Coconut oil, anybody a fan of it or use it?

evilwomaniamshe · 08-10-2009, 12:21 AM

Just am curious, a male friend of mine swears by the stuff, he buys it by the jar, and a whole jar he can down in 3 weeks time. He's extremely health conscious and he eats it straight up in small pieces, the stuff liquifies eventually at room temp. I took a taste of it one morning and it definitely tasted coconutty, but I'm not exactly sure how much to use or how often to use it even? I thought about putting some on dry toast or maybe into my tea? I also thought about melting some into oatmeal. Ok, does anybody out there eat this stuff? Is straight up the route to go? What's it good mixed into? Maybe have a banana and coconut sandwich on wholewheat toast? I'd appreciate any feedback I can get. Since I'm a newbie when it comes to coconut oil usage, since he gave me a whole honkin jar, I figure I will give it a whirlski!

geoblewis · 08-10-2009, 12:34 AM

When I lived overseas my cook used coconut oil in a lot of her recipes. She was from Kerala, India. She used it like we would use any fat in the cooking process. She made some really amazing dahl (yellow lentil soup), cooked spinach with it, she fried some things with it (although not that often because the fried chicken and fritters she made in it were awesome!).

It's important to get the good stuff from your health food store. You don't want anything that's so processed that there are no more vitamins and minerals in it.

JulieJ08 · 08-10-2009, 12:36 AM

The health benefits are controversial. Doesn't mean they're wrong, but they're not widely accepted either.

I've never heard of having it straight up!

I bought some a while ago but haven't opened it yet. I was going to try using it for stirfry.

evilwomaniamshe · 08-10-2009, 12:44 AM

He buys it from a healthfood store and prefers the organic extra virgin which costs $35 a jar, OUCH! That sounds like a winner Julie, a stirfry from the tropics with coconut, I will try that myself with shrimp or chicken & veggies galore, thanks! He likes for it to just melt in his mouth a chunk of it. I've read it helps with cravings in that it fills you up from the fat, we shall see....

rileyozzy · 08-10-2009, 12:55 AM

I heard today that someone used it for helping even out his thyroid problems. It is very fatty though and I am guessing you would have to cut out some other kind of fat from your diet if you were to consume it regularly.

Minya · 08-10-2009, 02:14 AM

i use it on my hair

good stuff

Jacquie668 · 08-10-2009, 08:50 AM

Coconut oil can be used on the skin, hair, on toast, in cooking, in raw food dishes, and it is good fat versus the bad fat I think because of the way a body breaks down that fat, but I think that is where the debate is or one of the debates. At the end of the day, like avocados, it is fat, but we all need fat in our diets anyhow. Obviously coconuts and coconut oil has other benefits.

Anyhow, it has a nutty flavor, not like butter or other oils, and I have some that I use it mostly in raw food recipes when I need to. People may not like the flavor on its own though. Personally, I tried it instead of soy butter on a piece of toast a long time ago and I used a lot less than I did with the soy butter. The way it spreads and the flavor was intense and I found it satisfying.

I agree, get your oil at the health food store. Make sure it is pure and not overly processed.

Cebsme · 08-10-2009, 09:24 AM

I put a little bit into my coffee sometimes, when I remember. I have hypothyroidism, my doctor recommended it to me in small amounts, in addition to my medications. It definitely isn't a fix for thyroid problems but it can help some people. However if anyone is thinking of taking it for hypothyroidism I can not stress enough that you need consult your physician first.

Now on to the use, I have tried it straight up, NEVER AGAIN. It just tasted to heavy. I sometimes have it on english muffins or toast. My favorite was is in coffee. I used to buy a coconut coffee creamer, very high in sugar and calories. Now I use just a small amount of coconut oil (1 teaspoon) in my coffee twice a day with plain creamer and sweetener. It tastes a lot like my old coconut coffee creamer, I have control over how much coconut oil I am getting and I can choose other factors. I also use it when ever I cook shrimp, its fab!

(sorry to sneak into maintenance area, just saw an interesting post)

evilwomaniamshe · 08-10-2009, 07:24 PM

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions. Well I tried it this am on my wholewheat toast and in my oatmeal, and yanno it was very tropical like. I had a flashback that I was eating banana pancakes with coconut syrup in Hawaii again. I actually liked it a lot, I will try it on some stirfry one day and tomorrow morning I will drizzle some on my kashi waffles with a sliced banana on top, trying to re-create my banana coconut pancakes. Next time I get snacky, I am going to try a lil bit of it on my air popped popcorn, albeit that would be good. Thanks again

HeatherEljohari · 08-10-2009, 07:52 PM

that sounds good coconut oil on popcorn. My next experiment.

JulieJ08 · 08-10-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilwomaniamshe

Next time I get snacky, I am going to try a lil bit of it on my air popped popcorn, albeit that would be good. Thanks again

Oooooh, I never thought of that. Good idea!

kaplods · 08-10-2009, 08:04 PM

I think the wikipedia article on coconut oil is pretty good in explaining the coconut oil controversy and possible health benefits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil

Coconut oil is high in saturated fat (and may raise cholesterol levels), but some research suggests that it actually has health benefits (at least in its natural form), and that while it can increase overall cholesterol numbers, it seems to raise the "good cholesterol" more than overall cholesterol.

The weight loss hype may not be all it's cracked up to be. While there's evidence that it can boost metabolism, it's still a fat and therefore contains 9 calories per gram. Fat calories can add up quickly.

I've seen coconut oil sold in 8, 16, and 32 ounce jars, so depending on the size of the jar that OP's friend is buying, he's taking in roughly 90, 180, or 365 calories daily from the coconut oil.

90 calories from fat isn't unreasonable on a weight loss plan, but 365? That seems like quite a lot of fat (especially from only one source, it also doesn't leave a lot of room for other sources of fat. Unless you're vegan, it could be pretty difficult to keep overall fat content at a reasonable level).

I think like most "healthy" foods, the hype often overshadows the truth, especially when it first becomes popular (the "fad" of coconut oil seems to be dying down, and I notice the health claims are becoming more reasonable, somewhat).

Can it be part of a healthy diet, even for weight loss? Sure! Is it a superfood? Maybe. Is it a miracle food? - Probably not. Enough to warrant $12 a week? Well, that's a personal decision.

evilwomaniamshe · 08-10-2009, 09:32 PM

Thanks Kaplods,
Yeah he eats several hundred calories worth of his coconut oil per day, YIKERS! As for me, today I have used a few teaspoons and I will probably consume up to a Tablespoon a day max, due to the caloric factor, since I prefer to eat my calories in foods. I just wanted to try adding something different fat wise instead of almonds, peanut butter and olives daily as my usual fat of choice.

fiberlover · 08-10-2009, 09:38 PM

I love coconut oil. I have the virgin stuff and it really tastes like coconut. I use it to pan saute broccoli pretty much every day for dinner and love it. It has taken the place of butter for me. I use it pretty much for any oil I cook with, like olive oil. It definitely has a clean, light taste. I would never eat it straight up, though.

fiberlover · 08-10-2009, 09:41 PM

I forgot to mention, you can get a great price on it at http://www.columbusfoods.com - way better price for a gallon jug of it than you could ever find in the store.