coconut oil
Why You Should Leave a Jar of Coconut Oil Next to Your Stove and your Bathroom Sink.
If you haven’t already figured this out, I am a big fan of coconut oil for cooking. It is healthy and is a good high heat cooking medium. It does not impart a coconut taste and I honestly believe that food fried in it has a less greasy cleaner mouth feel. Well I am also a big fan of using coconut oil on my skin. I use the same organic unrefined coconut oil that I cook with on my skin. It has a pleasant smell and makes my skin so soft. The organic unrefined coconut oil I use comes from Whole Foods and is pretty reasonably priced, around $5 for a 16 oz. jar. I just scoop some out with a spoon, rub it in my hands and spread it all over my body. My skin glistens for awhile after application, but fairly quickly absorbs into my skin. I have never had a problem with it staining my clothes either. Why use coconut oil as a skin moisturizer instead of other commercial lotions or moisturizers? Simply put its better for you and has a host of other benefits as well.
Published studies in medical journals show that coconut, in one form or another, may provide a wide range of health benefits. Some of these include:
- Reduces inflammation.
- Supports tissue healing and repair.
- Supports and aids immune system function.
- Is heart healthy; improves cholesterol ratio reducing risk of heart disease.
- Protects arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis and thus protects against heart disease.
- Helps prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay.
- Functions as a protective antioxidant.
- Helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.
- Does not deplete the body’s antioxidant reserves like other oil.
Bruce Fife, N.D., a prolific author on the use and benefits of coconut oil, warns against the use of most commercial moisturizers that are predominantly water. This is because the moisture is quickly absorbed into dry, wrinkled skin. As the water enters the skin, it expands the tissues, like filling a balloon with water, so that wrinkles fade away and the skin feels smoother. But this is only temporary. As soon as the water evaporates or is carried away by the blood stream, the dry, wrinkled skin returns. Besides the water, most lotions have an oil of some type. This oil is almost always a highly refined vegetable oil devoid of all natural protective antioxidants. As most of you know if you follow the Primal Blueprint, vegetable oils lead to a great deal of free radicals in our body. Not good, right!
As we age our skin is continually subjected to free-radical attack which breaks down the fiber and connective tissue that makes up our skin. As a result, connective tissues become hardened and lose both elasticity and strength. The skin loses its ability to hold itself together and begins to sag and become wrinkled.
Once a free-radical reaction is started it can cause a chain reaction which produces more free radicals, which ultimately damages thousands of molecules. The only way our body has to fight them is with antioxidants. When a free radical comes into contact with an antioxidant, the chain reaction is stopped. For this reason, it is good to have plenty of antioxidants in our cells and tissues to protect us.  Having anti-oxidants in skin care products is important.
Dr. Ray Peat, a biochemist who has written about the antioxidant properties of coconut oil, asserts that it is well established that dietary coconut oil reduces the need for vitamin E, but he thinks its antioxidant role is more general than that, and that it has both direct and indirect antioxidant activities.
Conventional body care products that are made with refined vegetable oils, which have all the antioxidants stripped from them are highly prone to free-radical generation. This is why you should be careful about the type of oils you use on your skin, and in your lotions, creams and lip balms. If you use a lotion, or cream with a refined oil in it you may be in fact causing your skin to age faster. The lotion may actually accelerate the aging of the skin.
Once again, according to Bruce Fife, and as we all know, one of the classic signs of old age is the appearance of brown, freckle-like spots or liver spots. It is a sign of free-radical deterioration of the lipids (fats) in our skin. Oxidation of polyunsaturated fats and protein by free radical activity in the skin is recognized as the major cause of liver spots. Because cells cannot dispose of the lipofuscin pigment, it gradually accumulates within many cells of the body as we age. Once lipofuscin pigment develops, it tends to stick around for life, but you can prevent further osication and perhaps even reduce the spots you already have by using the right kind of oils in your diet and on your skin.
Coconut oil fits this description. Pure coconut oil prevents destructive free-radical formation and provides protection against them. It can help to keep the skin from developing liver spots, and other blemishes caused by aging and over exposure to sunlight. It helps to keep connective tissues strong and supple so that the skin doesn’t sag and wrinkle. In some cases it might even restore damaged or diseased skin. The oil is absorbed into the skin and into the cell structure of the connective tissues, limiting the damage excessive sun exposure can cause.
Coconut oil will not only bring temporary relief to the skin, but it will aid in healing and repairing. It will have lasting benefits, unlike most lotions. The coconut oil will aid in removing the outer layer of dead skin cells, making the skin smoother. The skin will become more evenly textured with a healthy “shine”. While doing this the coconut oil will penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin and strengthen the underlying tissues.
How does this work. According to the scientific literature, antiseptic fatty acids in coconut oil help to prevent fungal and bacterial infections in the skin when it is consumed and to some extent, when it is applied directly to the skin. The biggest chemical barrier to infectious organisms is the acid layer on the skin. Healthy skin has a pH of about 5, making it slightly acidic. Our sweat (containing uric and lactic acids) and body oils promote this acidic environment. For this reason, sweat and oil do us good. Harmless bacteria can tolerate the acid and live on the skin, but troublesome bacteria can’t thrive and their numbers are few.
