Wonder Coconut Oil Benefits for Hair, Skin and Weight Loss

Top benefits of coconut oil

Coconut oil is known for its fantastic health benefits and medicinal uses. It is categorised as a superfood due to its surprising benefits. It is the richest source of saturated fat.

• Weight loss: The oil increases the energy consumption in the body due to medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), helping to burn extra calories. The fatty acids reduce appetite, thereby helping in reducing weight. Thus, it satisfies your hunger and makes you eat less. It is suitable for the better function of the thyroid gland and reduces the impacts of thyroid disorders that lead to obesity and weight gain. It enhances the body’s metabolic rate, thereby burning more energy and is helpful for obese people.
• Reduces belly fat: It is good to reduce abdominal fat as it tends to lessen your hunger and maximise abdominal fat burning. So, including this oil in your diet is a wise step.
• Hair loss prevention: The massage with coconut oil on the scalp strengthens the hair follicles and protects hair against damage. It blocks the ultraviolet rays, thus protecting your hair from getting a break. It is one of the few oils that provide healthy hair with shine. It is the best conditioner and helps in the re-growth of damaged hair. Massaging with it is suitable for nourishing the hair and controlling dandruff. Haircare with this oil is quite prevalent in the Indian sub-continent.
• Beauty skin: Coconut oil increases the moisture and lipid content of the skin and plays an influential role in maintaining healthy skin. The oil application is good for the skin by preventing dryness and flaking. It delays wrinkle formation and cures many skin problems, such as psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema. It acts as anti-ageing and is also used in many beauty skin products such as creams, lotions, and soaps.
• Reduce lousy breath: Using it as a mouthwash ensures the killing of some harmful bacteria in the mouth, which tends to reduce the chances of bad breath.
• Stave off infections: It presents lauric acid that helps to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
• Reduces seizures: The fatty acids in this oil changed into ketones, reducing seizures’ impact in epileptic children.
• Lowers heart disease: It improves blood’s good cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. The saturated fat contains 50% of lauric acid, which controls heart disease problems like cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, etc.
• Good for Alzheimer’s patients: Ketone’s presence (fatty acid) in the oil boosts brain function by supplying energy to the brain, thus reducing the symptoms of dementia.
• Medicinal uses: The lauric acid in the oil helps fight viruses and bacteria that cause herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and HIV.
• Full of saturated fat: More than 90% of coconut oil consists of saturated fat even though it is one of the fantastic food items as its saturated fats are highly beneficial for health. Maximum saturated fatty acids are medium-chain triglycerides, which comprise lauric acids (highest percentage), capric acid, caprylic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, etc.
• Immunity booster: it strengthens the immunity system because of some biochemical compounds such as antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid, and caprylic acid, which have antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties.
• Improves digestion: It can improve different digestion-related disorders.
• Prevents skin cracking: It is full of moisture that helps to treat skin cracking and dryness.
• Protect infections: It forms a protective layer around the infected part, thus saving it from bacteria, fungi, viruses, and dust. It also enhances the healing process of damaged cells and tissues. The infections are controlled due to its antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties.
• Liver disease: The medium-chain triglycerides easily convert into energy, reducing the liver’s workload and preventing fat accumulation.
• Stress relief: Massaging with the oil provides a soothing effect on the skull part and greatly relieves mental fatigue.
• Diabetes: The oil activates the pancreas, improving insulin secretion, which is suitable for adequately utilising blood sugar.
• Prevent osteoporosis: Calcium and magnesium prevent osteoporosis by strengthening the bones.

Coconut oil types

The following varieties of it are

1. Pure coconut oil is extracted from the dried coconut kernel. This is edible and can be used for massage, hair care, and cosmetic purposes.
2. Refined oil is pure saturated fat obtained after refining, bleaching, and deodorising.
3. Virgin oil: It is obtained from the milk of fresh coconut meat.
4. Organic oil: It is obtained after using organic manure. No use of chemicals. It is used in organic soaps, organic skin creams, and lotions.
5. Organic virgin oil: It is extracted from organic coconut. It is the purest form of coconut oil.
6. Extra virgin oil:

Best uses of coconut oil

It is one of the best oils for skull massage, helping prevent hair loss, greying hair, and controlling dandruff.

1. It is an excellent natural conditioner.
2. It is used as a homemade lotion bar for skin care to make the skin smooth
3. As a beauty tip, it is used as a makeup remover to remove or lighten pimples, wrinkles, blackheads, etc.
4. To prevent the mark that occurs during pregnancy.
5. It helps to ensure the better function of parathyroid and thyroid glands.
6. Along with sugar in equal proportion, it is used as a body scrub.
7. Good for healthy skin after injury or infection.
8. Good for skin problems like itchiness, psoriasis, eczema, skin inflammation, etc.
9. It prevents lice spread when used with apple cider vinegar.
10. It increases the milk of breastfeeding mothers if they take 3-4 tsp daily.
11. It reduces the chances of varicose vein appearance.
12. The oil is anti-inflammatory when applied and reduces the pain of arthritis.
13. Regular intake of it helps to improve sleep.
14. It increases the absorption of calcium and magnesium.

Nutritional value of coconut oil

One tsp of coconut oil contains the following ingredients: energy (117 calories) and fat (13.6 gm)