Coconut oil is extremely popular. Consumption of Coconut oil has health benefits as well as beauty benefits. It is termed as “Superfood”. Coconut oil is used to make medicine. It has surprising number of uses around the house. Coconut oil contains Vitamin E, amino acid caprylic acid which helps to keep your skin natural aura. It is amazing at repairing skin as it contains saturated fat. It is well known for its miracle properties.

Benefits and Uses Of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has lot of positive benefits. It can be used in many ways in our daily life. Let’s look into the amazing Health Benefits of Coconut Oil.

Coconut Oil for Health

• Cholesterol: It Helps I’m lowering bad cholesterol levels and reduces the risks of Heart Problems.
• Blood Sugar: It helps in maintaining insulin levels when consumed regularly.
• Dental health: Oil Pulling or Brushing your teeth with coconut oil prevents tooth decays, fights gum diseases. It attacks the harmful bacteria in your mouth.
• For Mouth Ulcers: Dab some coconut oil over the ulcers and let it stay overnight, you will feel relieved next morning.
• Itch relief: It soothes the skin from burns, bug bites, bruises, eczema, mosquito bite when applied to the affected areas.
• Improves Liver Health: Coconut oil protect your liver from damage due to alcohol and toxin exposure.
• Wound Healing: To speed healing of minor cuts or scraps, apply a little bit of coconut oil directly to the wound and cover it with a bandage.

Coconut Oil for Cooking

We can use this for frying purpose as it is very suitable for high heat cooking. It is used for baking recipes, for greasing baking pans, as a replacement for butter or vegetable oil in many recipes, to pop popcorn, for sauteing, in sweet dishes, in pastries, etc. In South Pacific it is very much used in preparing traditional dishes. It gives the perfect flavor to south Indian curries.

Coconut oil is rich in vitamins and flavorful. It has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, especially in virgin coconut oil. It also helps to thyroid function and reduce illness causes bacteria viruses.

Coconut Oil for Hair

Coconut oil makes your hair shiny and protects it from damage when applied to hair regularly.

• Condition Hair: Apply it on your dry hair as a natural hair mask once a week and feel the change.
• Make Your Dull Hair Shine: Get massage your hair regularly and a few session of hair oiling will restore and increase your hair shine. Your hair will feel hydrate.
• Help Your Thinning Hair Grow: It protect hair from breakage from roots to ends and stimulating healthy hair growth.
• Tame Your Frizzy Hair: Your hair will feel soft and smooth and hair will not be frizzy any more with coconut oil.
• Repair Your Damaged Hair: Coconut oil massage will bring your hair to life.
• Stimulate Hair Growth: it is a naturally helps to hair grow longer and thicker.

For Face

Coconut oil is rich in vitamins and antioxidants so it is best for face. It is used for a healthy and wrinkle free skin, it can be used as night cream.

• It helps to reduce wrinkles
• Its antimicrobial properties are helpful to kill bacteria on the skin and reduce inflammation.
• It works as a good exfoliator if mix with sugar.
• It is a good makeup removal, apply coconut oil on your face and gently rub it. Rinse face with warm water and pat dry.
• Coconut oil protects skin while you shave and reduce razor burn.

As Body Moisturizer

Coconut oil can be used to moisturize your legs, arms and elbows. It is good moisturizer. You may apply it after bath as a body oil to reduce skin damage. It heal skin as it is filled with antibacterial property. If your skin is acne prone then you must stay away from using coconut oil. It is good for chapped and cracked lips due to its analgesic properties. You can apply this several time throughout the day as lips lose moisture fast then rest of the body. It trap moisture in skin and as a result you get a soft and smooth skin.

As Stain Remover

Coconut oil can be used as stain remover. It removes stains from furniture and spills on carpets. It is good specifically greasy, waxy stains. Take one part coconut oil with one part of baking soda and mix the paste. Apply to the stain and leave five minutes and then wipe away. Before applying first test it on an unnoticeable are to make sure that it will not damage fabric.

Make your wooden furniture shine

Coconut oil helps in keeping your furniture shiny and polished. It is a good cleanser and polisher. As per research the oil contains antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. To keep our house clean we can use some cheap ingredient such as baking soda, lemon, salt, vinegar etc instead of harmful chemicals. Mixing these with coconut, gives amazing result.

Types of Coconut Oil

All coconut oils are not of same types. There are two types of coconut oils:

Refined coconut oil

Refined coconut oil is produced from dried coconuts and don’t have any coconut flavour or aroma.

Unrefined coconut oil

Unrefined coconut oil is cold-pressed or without chemicals which is known as “virgin” or “extra virgin” oil . Here i want to describe that there is no likewise difference between virgin and extra virgin. Both oils are made from fresh and raw coconuts. These oils are organic and processed with least chemicals. And these oils have light coconut taste and aroma. These oils are pure in nature.

Type of Coconut Oil You should Choose:

Coconut oil that is virgin, organic and pure.

• For cooking: Organic, Unrefined
• For household: Refined as a stain remover, furniture polish

You can prepare virgin coconut oil at home free from preservatives and chemicals. Here are the instructions how to make coconut oil at home.

Products/ Materials to be Used

• Brown coconut
• Stove
• Blender
• Pots/Pans
• Knife
• Towel/shirt or cheese cloth
• Colander (saucepan)

Method

• Get an old brown coconut or as many as you like, let the water out and cut them open. To let the water come out, make hole in 3 spots on the top face of coconut. They are soft and easy to open. You can make hole with a knife or a screwdriver. Let the water out. To break the shell you can use a hammer or a big knife. Remove the coconut flesh from the shell.
• Cut the coconut flesh to smaller pieces. Place these pieces in the blender. Add some hot water and blend these pieces into a paste. After blending put this paste into a bowl.
• Get a cheesecloth or old (clean) shirt or a kitchen towel and squeeze all the milk out of the paste. To separate water from the cream keep it overnight or a couple of hours.
• Cook to oil: Scoop the cream carefully off the water and place it in a pan on a medium fire, make sure not to put your fire too high otherwise the coconut oil will burn. Cook until all the water dried and just the oil and coconut chunks are left.
• Filter the oil: Separate the oil from the coconut chunks and filter the oil one more time with your cheese cloth.
• Finish: Now you can place your oil into a glass jar and store it however you like and it’s ready to use.

Last but not the least, If you want the coconut oil with the most flavor, Always go for the oil that is in a glass container than those in plastic ones and always choose virgin coconut oil with “Certified Organic” label.