Why I use coconut oil for everything

Why I use coconut oil for everything

• 6.07.2013

Hear me out.

I've never been anti-coconut oil--in my raw vegan days it was a tasty addition to desserts and smoothies. But  I didn't buy much of it, since the small jars were like $7.99, and I ate a pretty low fat, low-calorie (low-nutrient) diet and didn't incorporate it.

But now, we've been eating a Paleo diet, with plenty of good whole fat sources including coconut oil, butter from grassfed cows, and grassfed lard (great post on this on one of my favorite podcaster/author's blogs, here, and another one here).

Adding coconut oil to my diet was actually the first change I made in a healthy fat, nutrient-dense diet, and I immediately noticed positive changes. Once I understood the benefits of good fats (but wasn't ready to start eating meat yet), I started having some coconut oil and almond butter in a little dish as a snack, just as a way to get some fat and protein. I added coconut oil to my tea for an extra energizing, filling warm drink. I even ate our favorite 85% dark chocolate with some coconut oil--delicious and keeps my blood sugar from increasing too much from the (few) grams of sugar in the chocolate. ;)

Immediate benefits I found

Right away, with eating several hundred calories of fats more than usual, I noticed my digestion/IBS improved immensely. I also found my hands and feet weren't cold like they used to be--my circulation increased, along with my metabolism. My skin wasn't as dry anymore, either! (I used to have killer sugar/fruit cravings, but I realized I was just low on calories and fat, so I switched to the healthy fats and felt so much better!)

Making coconut oil a staple

Anyway, now we eat a lot of coconut oil, and found we could buy it in the 72 oz. tubs at Costco for less than $20, an incredible price (this one's a great deal, too). It's still organic and extra virgin (cold pressed, not oxidized/damaged) and everything. Now we have a system. We keep the big tub in the fridge to keep it fresh and chunk some out and keep it in a small container in the cupboard for every day usage, as you can see. =)

We use it for:

• Snacking (literally, just coconut oil, almond butter, and sea salt--it's a little weird, but it hits the spot.)
• Frying eggs in, and sometimes veggies (it oxidizes at a higher temperature than does olive oil, so it's safer for heating) (We've gotten used to the taste on fried eggs, and it's really delicious!)
• Adding to tea or desserts
• Mixing into our Bulletproof Coffee when we're out of grassfed butter

I realize this post is a perfect follow-up to the post I wrote with my hubby earlier this week on foods we're throwing out and never want to eat again! (On that list is canola oil--just use coconut oil instead! See why...)

DIY/beauty uses, too!

But, in the Paleo community people get a lot more creative than I do with uses for coconut oil! One of my favorite Paleo role models, Liz Wolfe of Cave Girl Eats, has a post about her enthusiasm for coconut oil... she's mentioned on podcasts that it has excellent beauty uses and skin heath, as well as some, um... personal care uses I won't discuss here. ;) I can't vouch for those but I'm sure it's great! All natural, soothing, non-irritating, powerful stuff!

I'm not alone here, really... Wellness Mama has a large post with 101 uses for coconut oil. Wow. That and this infographic show me that I'm barely scratching the surface of ways to use coconut oil. ;) (I also found this cute graphic with 21 uses for coconut oil, and some tips for using it.)

I love all these ideas, but let's face it, I'm kind of lazy about adopting new habits... I love the idea of using coconut oil for DIY beauty products (some Paleo moms say their kids get coconut oil for pretty much any injury instead of a chemical soother, and it's great for dry skin), but I have yet to try any out. There are tons of DIY all natural deodorant, lip balm, toothpaste, and all kinds of other recipes out there that I have yet to try!! I just feel like I don't have all the tools and ingredients I need yet, I guess! (Even just the other day, a Portland blogger friend of mine posted a coconut oil deodorant stick tutorial on her blog that I've got to try sometime...)

But I love the ideas. How about you? Have you had success with any DIY beauty products, like with coconut oil as the moisture?? I bet some of these products work even better than the storebought stuff, if I could just get myself to buy the rest of the ingredients!! ;)