Coconut oil, unlike most of the hydrogenated polyunsaturated oils found in supermarkets, does not tend to go to fat stores in the body, but instead is readily metabolized by the body for energy. My parents use this oil for weight loss. Once they came to my town for a visit and my father had lost a noticeable amount of weight, he was slim and trim, but I know neither of them actively or regularly work out. When I inquired about the change they said they swear by using coconut oil to loose weight. My father says he eats a few tablespoons of it a day, & his wife has changed to cooking with it as well.
I had already been using coconut oil in my hair and on my body, which was pregnant and stretching fast at the time. When they told me about this my husband started to cook with it more often. Recently we keep a huge supply of it in the house for cooking, baking, and eating, etc on a daily basis. Hopefully I see the same weight loss benefits they have seen with long term use as I have more of a pooch now than I did after giving birth!
There has been controversy as to coconut oil being saturated fat, potentially leading to high cholesterol & clogged arteries. This is really silly since coconut oil is a fine liquid at about 76 degrees, plus it is quickly metabolized and not stored in the body, therefore for both of these reasons coconut oil is not going to do any clogging in your body. Honestly I think this negative campaign might have been in order to increase sales of some other kinda of oils and staying with the conspiracy theorist in me, a way to continually steer the public away from everything that is good for us and the environment.
Some sites I see around the web have articles entitled "Coconut Oil & Weight Loss - IS IT A HOAX?" or "Does it REALLY Work?". I have to say I don't know what will work for every person, but the body needs fat to run. If you don't get enough your body will store it because it thinks you are starving. So using an oil that your body will metabolize right away sends the opposite message and tells the body you are getting enough so it doesn't need to store it up around you waist and thighs! Plus my parents were thin when I saw them & thats enough proof and data for me. You have nothing but weight & bad health to lose if you try it & if you are lazy like me and don't want to wait for some work out, that you don't do anyway to start showing results, try the coconut oil everyday. If you can't consistently stick to that, I don't know what to tell you.
Coconut oil contains lauric acid at about %50 of the total medium chain tryglycerides, essential to maintaining a healthy immune system & well, life. Butter has lauric acid too but only at about 3%. On a side note you can't get that content of lauric acid from imitation butter or spread! My mother (not my dad's wife) is bent on using margarine spreads instead of real butter because she is worried about her weight. From a logical stand point I wonder if she has ever asked herself why she is not thin from eating spread and why I am not fat from eating real butter...but go figure, not everyone you give healthful advice to will accept it on well ears, even if we are their loved ones. The another source of lauric acid at high levels is human breast milk, so babies (& those with breast milk fetishes) drink up! Lactating mom's should consume coconut oil to keep their own lauric acid supply up for themselves and for their babies. Most US made infant formulas have a deficiency of lauric acid, so again, breast is best! If you can't get a hold of a lactating boob for your baby add coconut oil directly to their warm milk or food to remedy the deficiency. Coconut oil also has anti-microbial & anti-carcinogenic properties.
I have wondered about the refinery process of coconut oil and if it destroys the nutritional content. I opted to go with organic, expeller pressed oil rather than a totally raw and untreated source. Once I happened to purchase some raw coconut oil and it smelled like rotting corpses. So that's one thing I won't be having totally as nature intended! I think if you stick with organic and expeller pressed you should be fine. I don't know why people think virgin and extra virgin denotes something good about a product. To me it screams over processed and extra over processed. Be careful about this.
Please take some time to review the research and further information provided below and decide if a switch to coconut oil is healthy lifestyle choice for you. If you have questions about where to buy coconut oil at great prices please feel free to contact me via chat.