What’s so great about coconut oil anyway? And what do coconut oil and breast-milk have in common?
How can coconut oil benefit the nursing mom and baby?
Well, take a look at the molecular constituents of organic virgin coconut oil, and you’ll see that coconut oil consists of about 50% lauric acid. The only other place on earth that lauric acid is found naturally occurring in such a high percentage is in human breast-milk. Cow’s milk and goat’s milk contain about 3% lauric acid.
What’s so great about lauric acid? Lauric acid is actually a type of fat. And it’s a natural immunity super star.
In the body, lauric acid is converted to monolaurin, a molecule which has antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal and antiprotozoan properties. Monolaurin destroys fungus, bacteria and virus at the molecular level in the body by attacking their lipid membranes, thus destroying the m.
Specifically, the monolaurin molecule targets fungus infections like athletes foot and such bacteria and viruses as herpes, measles, influenza, hepatitis C and HIV. Lauric acid is the subject of research about its antiviral properties against HIV/AIDS.
A nursing mom can greatly increase the amount of lauric acid in her milk for her baby by eating foods high in lauric acid.
Eating 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in one meal increases the amount of lauric acid in her breastmilk threefold for 1 -3 days with the greatest percentage increase being in the first 10 hours.
So, adding a little coconut oil in your diet every day at different times during the day will create a nice immunity boost for your baby over a long period of time.
Plus, it’s yummy! And you can use it on your body, face and hair!
It’s best to use unrefined and organic coconut oil. Refining removes some of the oils' beneficial molecules! And if it’s organic, you’re not ingesting the pesticide residue into your body or getting it on your skin.
10 Recipes using Coconut Oil
This is one of my FAVORITE recipes!!
Chocolate, coffee, honey..what's not to like?
2. You can easily add a bit of coconut oil to a smoothie to boost the nutrition! Add pineapple and coconut oil to make it taste like a pina colada!
4. Roasted Vegetables with Coconut Oil from Averie Cooks
5. More Roasted Veggies with Coconut Oil from the The Non-Dairy Queen who talks about her personal weight loss journey
6. Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips – Slice sweet potatoes to about 1/8” thick. Place slices on a baking sheet. Brush with coconut oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until chips are lightly brown. Add salt and hot pepper to to taste. Yum!
7. Use coconut oil in place of the oil mentioned in your brownie recipe. It will add a great taste to the chocolate! Yum!
8. Avocado and Coconut Toast from Martha Stewart
9. Sauteed Beet Greens with Coconut Oil from Martha Stewart
10. Vegetable Green Curry from Martha Stewart
Coconut oil as a Deep Conditioning Treatment for Your Hair
Coconut oil is a great natural hair conditioner. To condition your hair using coconut oil follow these steps:
Put on some comfortable clothes or put a towel around your shoulders. Be careful as coconut oil stains aren’t so easy to wash out of clothing.
Get a plastic shower cap that you can put over your hair and will stay in place for at least a few hours.
Melt the coconut oil in a double boiler. It won’t take long to melt, you might even want to just rub it in your hands to make it liquid.
Distribute the liquid coconut oil into your hair. Rub it in thoroughly and gently. Keep massaging it in until all of your hair is covered in coconut oil.
Bunch up your hair and put a shower cap over it.
Let the coconut oil condition your hair for at least two hours.
When you’re ready, wash the coconut oil out with a mild, natural shampoo. You may need to wash it twice to completely remove the oil.
Let your hair dry naturally. Your hair should now feel softer, look shinier and be healthier.
My friend, the Redhead Riter, has a nice description of how she moisturizes her curly hair using coconut oil.
Coconut Oil as a Moisturizer and Oil Wash
Coconut is a great natural moisturizer for your skin. To use it to hydrate dry skin on your face, do the following:
Clean your face with water and gently dry it.
Take a bit of coconut oil, warming it between your hands so it becomes liquid and apply it around your eyes and around your face.
Get your washcloth and run it under warm water, spread it out and rest it on your face for a few minutes, then wipe the oil off.
Coconut oil as a stretch mark reducer
Coconut oil mixes well with other natural oils.
Once again, I want to thank my teacher, Liz Fulcher, over at Aromatic Wisdom, for teaching me the value of how to read the reports about the chemical constituents of a plant.