Being paleo I use coconut oil instead of butter for most everything. Right now being on the keto diet (5% carb, 65%fat, 30%protein) I supplement with it. when I have my protein shake in the morning I throw in 2 tablespoons, when i cook I use it in the pan instead of butter. It's a great product and really good for you.

you can lose weight with it. But because of it's high fat content you need to pair it with the right diet and exercise routine. But in general as add in it's amazing.

I remember reading about coconut oil. I had someone say they wouldn't eat microwave popcorn because of the palm oil (it has a bad rep). When I looked into palm oil (because I was feeling slightly miffed since I was trying to think of something portable and mostly healthy and low cal to contribute to a movie watching get together since this person is also on a diet), I saw that the bad rep comes from the amount of trans fats in palm oil. And I saw that coconut oil has the same percentage of trans fats. So now I wonder what the deal is with coconut oil (other than it is likely very tasty for an oil).

VeryKatie. Is the bad rep for palm oil due to the trans fats or the fact that the plantations are destroying Malaysian rainforests and killing orang-utans?
Make your own popcorn and put your own, tasty topping on. Or, I'm not sure where you are, but in Australia there is a great brand of already popped, organic popcorn from Cobbs. It is delicious!

JessFromEngland wrote: »

VeryKatie. Is the bad rep for palm oil due to the trans fats or the fact that the plantations are destroying Malaysian rainforests and killing orang-utans?
Make your own popcorn and put your own, tasty topping on. Or, I'm not sure where you are, but in Australia there is a great brand of already popped, organic popcorn from Cobbs. It is delicious!

Well she specifically said "it's bad for you" so I don't think the environment was her concern so I suspect it was the trans fat. Unless she had no reason at all to say it is bad for you.

The thing is that there was nothing unhealthy about the popcorn I had bought to bring. It was organic, low sodium, low fat... pretty much plain - all things that I don't care about but I bought because I know my friend cares about that stuff. The only pre-popped popcorn I've seen here is sugar or salt laden and not great for you in comparison. I also didn't want to make her have to dig in storage for an air popper, even if she had one... is it rude to consider those things when going somewhere as a guest? My mom taught me that it was more rude to reject someone's contribution especially if they have already bought it specifically for you. Like... don't throw a potluck if you don't want what anyone else brings. Or at least don't tell them, and simply don't eat much or any (though I guess that's hard for a two person potluck). :-/

I also don't buy that just because you heat the popcorn up in a microwave that it's bad for you. Your stove, oven or air popper also work partially by radiation (I suppose most people haven't had to take as many tests on it as I have though. Good ol' transportation of dangerous goods licenses). It's not like the rays STAY in the food. They're only emitted when the machine is on... And who knows what methods they use to pop the pre-popped popcorn, right? Or how long it sits?

I digress though.

Anyway, my opinion on coconut oil is that it is equally as good for you as any oil and you're supposed to have 2 tsp a day. Or was it 2 tbsp? If you're choosing a specific oil to use, different oils have different proportions of trans, saturated, omega 3, omega 6, etc. fats and you could see what would be the best fit for your diet. My comment was more so going the "why coconut oil specifically?" direction, though I see now that was not clear. I meant more "why not olive or sesame or a different oil? Or a variety of oils?"

As the sole thing to make you lose weight? You'll need to do more than that.