Can Coconut Oil Help You Lose Fat?
Coconut Oil is a wonderful healthy food that has been shown to increase metabolism and assist in burning unwanted fat off your body. It is a wonder food that has been around for centuries and a great addition to any fat burning meal plan.
Unfortunately, some people have a really hard time believing that coconut oil is not “fattening” or “dangerous”. We have all been falsely led to believe that fat, especially saturated fat, is the cause of our weight gain and health problems. This is only half true. Some fats like hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils do contribute to heart disease and weight gain but good fats like coconut oil, butter, and olive oil are actually great fats for our bodies. Think about how much healthier people were in the late 1800’s and very early 1900’s. Heart disease was almost unheard of back then.
Let’s Put Some Of These MYTHS About Coconut Oil To Rest Right Now.
Myth #1 – Coconut Oil contains a lot of fat so it must be fattening.
Truth – Not all fat makes you fat (I want to get this tattooed on my forehead). Certain fats do cause weight gain but other good fats will actually burn unwanted fat off your body and accelerate your metabolism.
Myth #2 – Coconut Oil contains almost all saturated fat so it must be bad for you.
Truth – Saturated Fat is not the cause of heart disease, weight gain, or high cholesterol. Saturated Fat has been falsely accused and SUGAR is Enemy Numero Uno (It is worse than the Joker in Bat Man).
Myth #3 – Coconut Oil should be avoided by those who are at risk for heart disease.
Truth – The fat in coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils you can consume (yes, even for those with heart disease). It is rich in lauric acid, which is known for its antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties and contains no trans fat. The saturated fat in coconut oil is different than many other oils in that it is of the medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) variety. The body digests MCFAs more easily and sends these fats directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy. Now isn’t that great? A fat that is used to make energy instead of storing it on our bodies. We can all use some of that.
How Much Coconut Oil Do I use?
I highly recommend everyone use unrefined, organic coconut oil for all of their cooking needs. 1 – 2 tsps for most cooking is more than enough. You can even use it raw if you like as I think, it tastes OH SO DELICIOUS! I usually have about 2-3 total TBSPs per day which is a perfect amount for a fat burning eating plan. While it’s really good for you, there’s no need to go overboard.
You should be able to find unrefined, organic coconut oil in your local supermarket and health food stores. And a jar lasts forever!
Now go right ahead and enjoy your coconut oil and reap the fat burning effects right away.
**This was a guest post by Isabel De Los Rios, author of the popular Diet Solution Program.
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{ 18 comments }
Twitter: dino_dogan
January 11, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I love me sum coconut…I guess Im just a nut for coconut, which is a type of nut btw
On a serious note, moderation and staying with unprocessed foods is key to healthy eating. So Im glad you recommended unrefined, organic coconut oil..in fact, thats a pretty good advice for pretty much any kind of food.
The problem with today’s food is that its processed. Processed food doesnt get registered as food by our bodies…I could write a whole post about this but I’ll try to curb myself
Im off to explore the rest of the blog…thnx for a cool article
Hey Dino, wow thanks for the awesome comment! You are totally right! Consuming unprocessed food, such as unrefined coconut oil, is one of the keys to health and weight loss or maintenance. I have done entire blog post rants on the subject. People want to be lean but they aren’t willing to do the work and stay away from this junk to do so. The trouble is, a lot of processed food tastes so great. Some perceive it to be too big a sacrifice to give it up. I’m glad you love the coconut!
Susan,
Isabel did a great job in explaining the value of coconut oil. It is important to understand good fats and bad fats in a healthy diet. It takes finding good solid resources and not relying on what is pumped out in the media.
The “no fat” trend really has made it possible for bad information to leak into the picture. Big business has really played this up and continues the confusion.
Like you I use it for stir-fry. I like how well it tolerates high heat.
Hey Sheila! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! Fat still continues to be a huge controversy in the nutrition industry. We were so brainwashed in the 80′s and 90′s that fats were bad that many people won’t believe otherwise.
You HAVE to try it on your meat before you grill it. Heat it up in a pan with garlic then sear all sides of the steak. Cook slowly on the grill and your tongue will thank you!
Twitter: skywardjason
January 11, 2011 at 8:14 am
Susan, this is my first time here. Great site!
I’m a hard core butter fan, so I was skeptical when my wife started using coconut oil…now I’m a true fan of the stuff. It tastes great and doesn’t have the “yuck factor” that other oils have. More people should definitely know about it. Thanks!
Hi Jason, I am glad you stumbled upon the site, thanks for sharing your experience with coconut oil. Most people are pleasantly surprised when they try it and some awesome health benefits too.
