Wonderful Uses and Benefits of Coconut Oil

I told you in this post that I could make an entire post about how much I love coconut oil, what's so great about it, and what I use it for.  Well, here it is!  The Marathon Mom made her own list of 23 uses for coconut oil and I agree with it.  Plus, she links to yummy recipes.  But she skips on telling WHY it's so great other than that it's so versatile. So I'll start by telling you what I know, then direct you to people who are way smarter than I am. You should definitely check out The Marathon Mom, too.  She's pretty amazing.

 Coconut oil is full of nourishing goodness.

My favorite unrefined
coconut oil. I hope you try it!

• It has anti-microbial/anti-bacterial properties.  
• It helps you to detox by dissolving toxins into itself.  
• The unrefined varieties smell amazing (if you like coconut) and they taste amazing.  
• It moisturizes skin, hair, and nails without getting greasy, if used sparingly.  
• It heals broken, dry, sunburned, and  scarred skin, whether consumed internally or applied topically.  
• It can be used as a sunscreen.
• It can be used alone as a make up remover, cleanser, and moisturizer in one.  
• Alone or combined with baking soda and other ingredients it works wonders as a natural deodorant. 
• Alone or with baking soda and flavorings, it can be used as a toothpaste.  It can also be used in "oil pulling."  Search for "oil pulling" in your favorite search engine.  Pretty cool stuff.
• It can be used in place of any oil in baking and cooking, though it usually needs melted since it's usually solid at room temperature.  
• While it is a saturated fat, it actually helps you lose weight because it's mostly short and medium length fatty acids, which your body can use more efficiently.
• If a tablespoon or so is swirled into a smoothie, you get this amazing taste and texture, with the added health benefits.
• You can use it to make your own "Magic Shell" ice cream topping.
• You can use it to "cut" essential oils.  In this way I have made my own "Vapor Rub," bug repellent, bug bite remedy, baby bedtime food rub, diaper rash ointment, and headache treatment.
• It can also be used alone with good effect for bug bite remedy, diaper rash ointment, and various forms and thrush and yeast infections.
• I can't say enough how it helps skin issues!  It helps burns, psoriasis, eczema, dandruff, ringworm/thrush/yeast infection/athlete's foot, dry/cracked skin, ingrown hairs, diaper rash, scrapes/scratches, and so on.

Seriously, the list goes on. Basically, if there's a health issue, I usually think about whether coconut oil can help it.  My next step is homeopathy.  I use it in much of my cooking, though I still use butter, olive oil, and canola oil for various purposes and benefits.  I even love cooking my popcorn in coconut oil.

For a really good list of benefits from coconut oil, check here.  A good place to buy and to learn about the great benefits of all forms of coconut, check here. You should also check their facebook page.

Unfortunately, there are some, like my sister-in-law, who are allergic to this miracle food!  I currently have no direction for those people.  I feel so bad for them because this stuff is AWESOME!  So, since it's possible, I suggest you start slow.  If you feel any itching, burning, nausea, or stomach upsets when using this product, it's possible you're allergic.  It's pretty uncommon, but still possible, so you've been warned.  However, if you're like most of us and can use it, whoot for you!

Refined, no odor/flavor,
but still has great benefits.

One I'll definitely try in the future.

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Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links, which will take you to the Amazon website where I make a small percentage of your purchase price.  It also contain links to other bloggers whom I respect, as well as some pages I only visited for reference. Do your own due diligence on whatever information you find there, please.