9 Rarely Known Benefits and Uses of Coconut Oil

Don’t let the fact that coconut oil is rich in saturated fat scare you off. The form of saturated fat found in coconut oil is called a medium chain triglyceride, which will only do positive things for your health and weight loss efforts.

Here are 9 good reasons why you should give it a try.

Immune Boosting Effects

The first powerful benefit to using coconut oil is its impact on your immune system. Coconut oil is going to help improve the ability of your body to fend off any invading bacteria as well as fight the day to day effects of stress.

If you are always falling ill it might be time to include more coconut oil in your diet plan.

Thermogenic Benefits

For those who are looking to lose weight, coconut oil is a perfect solution. The type of fat found in coconut oil has a high thermic effect of food. This means your body will burn a great number of calories breaking it down through the process of digestion.

The body can digest most fats easily, increasing your total calorie intake.

This is not the case for coconut oil.

For every 100 calories consumed of coconut oil, you burn approximately 15 of those calories through digestion. Compare this to only 2 calories you would burn off if you consumed other forms of dietary fat.

While this may seem small, it adds up over time and will help boost your weight loss progress.

Hunger Suppressing Assistance

If the primary reason you can’t stick to your diet plan is hunger, it’s time to increase your fat intake – namely, from coconut oil.

Coconut oil is excellent for helping you control your appetite level and will help you go longer between meals without reaching for that snack you typically crave.

Since weight loss does depend on how many calories you consume versus how many you burn, this is an important benefit of coconut oil not to overlook.

One tablespoon of coconut oil per meal will be more than enough to keep you satisfied for hours.

Healthier Hair, Skin, And Nails

Coconut oil can also help improve the look of your hair, skin, and nails, so consider these alternative uses for it.

Many women will create hair masks using coconut oil, which will provide nutrients and moisture to dry, brittle strands.

You can also use it as a simple skin moisturizer, rubbing it into any dry and cracked areas you may have.

Improved Insulin Sensitivity

Coconut oil can improve insulin sensitivity. Those who sustain good insulin sensitivity will be better positioned to utilize the carbohydrates they consume to build lean muscle mass and not convert those calories directly to body fat.

Maintaining good insulin sensitivity is also important for warding off diabetes and heart disease.

Reduced Heart Disease Risk

Coconut oil will help lower the level of bad cholesterol in the body while increasing the level of good cholesterol.

This is again due to the type of saturated fat that you’ll find in coconut oil.

Improved Energy Levels

This form of dietary fat can be used immediately as a source of energy. While most dietary fat takes a long time to break down and actually become available to the body for energy, this is not the case with coconut oil.

Coconut oil will provide you energy almost instantly, making it a great choice for those who are following low carb diets.

Many on low carb diets claim that low energy is the biggest obstacle they face. Coconut oil can help you overcome this.

Reduced Risk of Viruses And Infection

Coconut oil has also been shown to possess antibacterial properties, largely due to the Lauric acid it contains. This helps fight viruses and may even help you recover from infection faster.

Reduced Risk of Skin Cancer

Finally, did you know that you can use coconut oil as a sunscreen? Few people realize this, but it’s extremely powerful for blocking the damaging effects of UV rays and can prevent skin cancer and burns.

Take note that it will block about 20% of the sun’s ultraviolet rays, so while it will work on most days, on the very sunny days use something slightly stronger.