The oil our bodies produce is called sebum. Sebum is secreted by oil glands (sebaceous glands) located at the root of every hair as well as other places. This oil is very important to skin health. It softens and lubricates the skin and hair and prevents the skin from drying and cracking. Sebum also contains medium chain fatty acids, in the form of medium chain triglycerides, that can be released to fight harmful germs.
Our skin is home to many tiny organisms, most of which are harmless; some are beneficial. At least one variety of bacterium is essential to the healthy environment on our skin. It feeds on the sebum, breaking down the tryglycerides into free fatty acids. The bacteria actually feed on the glycerol part of the triglyceride. This leaves fatty acids which are now “freed” from the glycerol unit that held them together. Medium chain fatty acids which are bound to the glycerol unit as they are in coconut oil have no antimicrobial properties. However, when they are broken apart into free fatty acids, they become powerful antimicrobials.
Coconut oil is nature’s richest source of medium chain fatty acids. When coconut oil is put on the skin it doesn’t have any immediate antimicrobial action. However, when bacteria which are always present on the skin turn these triglycerides into free fatty acids, the result is an increase in the number of antimicrobial fatty acids on the skin and protection from infection. The free fatty acids also help to contribute to the acid environment on the skin which repels disease causing germs.
When bathing or showering, soap washes the protective layer of oil and acid off our skin. Often afterwards the skin becomes tight and dry. Adding moisturizers helps the skin feel better, but it does not replace the acid or the protective medium chain fatty acid layers that was removed. By using a coconut oil cream, lotion or just pure coconut oil you can quickly help reestablish the skin’s natural antimicrobial and acid barrier.
I make it a habit to slather on the coconut oil after I bathe. You should try it too. not only will it make your skin incredibly soft, it will provide greater benefits than that.
Cuckoo for Coconuts
Since going primal I’ve revisited my love for coconut. It was something that I loved growing up. Once in a while my Mom would pick one up at the store, crack it open, and we would grab chunks and snack on it for days. I liked the texture and the fact that it seemed to take forever to eat. Somewhere along the line I lost touch with the coconut, most likely due to a marketing smear campaign that was launched years ago. I remembered reading somewhere that it was bad for you and you should avoid any product that had coconut oil in the ingredient list. It was based on the mistaken belief that saturated fat was bad for you. This was a mistake on my part and I once again am using coconut in all of its forms almost on a daily basis. I’ve become particularly fond of cooking with coconut oil.
Coconut oil is an edible oil that has been consumed in tropical places for thousands of years. Studies done on native diets high in coconut consumption show that these populations are generally in good health, and don’t suffer as much from many of the modern diseases of western nations.
Coconut oil is one of the richest sources of medium chain fatty acids. They are easily digestible, and are sent directly to your liver where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat. They have actually been shown to stimulate your metabolism and aid in weight loss.  Incorporating coconut in all its forms, and particularly using the oil can have dramatic effects in you body. Try this delicious recipe which incorporates coconut flour, coconut powder and coconut oil for luch or dinner. I’m sure you’ll love it.
Cuckoo for Coconut Chicken and and Mango Salsa
Cuckoo for Coconut Chicken with Mango Salsa
You will need a large non-stick skillet, and 4 mixing bowls. this recipe will yield 4 servings.
Prepare the Mango Salsa. You will need:
- 2 cups of fresh or frozen thawed mango, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
- 2-3 tbls; chopped cilantro
- 2 tbls. red wine vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Prepare the Coconut Chicken. You will need:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 eggs beaten well with a splash of milk
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup coconut powder (available at your Asian market)*
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 3 tbls. coconut oil for frying
- salt & pepper
- romaine, green or red leaf lettuce for garnish
Place 1/2 cup of coconut flour on a plate. In a separate pie pan or deep dish, beat the egss, milk, salt and pepper together. In a separate pie pan or deep dish combine 1/2 cup coconut powder (coconut powder is a finely grated coconut. If you can’t find coconut powder, you can substitute unsweetened coconut flakes but increase the amount to about 3/4 cup) and 1/2 cup almond flour and stir together well. Season the coconut powder/almond flour mixture with salt and pepper. Now, season both sides of the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Start by dredging the seasoned chicken breasts in the coconut flour, making sure to coat all surfaces. Then, place the dredged chicken breasts in the egg mixture. Now, place the chicken breasts in the coconut powder/almond flour mixture making sure to completely coat the schicken breasts. set the coated chicken on a plate and heat the coconut oil in the non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the coconut oil is hot, fry the chicken breasts for 7 to 10 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, and until cooked through. Check the chicken often to ensure that the coating is not burning and adjust the heat if necessary also being careful not to disturb the coating. Meanwhile, place 5 lettuce leafs on each of 4 plates. When the chicken is browned and cooked through, place one breast on each plate, top each chicken breast with 1/2 cup of mango salsa and serve.
Enjoy!
