5 Ways Coconut Oil Can Improve Your Health

Rose S. | March 28, 2017 | Alternative Health, Natural Health News

Coconut oil may not be a miracle substance, but it’s pretty darned close! Here are 5 awesome health benefits of coconut oil that you should be aware of.

If you still think that coconut oil is bad for you because of all the saturated fat, you must not have heard the news… Coconut oil is now being touted as one of the healthiest oils around, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a “miracle cure” (though some have), there are definitely some great reasons to switch to coconut oil for many of your cooking needs.

While for years we have been told that saturated fats are bad for our health, clogging our arteries and causing heart disease, the truth is that we have been deceived. In fact, as we have switched to a modern Western diet low in saturated fats and higher in supposedly “heart-healthy” refined vegetable oils, our health has just gotten worse, with rates of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes skyrocketing in recent decades.

The truth is, there never was a real link between saturated fats and heart disease, as many researchers and natural health experts have known for years. (For more information on saturated fats and health, visit this page, or check out the book, Low-Fat Lies, by Mary Flynn.) Rather than eliminating a certain nutrient from our diets, a much healthier and more holistic way to approach healthy eating is to make sure that we have the proper balance of different fats and other nutrients. And one of those is saturated fat. The type of saturated fat in coconut oil also has some unique properties among fats, which have actually been found to be good for your heart!

Here are 5 healthy reasons to switch to coconut oil:

1. Improve blood pressure:

A growing number of small, but impressive, studies are finding that coconut oil may be able to help us manage our blood pressure. In both animal and human trials, organic coconut oil has been shown to improve overall blood pressure numbers while raising HDL or “good” cholesterol.

2. Get better blood sugar control:

Research suggests that coconut oil could help reduce some of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Studies have found a diet rich in medium chain fatty acids, including those found in coconut oil, fights insulin resistance and can help with glucose control. And an animal study published in the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences found that it also helps reduce blood glucose levels.

3. Fight bacterial infections:

Coconut oil is a known antibacterial. In a Tufts University study, the oil was found to effectively kill off candida bacteria, a common cause of yeast infections. And other research has shown that it attacks staph infections too.

4. Support weight loss:

You could lose up to five percent more weight simply by swapping out other fats in your diet for coconut oil. And research has revealed that this unique oil isn’t just linked to faster weight loss, it can help you target stubborn and dangerous belly fat too.

5. Boost cognitive function:

Believe it or not, organic coconut oil may be able to help you boost your brain power. According to research out of Colorado, this unique fat doesn’t just protect a healthy brain. Incredibly it has also been linked to restoring brain function in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease.