Coconut Oil: Everything You Need to Know
Coconut oil is one of those superfoods that have taken off in popularity over the past several years due to its many everyday uses, along with numerous health benefits. If in the past the price of coconut oil has kept you away, it’s time you realize how many reasons you need to have it.
Not only is it very good for you, but it’s good for hundreds of reasons throughout your home as well. Here’s more on coconut oil and everything you need to know about it.
Continue reading about coconut oil: everything you need to know. These are the small jars I buy of Coconut Oil. I also buy the larger containers at Costco. In case you missed this post Cooking From Scratch 101
Ways of Cooking with Coconut Oil
You may be someone that isn’t quite sure how to use coconut oil in the kitchen. I’d love to share with you a few things I’ve learned. For starters, some people just scoop it out of the container and eat it by the spoonful.
It’s that good! It’s also good for pan-frying and cooking at higher temperatures, used in the place of vegetable oils while cooking, making salad dressing, using it in the place of butter on your toast or grilled cheese.
Some people even add it to their coffee for an energy boost in the morning or a smoothie in the afternoon for several health benefits. The list goes on and on.
Using Coconut Oil (Besides Cooking)
The number one thing that people use coconut oil for besides cooking is to moisturize their skin, and especially the face. It can also be placed in a warm bath for added relaxation, used as a makeup remover, improves wrinkles and acne, as well as healing sunburns. (Some experts will urge you not to use it for this.)
Rumor has it that coconut oil can be used to help clean and tidy up areas around your house as well. Some people remove tough grease stains with it, clean soap scum out from the bathtub/shower area, use it as a bug repellent in the home, and for polishing furniture.
Here are 30 uses for coconut oil to give you several other ideas.
Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
It’s time that you find out why everyone seems to be using coconut oil these days so that you and your family can take advantage of the incredibly long list of its many health benefits. Some of them are sure to surprise you.
Provides Healthier Hair and Skin
Coconut oil can be applied topically in order to improve the overall health and shine, not only for your hair but your skin as well. It’s a natural moisturizer and also helps to keep your lipid content in line.
Improves Brain Function
The fatty acids that are in coconut oil have proven to improve brain function, even improvement for patients of Alzheimer’s. It may help to reduce the amounts and frequency of seizures among patients.
Contains Healthy Fatty Acids
You may not know this, but not all fats are considered to be bad. Quite the contrary actually. Coconut oil has fatty acids in it that actually help our bodies to burn fat, as well as providing you with quick energy.
It also helps to raise HDL (good cholesterol), in turn, reducing the risk of heart disease.
Our bodies also can convert those fatty acids into what are called ketones. This provides several benefits for the brain and can be used as a treatment for patients of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and other health conditions.
Keeps Infections and Viruses Away
If left unchecked, harmful pathogens can wreak havoc in our bodies, introducing different types of infections and viruses. When we consume coconut oil, there are large amounts of lauric acids that travel through our bodies, which help to battle fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
Kidney and urinary tract infections are a few challenges that coconut oil can not only help prevent, but help to cure as well.
Promotes Digestion and Gut Health
Coconut oil plays a role in helping our bodies destroy bad bacteria while improving its mineral and vitamin absorption too. This helps improve our gut health and digestion.
Reduces Your Appetite
Special thanks to medium-chain triglycerides that are in coconut oil, it can actually curb your appetite by leaving you feeling less hungry. Studies have shown that people that ate more MCT at breakfast would then eat fewer calories once lunchtime rolled around. This can lead to you losing weight and reducing your belly fat.
Improves Oral Hygiene
Coconut oil is believed to improve our overall dental health by reducing bad breath and killing harmful bacteria in our mouths.
Maintains Healthy Bones
The antioxidants in coconut oil can be used to help improve bone density, along with preventing bone loss that can be caused by osteoporosis. Thus said, coconut oil is a good natural treatment for osteoporosis.
May Reduce Stress
Using virgin coconut oil may also help with stress, whether it’s from an ongoing cold or strenuous exercise. Studies suggest that coconut oil may be used to treat certain types of depression, but more research needs to take place. This is one of the best things I learned when writing about coconut oil: everything you need to know.
Controlling Blood Sugar/Cholesterol Levels
Another thing that MCT’s do in our bodies is to help preserve insulin sensitivity, and possibly help control our blood sugar levels, which is good news for those with diabetes. Our cholesterol levels are another thing that coconut oil can help to improve, thus lowering the risk of heart disease.
Final Word
You may still be wondering what on Earth you can do with coconut oil because no one has ever shown you how to cook with it, let alone the many other things that it can do around your house. To help you out with that, here are 50 different ways to use coconut oil so that you can get started in the right direction.
If you’ve already been using coconut oil for some time now, I’d love it if you’d be willing to share with others the many ways in which you use it to benefit you and your family.
What did you enjoy most about Coconut Oil: Everything you need to know? Stay well, stay safe, and keep prepping. May God bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Coconut Oil Deposit photos_69199003_s-2019,
Hi Linda,
Coconut oil is like the duct tape of food and medical storage–it has so many uses!
It can be used to treat wounds, burns (even partial thickness burns–better than silver sulfadiazine), ear infections, and Candida infections. https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2019/04/alternative-medicine-coconut-oil.html
It can be used in making an emergency baby formula. https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2019/08/emergency-baby-formula.html
This article discusses the intricacies of substituting coconut oil for other fats in baking. https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2019/03/basic-food-storage-coconut-oil.html
Coconut oil makes a perfect substitute for butter in Magic Mix, which can then be used to make all your cream of whatever soup mix substitutes. https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2020/05/coconut-oil-for-butter-in-magic-mix_31.html
Cream of whatever (chicken, mushroom, celery, tomato) soup mix substitutes. https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2020/07/cream-of-whatever-soup-mix.html
Finally, coconut oil can be really expensive, but it can also be pretty cheap. Dollar Tree sells it in 8 oz bottles. At that price, it’s cheaper than butter (at least in my area).
Hi Jennifer, thanks for the links, that’s awesome! Linda
Excellent information! You gave me a lot I didn’t know about cocnut oil. We spent time teaching school in Samoa and became used to having coconut milk and the water before coconuts are ripe called “new”. It was very refreshing in the heat and humidity there. I will definitely start using more cocunut oil in my cooking,etc. It is definitely good for us to use. Thank you!
Hi Cheryl, what a great experience to teach school in Samoa! I love hearing stuff like this! Linda
Linda ~
I got on the coconut oil bandwagon a few years ago and still use it for many things.
I made my own “beauty” products using it. I made a body wash that I both loved and hated!! It was fractionated coconut oil, Dr Bronner’s unscented castile soap and water. That was it (I no longer have the recipe but it was something like 1:2:2 ratio in a squeeze bottle)! I kept it in the shower and used it daily. My skin felt so so good. What I hated about it, though, was that it made the tub/shower floor like a skating rink. I had to scrub the tub/shower after every use. So, I stopped using it daily and went for just once a week. Now, I just use the castile soap in the shower and a bit of fractionated coconut oil for after shower moisturizer. Doesn’t take much.
So, a word of caution to any who want to use coconut oil for hygiene purposes, you will need to scrub your sinks, tubs, showers much more frequently. ALSO, I am sure how it affects pipes if it goes down the drain. I never had a problem when I was using it in the shower daily but who knows what the long term issues might be?? So if you use it for oral hygiene might be best to spit it out (if you do) into a disposable container/paper toweling for the garbage.
Hi Leanne, I’m going to try and make some of this. I have all of the ingredients. I hadn’t thought about the plumbing pipes, hmmm. Something to think about! I will just use a little, the idea sounds wonderful! Linda
Be careful what coconut oil you buy. Some have a faint coconut flavor and in baking may be good but in some instances you don’t want coconut tasting foods, eggs(?). I buy coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. If you sign up for emails, they have sales on their 5-gallon buckets for 50% off with free shipping, often. They’ll email you about sales. Right now I have several buckets in storage. I use anywhere a recipe calls for shortening, and especially frying.
Hi Kathy, thank you so much!! I’m going to go sign up for it right now. I love this!! Linda
Hi Kathy, is it this company: https://healthytraditions.com/collections/coconut-oil/products/virgin-coconut-oil-gold-label-5-gallons
My cookware is mostly cast iron and one carbon steel skillet. I have used coconut oil for years to season new cast iron and carbon steel and reseason the pans as needed. It does not leave the pans sticky like vegetable oil does, and the coconut oil seasons the pans beautifully.
I also use it to cook meat.
The third way i use it is as a hair and scalp moisturizer. The water where I currently live leaves my hair very dry, especially in winter. Just enough liquid coconut oil on fingertips is enough to treat my shoulder length hair. A little coconut oil goes a long way.
Hi Kate, I love hearing what other people do with coconut oil, thanks for sharing!! Linda
I thought it was really just another sort of food fad like when everyone said to eat margarine until they decided that butter being natural was actually healthier.
The same has happened with vegetable oil which was then dropped in favor of canola oil, olive oils and not mentioned as much, but some people hail avocado oil as their favorite.
And carbs have been in and out, but your article informed me as to the many benefits and uses of coconut oil. I had no idea it was so versatile. I actually hate raw coconut, but like some deserts and Pina Colada flavored beverages, so for me the light taste would probably be my choice. Now I know I have that choice and I certainly could use it for healthier skin and hair….. cause I’m a little more “seasoned” than I used to be. LOL
Oh Frank, we are both “seasoned”!! I love it! Yes, we need more options to use oil, it’s very versatile! Linda