Coconut Oil Benefits for You

Coconut Oil Benefits for You Coconut oil benefits are many. Cultures and populations, especially those situated in the Pacific coastal areas, have long thought coconut to be very significant as a food source and a source of effective medicine. Traditional or folk medicine has long recognized its benefits. There are some very serious diseases that coconut oil can help: heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease to name a few. These are covered on my website, noted below. The topic here is some useful benefits for our day to day lives such as skin care, hair care and weight loss. Care of the Skin: Coconut oil can be used as a very helpful moisturizer, even for dry skin. Since it doesn't contain any petroleum based products, as most moisturizers do, there are no side effects from that quarter. The ladies love the anti-aging qualities, as this oil helps prevent sagging and wrinkles with its antioxidants. Therefore, it is found in quite a few soaps, lotions, creams and other skin care products. It is also a great massage oil. Simply put, acne is infections in the openings of the sebum glands in the skin. The sebum glands secrete an oily or waxy substance, called sebum. The purpose of sebum is to lubricate the skin and provide protection. Teenagers experience very intense hormonal changes. When this happens the production of sebum increases and the result is an oily condition. As any parent of a teen knows, it is difficult to convince them not to use harsh soaps and other treatments to alleviate the situation. However, this only removes the microbial acid guard from the sebum and makes the skin more likely to get infected, causing the situation to worsen. Coconut oil has two of the most important and powerful microbial agents found in food. They are capric and lauric acids. These acids are components of breast milk that increase a baby's ability to fight infections. When coconut oil is applied topically, the body can change these acids so they replace the protective acids from the sebum. Ingesting the oil is an effective treatment of the cause of acne. The rich source of vitamin E helps with the correct amount of sebum production and unblocks the glands. Thus the oil corrects more than just the symptoms of acne. Care of the Hair and Scalp: Applying coconut oil topically to the hair and scalp can have remarkable benefits. The natural vitamin E content and the capric and luaric acids, as discussed above, work wonders on keeping hair nourished, strong and protected from the effects of aging. Microbial action on hair roots and scalp is one reason for hair loss. When the oil is consumed and broken down in the body, capric and luaric acids released have powerful antimicrobial qualities for countering the cause of hair loss. Anyone who has ever suffered from dandruff would be happy to kiss that problem goodbye. A topical application of the oil on a regular basis will see the end of that annoying condition. Aid in Weight Loss: Coconut oil is made up of what is called medium-chain triglycerides. Triglycerides are made of fatty acids that our bodies either use as energy or store. Most of the oils we consume are long-chain triglycerides which are more difficult for the body to utilize and thereby end up getting stored on our hips. The medium-chain triglycerides, because the molecules are smaller, act more like carbohydrates in the body and are used faster than their long-chain counterpart. The result is improved energy levels and metabolism. Because fat is very "satisfying", it acts as a appetite suppressant. There was a story on the internet about how a man lost 36 pounds in a year. The only change he made iin his diet was substituting coconut oil for all the other fats he was eating! A small change like that can make a big difference when we are fighting the battle of the bulge. John K Aubrey writes about coconut oil and what benefits you can get from this miraculous food. You can read more of John's work at Is Coconut Oil Good for You? including his article Coconut Oil Health Benefits for more Information on the subject.