Coconut oil and its benefits

Over the years coconut oil has been said to contain a lot of saturated fat. If it's not laden with cholesterol, then you'd best avoid it because it has way too much saturated fat. In fact, we need saturated fat in our diets. As long as we aren't getting all that saturated fat from animal sources, then it is fine to have a diet that contains plenty of saturated fat.

When people talk about healthy oils, they will most likely start off with olive oil. "It's so great" or "Follow the Mediterranean diet," as if discounting thousands of years of using coconut oil in Asia is okay. In the Philippines, coconut oil was widely used up until modernization (think, this century). My family that lives there still uses coconut oil more often than we do here in the United States. I actually mainly use coconut oil for my soap recipes. Sometimes I cook with it (like today, when I made my chili).

But, is olive oil that great? Or, are we so blinded with all the soybean and corn fields that we have to say oils made from those vegetables are better? We can't grow as many coconuts here in the United States. Most jars of coconut oil I've seen are from the Philippines (or somewhere in Asia). So, it makes "sense" for mainstream doctors to spout off that even soybean or corn oil would be better than coconut oil. Sure, again, let's discount the fact that obesity rates in Asia were lower when they used coconut oil for cooking, compared to obesity rates in America, a country that likes to use hydrogenated vegetable oils made from soybeans or corn.

Take a look at this WebMD article. It's an awful way to say, "Screw you, coconut oil and its manufacturers. Let's keep this gravy train with soybeans and corn going even though our population's getting fat." And, the worst part of it is that they think the Mediterranean diet is the holy grail. I have to admit, I love Italian and Greek food. But, I won't say that it's the "healthiest." In fact, there are so many spices I've been introduced to just by cooking Indian food that I have to say it is some of the healthiest cuisine I've had. How is the Mediterranean diet healthier than a traditional Asian diet when the Mediterranean diet (especially an Italian one) consists of eating huge amounts of pasta and cheese? How is it healthier when there are just a handful of ingredients that are used in a number of recipes. Lots of tomatoes - check. Garlic - check. Capers - check. Olive oil - check. But, what about Asian cuisine? They use plenty of other ingredients that have many benefits as well. Turmeric, ginger, garlic, mulungay leaves, cumin, lemongrass, bittermelon, etc. These are interesting ingredients that also have a long history with their people, and coconut oil belongs with them.

The thing with deep-frying is that you don't want to do it all the time. Just because an oil is healthier than lard doesn't mean that you can deep-fry all that you want when you aren't using lard. Keep deep-frying in moderation and you won't have an issue. You can still fry in lard, but don't fry very often. If you are just going to saute and you are using low or medium heat, then you can use olive oil or coconut oil, or even grapeseed oil. But, if you want to fry at a high temperature, try using peanut oil or lard. I think my life would be very boring if I thought that I could only use olive, canola, or corn oil.

One of the best parts about coconut oil is that it will actually keep for a long time. Try putting your jars in a brown bag if they are clear. Keeping light away from your jars as much as possible will increase the coconut oil's shelf life. Just because coconut oil is solid at room temperature (at least, the cold-pressed kind should be), does not mean that it will clog your arteries! Please educate yourself about coconut oil and its properties, specifically the types of fatty chain that composes it. You'd be surprised at how healthy this oil actually is, despite all the negative history (or should I call it propaganda?) that has haunted it over the years.