Coconut Oil

Idk about food, but definitely helps with skin. We use it, specially in winter months.

@besdais I drink 3 tablespoons of coconut oil 2X daily in coffee or tea for 18 months now due to my macro of 5% carbs, 15% protein and 80% fat so in my case the jury is in.

I use it daily - anywhere from 1 tsp up to 1-2 Tbsp depending on what I'm cooking or eating, making sure it fits in my macros for the day. I add a scant tsp in my morning oatmeal, sometimes in tea, and have pretty much replaced all cooking oils with CO. I use it for egg/veggie scrambles and any type of stir fry, as well as baking. I only use organic unrefined virgin CO as there are no chemicals used in processing and I don't mind the coconut flavor.

I've been doing this for the past year and we'll see what the effect will be on my cholesterol levels when I have my annual physical in a couple months. Hoping to see a decrease in my slightly elevated numbers.

It's also a great moisturizer and make-up remover.

I use it sparingly in cooking just like any other fat. It has pros and cons just like the rest of them. It works really well as a butter sub in baking vegan items. I dislike it for frying eggs because it imparts a coconutty flavor to them. It is awesome for dry skin and I use it almost daily as a beard oil to moisturize my beard and facial skin, helps to keep it soft with a healthy shine.

It's a healthy fat to use...but it's still fat and still calorie dense...those calories don't just magically disappear because it's coconut oil and has some good nutritional properties. You have to realize that good nutritional properties does not always mean "magic" for weight loss or that the calories don't count. There are any number of highly nutritious foods that are also calorie bombs...and those calories work in exactly the same manner as "junk" calories or any other calories would.

Key point is it's " healthy fat" and fits in your calorie/ macros go for it- my cholesterol improved- stir fry taste better to me too

JenPass1977 wrote: »

I have been wondering about this too. I bought some organic pure CO and I have used it occasionally to cook with BUT for the past 3 years I have relied solely on FryLite so bringing real fat back into my diet is against everything I have taught myself to do. That said, FryLite is probably full of chemicals and is processes within an inch of it's life so I don't know what is the better option!

Coconut oil is definitely healthier than that frylite stuff..

Since I started moisturizing my face with a home mixed coconut oil/vitamin E cream blend, my acne has significantly cleared and my skin looks much better than it used to. I rarely ingest it though, as I find the taste of it when used in cooking to be not as nice as olive oil - and I sure as heck won't put it in my coffee when there's half and half to be had! But yay coconut oil for a better complexion!

artery clogging so i don't use in coffee or cooking
but do use it on scalp for dermatitis type scale
wet hair with water sprayer first
leave on for,30 minutes to an hour before shower with disposable glove on hand
comb thru hair as well as good conditioner

then scrape scalp with fine comb with gloves on
and wash out oil with gloves on again in shower
about 4 times
scalp is moisturized
gloves protect nails as makes them too soft and takes Polish off too

research how bad it clogs,arteries
not worth a heart attack!

canola oil and ex Virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
lightest at moderate heat only
as low burning oils

for high heat or BBQ
avocado oil and grape seed oil best
otherwise ruins pans and burned oil

I use,spritzer for any oils to cook with
less calories,and easier for me with digestion
I have no galbladder and also have gerd

my hubby shaves with Co oil tho

lost 33 lbs 4 years ago in 9 months
using this app
kept it off

now since gerd showed up 5 months ago
I can't eat large meals and can't snack at night
lost another 23 lbs in 3 months
I mix infused fruit water with my wine To drink less too
no counting calories anymore just portion control and learned good habits from counting calories
I eat sugarless candy at night sometimes
or half bag 100 calorie popcorn
I also weigh out pasta and meat still
and everything lean and light and mostly sugar free
I also drink infused fruit water to avoid dehydration with meds I take

i log in my weight daily on this,app but no longer need it for calorie counting
that got boring after a year
I just kept same learned good habits
I can't exercise due to car wreck injury either

it am back to my thinner self and back pain is,way less too and bp is better too
still on meds but bp lower

my gerd/chronic silent acid reflux
no symptoms until er visit
with chest pain on left side
misdiagnosed at er
3 Dr's later with chronic lump in throat
finally diagnosed right

no damage to esophagus
but on acid blocking med for life
nothing bothers me but too much portions
so rest of weight came off easily
and will stay off due to my gerd