I’m actually a big butter fan as well, but only when it comes from an animal that has been grass fed. That way you’re not eating the toxins, antibiotics, and hormones that are stored in the fat of the animal who is raised conventionally on factory farms. Butter and coconut oil are really the only two things we cook with these days.
Thanks again for leaving a comment and adding to the discussion!
Twitter: SteveYoungs
January 11, 2011 at 12:54 am
Hi Susan and Isabel!
Coconut oil in cooking? I have to admit I’ve never tried that, but I am intrigued. Isn’t the flavour a little over-powering?
What sorts of things does it go best with?
Kind regards,
Steve
Hey Steve, I hate coconut. HATE. I won’t eat anything that has even been near coconut. But I will eat coconut oil – amazingly, it doesn’t taste as storng as those nasty processed coconut flakes you buy in the bag. In fact, because I had such luck with the oil I decided to take a bite of an actual coconut. Tastes exactly the same as the oil – mild, mild, mild. So, I guess they add more flavor to the processed stuff and that may be why I don’t like it. My point is it actually tastes pretty good. And when you cook your food in it you don’t actually taste coconut.
I use coconut oil for stir fries and searing my grass fed steaks before they go on the grill. This leaves an absolutely amazing flavor! You can use coconut oil for high temp cooking so it is a good compliment to EVOO, which has a very low smoke point.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Steve!
Twitter: Rick_Byrd
January 10, 2011 at 8:09 pm
Hey Susan:
Thanks for sharing the information about coconut oil. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that coconut oil was very fattening. In that same article it also said the most movie theaters used coconut oil to make their popcorn and that it made the popcorn very fattening. Ever since then I have not had the popcorn even though I love the popcorn at the movie theaters.
I am so excited to know that coconut oil is not as bad as previously reported.
Thanks so much for sharing!
- Rick
Hey Rick, thanks for joining the conversation! I definitely doubt that coconut oil is what is used for movie popcorn. I only say that because I know that buttery oil crud is high in trans fat and should never ever be eaten. There”s no trans fat in coconut oil so I think you are good to go – to eat coconut oil NOT eat movie popcorn!
You have a valuable post here Susan. Healthy tips about coconut oils is really good. Well I’m one of those people who can’t imagine that coconut oil is a secret for weight loss. Anyway, this is a very enlightening post. I will meditate about this and try out. Thanks!
Hey John, thanks for the kind words. It’s ok to be skeptical when it comes to weight loss – most things aren’t the magic bullets they claim to be. And while coconut oil can give you the good fat needed and help facilitate weight loss, simply adding to your diet and making no other alterations to your diet or exercise programs will not cause you to lose weight.
Twitter: lesleyorice
January 10, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Thanks for setting that out. I have argued with my daughter about fat for years, she insists I should avoid it, but now she has read this on the internet, it must be true!
Seriously I wish more people would mention this, there seems to be so much sugar in everything, and they’re all labelled NO FAT.
A very very useful post.
Hey Lesley,
Yes, I don’t think we have truly gotten off the “fat is bad” bandwagon that took off in the 80′s and 90′s. Intuitively, it makes sense: if you store fat on your body + you eat fat = don’t eat fat and you won’t store fat. But, fat is really essential to a lot of physiological processes and to our good health. It is indeed sugar and carbs that are making us fat. In fact, we actually will not store fat as fat unless we eat carbs with it. Why? Because fat is only stored as fat in the presence of insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to glucose in the blood stream, and that only happens when you eat sugar or carbs.
I guess that’s how fat could have gotten a bum rap. So, eat all the healthy fat you like, just leave the sugar at the grocery store.
Thanks so much for joining in the conversation!
Thanks for shedding some light on the whole good fat/bad fat thing. I totally agree that the real problem is sugar, not fat. We need fat in our diets, and replacing it with sugar (as so many low-fat foods do) is what’s causing us to gain.
Hey Angie, very true. One VERY interesting fact I learned along the way was that consuming fat will not lead to fat storage – UNLESS you consumed them with high sugar carbs (because of insulin response). So, keep the carbs in check and eat all the healthy fats you want. I often consume about 50% fat in my diet from egg yolk, mayo, tuna, nuts, and nut butters.
Thanks so much for reading the post and taking time to comment!
Twitter: lavenderuses
January 9, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Hi susan
You have just busted a few myths that I had heard before….yay
I love anything with cocunut in it so will have to watch out for where I can get organic cocunut oil.
Have some good health stores around so shouldn’t be too hard. Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.
Patricia Perth Australia
Wow I always love when I become a mythbuster! I am not a coconut girl. Never liked the taste. Then I tasted real coconut and coconut oil. Turns out that processed flakes crap in a bad doesn’t actually taste the same as real coconut. Now, I avoid that but use the good stuff in my cooking. Love it!
Thanks so much for coming by!
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