Coconut Oil Uses – Overall Health Benefits
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We all know that coconut oil is immensely beneficial for our skin and hair. However, what we didn’t know is that several explanations are justifying this claim. From moisturizing dry and flaky skin to treating frizzy hair, coconut oil has many benefits. The natural element of the oil has a wide array of therapeutic and beauty-enhancing properties. Moreover, coconut oil is also used as a component in various hair care and skin care products. Here are a few benefits of coconut oil you can enjoy at home. Check out the benefits of coconut water.
Coconut Properties
- Nourishing: this vegetable oil moisturizes the eyelids and all parts of the body where the skin is fine and sensitive, as well as the lips. It also perfectly moisturizes the hair.
- Hair fortifier: Coconut vegetable oil strengthens and shines dry, dull, and damaged hair. It is used as well in prevention to protect your hair, as when they are injured: it will strengthen them, giving them shine and tone!
- Fragrant: this vegetable oil leaves its delicious coconut scent on the skin without leaving a greasy film.
- Softening, moisturizing: coconut vegetable oil moisturizes and softens the driest and most sensitive areas of the body. It thus leaves skin soft and pleasant to the touch. Finally, it also has a cooling effect during application.
- Repellent: some components of its vegetable oil have repellent properties against various blood-sucking arthropods, and in particular against the tiger mosquito.
- Antioxidant: Polynesian populations using coconut oil seem to have less cardiovascular risk, undoubtedly linked to the antioxidant properties of flavonoids. In addition, this antioxidant effect can be related, to some extent, to an anti-inflammatory effect. Indeed, free radicals can intervene in the inflammatory phenomenon, so by neutralizing them, the risk of inflammation is reduced.
- Antibacterial: lauric acid, mostly in coconut oil, exhibits antibacterial activity in vitro. Isolated, inhibits the bacterial growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli. However, this antibacterial activity is minimal and less than that of an antibiotic, but the more coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, the more it will be antibacterial.
Nutritional Benefits
Due to its high content of saturated fatty acids (87%), which are considered “bad fats”, it is best used on the skin instead. Indeed, saturated fatty acids consumed in excess tend to promote the synthesis of bad cholesterol, increasing the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
However, coconut oil in the diet is a question of balance: if used properly, it brings many benefits, contributes to better cardiovascular health, an improvement of the immune system, the maintenance of a good metabolism and it is an immediate source of energy.
So enjoy the great taste of coconut vegetable oil in your diet from time to time, but don’t overdo it! Otherwise, coconut milk is a good alternative.
- Directions for use: to flavor your Coconut dishes pour a few drops of vegetable oil in your pan-fried dishes, woks, exotic dishes, smoothies, salad dressings, pastries … And, for most fans or most vegans, you can replace the butter with a knob of coconut oil!
Coconut Oil Uses For Hair
Cosmetic features
- Skin type: dry, all skin types, sensitive
- Hair type: dry, damaged, brittle, frizzy
For Dry Hair
Coconut has a fatty acid structure, which penetrates the hair roots. So, if you feel your hair is dry or is prone to break, manage it with coconut oil as an overnight treatment.
For this, you need to take virgin coconut oil and apply it to your hair, starting from the roots to the ends. Next, comb your hair with a wide-tooth comb and tie your hair in a ponytail.
In the morning, wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner.
For Puffy Hair
When you feel your hair is puffy, take a small amount of coconut oil on your fingers and run it through your hair to keep fizziness at bay.
In addition, if you are in a pool or at the beach, your hair will likely become a little tangled. So at times like these, it’s best to leave coconut oil in your hair, as it saves your hair from the scorching sun, chlorine, and saltwater.
It also keeps your hair conditioned.
Coconut Oil Uses For Skin
There are many possible uses for coconut oil for the skin: whether you use it to hydrate it, cleanse it deeply, or simply for its tropical scent that makes you travel, coconut oil will meet your expectations and delight your senses. In addition, its solid texture which becomes liquid below twenty degrees allows easy use: the simple heat of your skin or a water bath at low temperature is enough to melt it and facilitate its use. Its composition makes it a vegetable oil that is suitable for all skin types, particularly for dry and sensitive skin.
You can use it to protect your skin thanks to its vitamin E and its flavonoids (antioxidants), as an emollient thanks to its high proportion of saturated fatty acids, to nourish your skin in case of eczema, in a two-phase make-up remover, and even for a massage or a scrub!
For Lips
Our lips get dry during the winter season, so to moisten your dry lips, apply coconut and then rinse it off. Again, apply a little coconut oil to your lips to keep them moist and soft for a longer period.
For Legs, Feet, And Heels
Coconut oil has natural anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, making it the perfect ingredient to prevent infections and fungus. Therefore, apply coconut oil to keep your legs, feet, and heels moisturized. To keep your feet smooth and fungus-free, use the oil every day.
In Pedicures
Coconut oil is also good for pedicures.
- Take half a jar of coconut oil and add two tablespoons of honey and one tablespoon of sugar.
- Mix all three ingredients until the sugar is immersed completely in the oil.
- Take a spoonful of the scrub and rub it on your legs and feet to exfoliate your skin.
Doing this will take away the dead skin and smoothen your cracked heels and rough spots.
To Whiten Teeth
Oil pulling (in Ayurveda) is a traditional Indian practice of making a mouthwash with vegetable oil every morning at sunrise, for 10 to 20 minutes. So, you can use a tablespoon of coconut vegetable oil this way, and do about 10-20 minutes of mouthwash each morning (and in the shower to save time!). To do this, it is preferable to liquefy the oil in a bain-marie before performing the mouthwash.
Once in your mouth, coconut oil takes at least 10 minutes to act as a natural cleaning agent on your teeth and gum tissue. After 2 to 4 weeks of practice, you should see a clear difference in your teeth.
Its action is said to be due to lauric acid, also called dodecanoic acid, which is antimicrobial and fight against tartar. Thus, coconut vegetable oil helps eliminate lipophilic toxins from your mouth, reduce the risk of cavities and give you fresh breath.
As An Insect Repellent
We do not expect it here, but yet, coconut oil has repellent effects vis-à-vis certain blood-drinking insects. If the fatty acids responsible are not yet precisely known, it is certain that lauric acid has antibacterial properties. Thus, it is undoubtedly the latter, along with other molecules, which contributes to this repellent effect.
But beware, this effect is not extremely powerful, and it will not be enough to brush you with coconut oil to avoid ticks, mosquitoes, or bedbugs bites. But associated with the essential oil of Lemongrass of Java, why not!
