The Amazing Awesomeness of Coconut Oil

It's so good it deserves two adjectives.

When I first tried coconut oil, I bought a tiny little jar at a health food store because a friend of a friend told me it helped with ezcema.  I now buy it by the tub and use it for almost everything.  Here are my favorite uses; although I have to admit I find new ones every day.

Cooking.

• I substitute coconut oil for butter or vegetable oil in all my baking.
• Use in place of butter, vegetable oil, Canola Oil or any hydrogenated oil in anything I fry.
• Substitute for butter on grilled cheese sandwiches and cinnamon toast.
• I have also found that using 2/3 almond milk and 1/3 coconut oil is a great substitution for whole milk in baking, and it keeps the recipe dairy-free.

My family was positive that the coconut flavor would change the flavor of the food, but I just switched in one fell swoop and no one even noticed.  It's a good thing my husband is computer illiterate and doesn't read my blogs, or the gig would be up!

Skin Care/Beauty.

• First of all, great big choirs singing hallelujeh should be heard when I type about coconut oil's effect on ezcema.  My oldest son and I both had  ugly, itchy patches of ezcema.  Guess what?  Applied topically, this stuff is better than any lotion or cream I've ever used, including the prescription ones that cost as much as 10 tubs of coconut oil.
• As a basic lotion, I now use it on myself and my kids, immediately post shower.
• I also use it to make sugar scrubs for my skin by combining equal parts coconut oil and brown or white sugar and a few drops of a skin safe essential oil.
• It is the best ever deep conditioning treatment for my hair.  I slather my dry hair with it, cover it with a shower cap and let it sit for at least thirty minutes.
• It worked better for the itchiness of my expanding pregnant tummy than any commercial product I tried.

Heath Benefits.

Coconut oil is some seriously good-for-you stuff.  In the past, it was thought to be too high in fat to be healthy, but the reverse is actually true.

• Coconut oil has a saturated fat called lauric acid, which increases your good cholesterol.
• Intake of coconut oil helps your body fight bacteria and viruses, and protect you from yeast, fungus and candida.
• It increases digestion and helps absorb vitamins.
• Helps restore thyroid function.
• Helps maintain healthy  blood sugar by improving insulin use in the body.

Yep, it really does do all that.  I've definitely joined the ranks of the coconut oil crazies.

And since I'm on a bit of a conversion mission, here's what kind to buy and where to find it.  The less refined the better, which means unrefined is the best.  Never, ever buy hydrogenated coconut oil, because you'll lose all of the amazingness.  Locally, you can find coconut oil at health food stores, through Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op when it's offered, and surprisingly, at Costco.