I just pay attention to calories and portion right

its,a lifestyle not a diet

and for me it works!

mskmadd wrote: »

artery clogging so i don't use in coffee or cooking
but do use it on scalp for dermatitis type scale
wet hair with water sprayer first
leave on for,30 minutes to an hour before shower with disposable glove on hand
comb thru hair as well as good conditioner

then scrape scalp with fine comb with gloves on
and wash out oil with gloves on again in shower
about 4 times
scalp is moisturized
gloves protect nails as makes them too soft and takes Polish off too

research how bad it clogs,arteries
not worth a heart attack!

canola oil and ex Virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
lightest at moderate heat only
as low burning oils

for high heat or BBQ
avocado oil and grape seed oil best
otherwise ruins pans and burned oil

I use,spritzer for any oils to cook with
less calories,and easier for me with digestion
I have no galbladder and also have gerd

my hubby shaves with Co oil tho

lost 33 lbs 4 years ago in 9 months
using this app
kept it off

now since gerd showed up 5 months ago
I can't eat large meals and can't snack at night
lost another 23 lbs in 3 months
I mix infused fruit water with my wine To drink less too
no counting calories anymore just portion control and learned good habits from counting calories
I eat sugarless candy at night sometimes
or half bag 100 calorie popcorn
I also weigh out pasta and meat still
and everything lean and light and mostly sugar free
I also drink infused fruit water to avoid dehydration with meds I take

i log in my weight daily on this,app but no longer need it for calorie counting
that got boring after a year
I just kept same learned good habits
I can't exercise due to car wreck injury either

it am back to my thinner self and back pain is,way less too and bp is better too
still on meds but bp lower

my gerd/chronic silent acid reflux
no symptoms until er visit
with chest pain on left side
misdiagnosed at er
3 Dr's later with chronic lump in throat
finally diagnosed right

no damage to esophagus
but on acid blocking med for life
nothing bothers me but too much portions
so rest of weight came off easily
and will stay off due to my gerd

I just pay attention to calories and portion right

its,a lifestyle not a diet

and for me it works!

This is the strangest poem I have ever read.

Just kidding.

mskmadd wrote: »

artery clogging so i don't use in coffee or cooking

@mskmadd welcome to MFP forums. Glad to read about your earlier successes. Sorry to hear about your health issues that currently remain.

I too once had a false concept about coconut oil being unhealthy and I needed meds due to my old eating lifestyle. From the forums I was able to learn I could manage pain, acid reflux, blood pressure and reduce my risk of heart disease by moving to a new eating lifestyle in my case to live Rx med free.

Below is an article that covers some of my new eating lifestyle of the past 1.5 years that has in my case enabled better health without the need for Rx meds. This eating lifestyle however may be totally wrong in your case but of interest to others.

At the age of 63 I came to realize I was eating in a way that was rushing me in the direction of a premature death. Now at the age of 65 my general health and all my lab results are better than at the age of 45.

Best of success as you work to find the eating lifestyle that solves more and more of your health related issues you mentioned above.

https://authoritynutrition.com/top-5-artery-clogging-foods-that-can-save-your-life/

It makes great popcorn!

Other than that it's just another calorie-dense oil to be used incredibly sparingly.

You may want to try using coconut milk (the kind in the can) in your coffee since you like the taste. It would have fewer calories and add a creamy consistency. I don't drink coffee but I have friends who love to add it to theirs. Just be sure to shake it really well first. I don't recommend the coconut milk in the carton (So Delicious brand, for example). All the ones I've tried taste how sunscreen smells.

It sounds unlikely, I know, but I've discovered that if I swish coconut oil back and forth around a toothache, it relieves the pain. I usually swallow the oil afterwards, but I have the option of spitting it out, too. I also use coconut oil as a prewash treatment to my hair.