of nutrients that they lack. But no magic!


**** I posted this in the wrong thread - it was meant for the "magic or myth" one. Too many coconut oil threads and I need some sleep. Sorry!

Silverkittycat

Something that might have contributed to the myth -

Jul 30 2003
A note from Mary Shomon: The May 20, 2003 issue of the weekly newsstand publication, Woman’s World, featured a cover story “The New Thyroid Cure.” Since that article hit the newsstand about ten days ago, I’ve been inundated with emails from people who want to know if what the article seems to claim is true: Can coconut oil "cure" your hypothyroidism and ensure rapid weight loss? I asked holistic physician Dr. Ken Woliner to respond to this question for us.

Please note: Dr. Woliner has no financial relationship to any companies that sell coconut oil, and reports no conflicts of interest with the coconut oil industry, or with any other vitamin or pharmaceutical company.

by Ken Woliner, MD, ABFP

In their May 20th, 2003 issue (actually distributed around May 10th), Woman’s World published a cover story, “The new thyroid cure” describing how a low carbohydrate/high protein diet and coconut oil could cure thyroid disease. Though I have not been able to directly interview the authors or their sources, I have done my best to make a reasonable assessment of the validity and reliability of this article. My opinion is based upon my review of this article, information available on Tropical Traditions (one major supplier of coconut oil), independent research published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and my own personal medical school training and clinical experience. For simplicity’s sake, it is perhaps best to split my comments into two: a discussion of the article itself and a balanced discussion regarding coconut oil and its relation to thyroid disease and weight loss.

What is the quality of this article?

Woman’s World is a “tabloid” style magazine that is sold in checkout aisles in supermarkets across the United States. They have been cited on numerous occasions for fabricating quotes and other information. There is no consistency from article to article in each issue, with some stories promoting a low carbohydrate / high protein diet for weight loss, while on other pages, listing recipes for very high carbohydrate recipes. There is no way to contact the magazine to write letters to the editor or to contact authors of their articles. Simply put, Woman’s World is not a reliable source of medical information.

Popular Spanish-language television host Cristina Saralegui is featured on the cover of the magazine and inside the main article. It does not appear that she is using (or has ever used) coconut oil. It appears that a majority of her weight loss and increase in energy was due to her new eating and exercise pattern. She now consumes less total calories by omitting white carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta and rice and forgoes the fried tempura, consuming only the fish (sashimi?) instead. In addition, this dietary change limits her carbohydrate and saturated / trans-fat intake, limiting her need to produce insulin to metabolize these foods. Insulin is a hormone that leads to fat deposition, most notably in the hips and belly. High insulin levels also lead to fatigue, and by reducing her insulin requirements, she appears to have more energy (and discipline) to exercise on a treadmill 30 minutes a day, four times a week. This increased exercise burns calories, and further lowers her insulin resistance. Though I have not had the chance to interview or examine Ms. Saralegui, I could reasonably infer that she is insulin-resistant and prone to diabetes (which is more common in Latino populations). As she still is a size 10 (and only about 5'5" tall), she is still considerably overweight (and if not "overweight", her picture portrays her as "overfat" and "undermuscled" with abdominal obesity), and most likely has other issues that could be addressed to optimize her health. Whether or not she has a thyroid problem or not cannot be ascertained by the information presented in this article.

BrewerGeorge

@ the OP

I just can't believe that you're eating 20% of your daily calories as supplemental fat on purpose. Are you one of those who can't eat enough regular food to get up to required daily calorie intake?