10 Ways to Use Coconut Oil

Remember how yummy movie theaters smelled back before the mid 1990s when they still made popcorn with coconut oil?This oil that comes from the kernel of a matured coconut has amazing anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasitic properties with its many uses. Let’s look at the top ten on my list.

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10 Ways to Use Coconut Oil 

1) Popcorn – Do it yourself at home. You can use coconut oil in place of butter or oil to pop on the stove or microwave. Who says you can’t recapture those movie days prior to 1994?

2) Roasted Pecans – My favorite way to roast pecans is with coconut oil. With a little salt, it makes a great snack. Lots of fiber too. Check out this recipe.

3) Baking and cooking – You can saute garlic or onions, or even shrimp in coconut oil. Try baking pumpkin or banana bread with it. Add to your breakfast oatmeal. Temperature does not harm it, so experiment.

4) Facial and Skin care – You can make your own sugar scrub by using 1 cup of organic cane sugar with a half cup organic coconut oil. This works great as a facial or body scrub. And, it is really easy to slap some straight refrigerated oil on your face as  a moisturizer. I say cold because it melts immediately as it hits your face. Don’t be surprised if someone tells you that you smell like a Mounds Bar! And, try using it as a massage oil on a baby after their bath.

5) Stretch Marks – Whether by a pregnancy or weight gain or body building, stretch marks happen. That is because when your skin stretches too fast, collagen production doesn’t keep up. Using coconut oil is a great preventative measure, and it often has results after the fact too. This is also true with scars.

6) Hair Treatment – Coconut oil contains lauric acid, capric acid, and vitamin E, and these are all helpful for conditioning your hair. You can massage it into your scalp and all the way to the ends, and leave it on for 30 minutes. You will need to shampoo it out because it is pretty heavy oil. However, for very dry hair, a tiny bit works well as a detangler or daily moisturizer.

7) Weight – Studies have proven that 2 tablespoons of coconut oil each day can help maintain weight or contribute to weight loss, along with reducing fat in the abdominal area. The fat in that section seems to take the longest to lose and it is also a contributor to heart issues. Coconut oil contains MCTs, medium chain triglycerides, and and when those hit the liver, you can burn more energy. They also can reduce cholesterol.

8) Blood Sugar – Controlling blood sugar is a big deal these days with all the statistics on diabetes soaring. Taking a suggested 1 to 2 tablespoons daily can help handle blood sugar problem. At the same time, thyroid function and digestion may improve.

9) Anti-fungal – Coconut oil also contains caprylic acid, a known anti-fungal substance. You can apply it topically to yeast infections, jock itch, athlete’s foot, diaper rash and even ringworm. Taking it internally will help as well to combat the problem in the digestive tract. Add it  to coffee or tea, or your oatmeal.

10) General Antioxidant – Cell damage in our bodies is caused by free radicals that we cannot escape. That cell damage is responsible for cancer and heart disease just to name two problems. Antioxidants help combat those nasty little free radicals. Coconut oil has a high antioxidant content, so taken internally it can reduce the need for other antioxidants. That same 1 to 2 tablespoons will fill this requirement as it works on the other issues mentioned before.