Until recently, many people stayed away from coconut oil because they were worried about consuming saturated fat.  But now that saturated fat is known to be very beneficial to your health, coconut oil has become the new go-to source of good saturated fats…and it’s completely living up to it’s hype.

Here are the top 10 health benefits that you can gain by eating coconut oil:

1. Coconut oil is a great source of medium-chain saturated fatty acid (MCFA), which is one of the best type of “healthy” fat.  This fat acts completely different from other saturated fats, because it bypasses many of the steps other fats have to go through and instead get’s used as energy immediately.  So it acts similar to glucose in that sense, because of it’s readily available for energy.

2. Weight loss and weight management can be achieved by eating coconut oil on a regular basis.  As explained above, MCFA in coconut oil gets metabolized in the liver, and instead of being turned into fat storage the body uses it as energy.  So instead of having to use glucose for energy, you can use fat.  This helps keep your insulin levels low and stable, which is key to weight loss and helps improve your insulin sensitivity for better long term weight management.

3. Coconut oil, helps decrease sugar cravings by helping increase your satiety.  And because you’re less hungry, it keeps you from snacking.  It also provides your body consistent energy throughout the day which helps you avoid mid-afternoon energy crashes.

4. Coconut oil helps boost your metabolism.  It does so by keeping your digestive system functioning optimally which helps increase your metabolic functions.  And because it’s a readily available fuel source, it helps feed the fire and keep your metabolism running high.

5. Heart disease prevention is a benefit of coconut oil as well.  The saturated fat helps lower triglycerides in the blood, which is one of the culprits of heart disease.  Researchers have found that certain cultures that consume high amounts of saturated fats by eating coconut, had significantly lower rates of heart disease.

6. You can experience an immune system boost from coconut oil as well.  Coconut oil has antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties.  Capric acid, caprylic acid, and lauric acid are all found in coconut oil, and they’ve shown to help increase immune function in your body.

7. Coconut oil can improve your skin health, because it provides the essential fatty acids to keep your skin hydrated and healthy.  Coconut oil is also high in antioxidants which helps fight off free radicals that promote skin aging.  In addition to eating it, coconut oil can also be applied directly to your skin for added benefits.

8. Many people also experience an improvement in their digestion when they eat coconut oil regularly.  It’s shown to help improve chronic digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome.  Fatty acids within coconut oil help to soothe and protect the digestive system, and because of it’s antiviral, antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, they are very effective at eradicating parasites, Candida, and harmful bacteria.

9. Coconut oil holds up at higher temperatures better than other types of oil, which makes it the perfect cooking oil.  It has high smoking temperature, which means it doesn’t oxidization easily when heated to high temperatures.  Keep in mind that most oils are quite unstable and get oxidized quickly when heated, producing free radicals in the process.

10. Coconut oil has been shown to reduce chronic inflammation in your body.  And since inflammation can cause pain, consuming coconut oil regularly can help decrease chronic pain.

That’s just the top 10 benefits, there’s even more…

• Improves your energy level while boosting sports performance

• Increases the absorption of nutrients in your body

• Increases insulin secretion and stabilizes your blood sugar

• Protects your body against osteoporosis

• Improves your dental health

• Guards you against liver disease

So, whether you have a health issue or not, chances are coconut oil can be very beneficial to your health!

Just keep in mind, that when you purchase coconut oil, read the label and look for “extra virgin coconut oil”.  It’s less processed than regular coconut oil.  You can often tell if it’s unprocessed by smelling it… if the oil smells like coconut, then it likely contains the nutrition and health benefits that we just talked about.  But, if you can’t smell it, then the oil was probably put through some heavy processing and it’s nutritional benefits may be gone as well.