Coconut oil is one of the most versatile and healthiest oils that you can buy. It tastes good, although the taste is still relatively neutral. It is a great moisturiser and anti-inflammatory. It has antibacterial properties, handles heat well and also serves as a great coating and glistening substance.
If you want to know more about the possible uses of coconut oil, read on.
Coconut Oil for Cooking
For those who are trying to reduce their consumption of unhealthy and unethical animal products, coconut oil is a perfect butter substitute.
You should store it in a cool cupboard and spread it on the bread as you would butter. It becomes runny at room temperature and solid at fridge temperature.
This latter characteristic makes it useful as a base for no-bake refrigerated desserts like cheesecake and fruit tarts where most people tend to use cream and cheese.
High Smoking Point
Since it tolerates heat well, you can use it for deep frying and for roasting vegetables in the oven. In fact, it is an appropriate ingredient in any cake, pie, or other dish that calls for vegetable oil or butter.Great for Making Nut Butter With
You can also use it to make your own nut butter. Place it with raw nuts of your choice in a blender and strain to remove the pulp from the nutty oil. Then keep it in a cool cupboard as you would store coconut oil.Homemade Dressing
If you are bored with olive oil in your salad, mix melted coconut oil with lemon or lime juice and some herbs as a salad dressing.
This works especially well in cold salads where the coconut oil will thicken as a result of the fridge temperature vegetables with which it is mixed.
Coconut Oil for Non-Stick Cookware
Cast iron cookware is some of the best quality cookware available. It lacks a chemical non-stick coating that leaches into your food and is therefore in high demand in the health community.
However, it should be conditioned with vegetable oil before use, partly to make it non-stick, and partly to prevent it from rusting. Coconut oil is ideal to treat cast iron. Repeat the treatment as needed and your cast iron cookware will outlast your friends' specialised anti-stick anti-rust cookware.
Even if you do not have cast iron cookware, you can line your pots and pans with a thin layer of coconut oil before you cook and bake. This will prevent the food from sticking to them.
Even better, it forms a layer of healthy oil between the anti-stick lining of the cookware and your food, which may prevent chemicals from leaching into your food when the lining burns.
Coconut Oil as an Anti-Bacterial Anti-inflammatory Antiviral Moisturiser
Coconut oil can moisturise anything from skin, to hair, to squeaky hinges.
You can use it as a moisturiser for your skin. The natural health community obtains several benefits from it.
They use it to help them combat bacterial skin disorders like athlete's foot. It is used to reduce itching and the inflammation that often exacerbates itching, such as in conditions like eczema.
It is used to moisturise skin damaged by the sun so that some of it survives rather than peel off.
It is used to moisturise the lips and often on the lips and around the nose to fight viral infections like cold sores. You can either rub it onto your skin or pour a bit into your bath water.
Get Glistening, Dandruff Free Locks
You can also use it as a moisturiser for your scalp and hair. Dandruff is a symptom of a dry scalp. Dead skin falls off your dry scalp and forms those white flakes in your hair. Hair itself grows better and looks glossier when it is moisturised.
Use it as you would use any conditioner. Wet your hair and rub it into your hair and scalp. Then wash it off and, if your hair and scalp are not particularly dry, wash it with a shampoo to prevent it from becoming unnecessarily greasy.
Treat Squeaky Hinges the Non Toxic Way
Instead of using black grease that gets all over your hands, apply coconut oil to squeaky hinges and motors around the house to keep them lubricated.Coconut Oil as a Massage Oil and Relaxation Tool
Coconut oil alone works well as a massage oil, but it comes truly to the fore when mixed with natural scented oils.
Keep it at or slightly above room temperature by keeping the closed tub or bottle in a bowl of warm water. This ensures that it remains runny enough to apply easily and also feels good on the skin.
Its use as a massage oil and its frequent inclusion in many brands of sunscreen have built a strong association between coconut oil and relaxation or relaxing vacations. As a result, you can rub a bit on your body to relax you when you are feeling a bit burnt out and stressed.
Coconut Oil as a Glossy Reviving Coating
Use coconut oil to put that gloss back in anything that has become dull. Rub it on your leather shoes, your leather handbag, your leather furniture, and your leather car seats. Apply it to wooden furniture, cutting boards, and spoons to condition the wood against cracks and water. Rub it onto metal cookware and bowls for gloss.Coconut Oil for Pet Care
The natural health community uses coconut oil on their dogs' coats for moisture and gloss and on their skin to combat itchiness, inflammation, and bacteria. If you see your dog scratch excessively on one spot, it is probably already inflamed and can do with some coconut oil. Try adding some coconut oil to their breakfast and dinner time meals to lubricate their joints.Coconut Oil for Dental Health
Oil pulling is an ancient practice that many people use to whiten their teeth and to pull plaque and bacteria from between the teeth where brushes cannot reach.
First brush your teeth and rinse your mouth. Then put two tablespoons of coconut oil in your mouth and roll it around your mouth for a few minutes. When you are done, rinse your mouth a few times a get rid of all the contaminated oil. It tastes much better than any mouth wash on the market that experts feel may also kill off healthy bacteria residing in the mouth.
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