Benefits Of Coconut Oil: Coconut oil may help reduce hunger, improve oral health, possibly reduce seizures, and more.
However, while coconut oil does have several potential benefits, it may not be great for your heart health.
Coconut oil is an increasingly popular cooking oil.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Many people praise it for its health benefits, including antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, improved skin and oral health, and weight loss potential.
Here are 8 evidence-based health benefits of coconut oil, plus some special considerations to keep in mind if you want to include it in your diet.
1. May Encourage Fat Burning
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Coconut oil is a rich source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a type of saturated fat.
In general, saturated fats are divided into three subgroups, each of which has different effects in your body. These subgroups are:
Long-chain
Medium-chain
Short-chain
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Scientists are studying medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), including those found in coconut oil, for their potential health benefits.
For instance, some evidence shows that consuming MCTs may increase the number of calories your body burns. In doing so, it may help promote weight loss.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Since the fats in coconut oil are 65% MCT, it may have fat-burning properties that are similar to pure MCT oil. However, there’s currently no good evidence to say that eating coconut oil itself will increase the number of calories you burn.
In fact, studies on MCT’s weight loss potential even call for caution when interpreting results because larger and higher-quality studies are still needed.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, While MCTs may increase how many calories you burn, keep in mind that coconut oil is very high in calories and can easily lead to weight gain if you consume it in large amounts.
2. May Work As A Quick Source Of Energy
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, The MCTs in coconut oil provide a quick supply of energy.
When you eat long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), the fat molecules are transported through your blood to tissues that need them, such as muscle or fat tissue.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, On the other hand, MCTs go straight to your liver and become a rapid energy supply in much the same way as carbs — your body’s preferred source of energy.
In fact, MCTs have been long used in sports nutrition products for athletes who need a source of energy their body can absorb and use fast.
3. May Have Antimicrobial Effects
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Coconut oil has antimicrobial and antifungal properties due to its MCT content — specifically, lauric acid.
Lauric acid is a fatty acid that makes up about 50% of the MCTs in coconut oil.
Research suggests it may have antimicrobial effects against disease-causing microorganisms, such as:
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus mutans
Streptococcus pyogenes
Escherichia coli
Helicobacter pylori
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Studies show that lauric acid may act as a bacteriostatic agent. This is a substance that prevents bacteria from multiplying without killing the bacteria.
It may also act as a bactericidal agent, which destroys some bacteria.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, In addition, it may also inhibit the growth of microorganisms that are harmful to plants.
4. May Help Reduce Hunger
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, One interesting feature of MCTs is that they may help reduce food intake.
This may be related to how the body breaks them down. A proportion of MCTs you eat are broken down in a process that produces molecules called ketones.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Ketones reduce appetite by either acting directly on the brain’s chemical messengers or altering the levels of hunger-inducing hormones, such as ghrelin.
You may be familiar with ketones in the context of ketogenic diets, which are quite popular these days. People who are on keto diets don’t eat many carbs, but they do often eat lots of fat. For this reason, their bodies tend to use ketones for fuel.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, However, though coconut oil is one of the richest natural sources of MCTs, there’s no evidence that coconut oil itself reduces appetite more than other oils. In fact, one study reports that coconut oil is less filling than MCT oil.
5. May Help Reduce Seizures
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, People have long used keto diets, which are very low in carbs and high in fats, to treat various disorders, including drug-resistant epilepsy. They have been shown to help reduce how often seizures happen.
Researchers believe that the lack of available glucose to fuel brain cells is a possible explanation for the reduction in seizure frequency in people with epilepsy on ketogenic diets.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, However, overall, there’s a lack of evidence for the use of keto diets in adults and infants with epilepsy, so more research is needed.
Reducing your carb intake reduces the glucose in your blood, and increasing your fat intake leads to significantly increased concentrations of ketones. Your brain can use ketones as an energy source instead of glucose.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Recently, people have found they can effectively treat epilepsy by following modified keto diets that include MCTs and a more generous carb allowance to induce ketosis.
Research shows that the MCTs in coconut oil get transported to your liver and turned into ketones.
6. May Boost Skin Health
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Coconut oil has many uses that have little to do with eating. Many people use it for cosmetic purposes to improve the health and appearance of their skin.
Studies show that coconut oil can boost the moisture content of dry skin. It may also improve the function of the skin, helping prevent excessive water loss and protecting you from external factors, such as infectious agents, chemicals, and allergens.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, In fact, a recent study determined that applying 6–8 drops of virgin coconut oil on your hands and leaving it overnight may be an effective way to prevent dry skin caused by frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
It may also reduce the severity of mild to moderate symptoms of atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin disease characterized by skin inflammation and defects in skin barrier function.
7. May Protect Your Hair
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Coconut oil can also protect against hair damage.
For instance, one study determined that, since coconut oil deeply penetrates hair strands, it makes them more flexible and increases their strength to prevent them from breaking under tension.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Similarly, another study found that coconut oil nourishes hair strands and reduces breakage, which further strengthens the hair.
8. May Improve Oral Health
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, Evidence shows that using coconut oil as a mouthwash — a process called oil pulling — benefits oral hygiene in a cost-effective way.
Oil pulling involves swishing coconut oil in your mouth like mouthwash. It may significantly reduce the count of harmful bacteria in the mouth — namely S. mutans — compared with a regular mouthwash.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, This is thought to be due to the antibacterial properties of lauric acid.
Additionally, lauric acid in coconut oil reacts with saliva to form a soap-like substance that prevents cavities and helps reduce dental plaque buildup and gum inflammation.
Benefits Of Coconut Oil, However, the review studies note that there’s limited evidence on this topic and that oil pulling doesn’t replace dental therapy. More research is needed on the effects of oil pulling on dental health.
Also Read:
The 6 Surprising Health Benefits Of Olive Oil
The 8 Best And Essential Oils For Anxiety
