Health Benefits of Coconut

Coconut is often revered as an all-encompassing health and beauty remedy. In this post, you’ll learn the Health Benefits of Coconut and discover simple ways to incorporate more coconut into your life.

You might love the taste of coconut or want to use coconut oil for cleaning your teeth, but there are even more surprising benefits you might not have considered.

From your hair and skin, to helping with digestion, weight loss, and even heart health. Here are some of the top health benefits of coconut to be aware of:

It Can Improve Digestion

If you have been struggling with a lot of digestive issues, then you should definitely consider adding in more coconut to your diet.

Most forms of coconut are going to help you with your digestive problems, including coconut water, coconut milk, and coconut oil.

Coconut has anti-inflammatory properties that help with bowel disorders like IBS and digestive disorders like IBD. It may also help your body to absorb more nutrients and dietary fiber, which is needed when you have digestive issues.*source*

Your Hair and Skin Will Thank You

The Health Benefits of Coconut aren’t just related to your physical health, but your outer health as well!

You will notice that your hair, skin, and nails are all improved when you start introducing more coconut into your diet.* *source

Proper hydration is key to having healthy hair and skin, so by drinking some coconut water regularly, you are getting the hydration and electrolytes you need on a daily basis.

Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

A health benefit that you should keep in mind is that coconut can help you reduce your risk for heart disease. While coconut oil does have a good amount of saturated fat, it actually does more good than harm to your body.* *source

Coconut oil can actually help improve the good cholesterol in your body and reduce the bad cholesterol in your body. This may also lower your blood pressure levels, all of which helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Manage Weight

Coconut also happens to be fantastic at helping you to lose weight or avoid weight gain.* *source

When you add more coconut to your diet, it can help you to burn more fat and may even raise your metabolism. You may also notice more energy, which can help you to stick with your regular workout routines.

With coconut water and milk, you will notice that the more of it you have, the less cravings you get. You can also replace cane or GMO sugar with coconut palm nectar which is much better for you as well as being compliant with the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol.

Coconut Oil May Reduce Seizures

One of the more surprising benefits of coconut is that it can be used to help reduce seizures.* *source This is due to the fatty acids that are in coconut oil, called MCTs or Medium Chain Triglycerides.

These fatty acids can turn into ketones, which are then used to help reduce the severity and frequency of seizures.

In fact, coconut oil is frequently given to children and adults with epilepsy as part of their overall treatment plan. A common practice is to introduce a healthy diet with coconut oil, along with higher fat and lower carbohydrates in order to reach a ketogenic state.

Rub It On as a Massage Oil

You have probably already considered the fact that coconut oil can be used as a massage oil, as many adults do use it for this purpose.

For those with autoimmunity, some tend to have very sensitive skin that is prone to dryness, cracking, rashes, and irritation. Using something as natural and organic as possible to quell these skin ailments is best. I personally like to use it as a shaving cream.

Choosing coconut oil is an easy and advantageous choice. You will be able to give your skin a relaxing massage (which may also help you sleep better!) while your skin reaps all the various benefits of coconut oil.* *source

Coconut Can Boost Brain Function

Coconut also has fatty acids that can be perfect for someone with reduced brain function, such as brain fog related to thyroid issues*, or older adults suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. *source

This often leads to dementia, which is hard on the individual and their loved ones.

With coconut oil and other forms of coconut, you can help boost their brain function which helps manage the symptoms and might even keep it from turning into full-blown dementia.* *source

How to Add More Coconut to Your Diet

If you want to get the full range of health benefits of coconut, you can try adding it to your diet on a regular basis!

This is really easy to do with the options available on the market these days. I personally enjoy keeping a combination of coconut manna, coconut oil, coconut water, and coconut milk in my kitchen.

Use Coconut in Your Smoothies

A really easy way to get more coconut into your diet is to put it in your AIP smoothies and smoothie bowls! There are actually multiple ways to do this.

First of all, you can replace the milk in your smoothie with coconut milk instead.

You can also add shredded coconut inside your smoothies or top a smoothie or smoothie bowl with the shredded coconut.

If you need more liquid in the smoothie, go ahead and add some coconut water to it, or make some coconut water ice cubes for the ice portion of the smoothie.

Finally, you can add a little bit of coconut oil to your smoothies.

Cook With Coconut Oil and Milk

Both coconut oil and coconut milk are great for cooking with. Coconut oil can be used to replace just about any other oil, providing more nutrients and less toxic oils.

You can make the swap by eliminating vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut, and corn oil from your home kitchen. Then opt for more natural oils like coconut oil, avocado oil (learn the benefits of avocado here), and olive oil.

Try to find virgin pressed coconut oil if you are cooking with it in lower temperatures, and refined organic coconut oil for higher heat cooking.

You can also use both coconut milk and coconut oil in various baking recipes. Here are some of my favorite AIP baked goodie recipes, many of which use coconut!

Sprinkle Shredded Coconut on Treats

Unsweetened, shredded coconut is made by shredding the coconut meat and dehydrating it.

This delicious ingredient can be used to top just about any treat you like to enjoy!

You can sprinkle it on top of your morning smoothie, over baked goods, on “nice cream” (aka frozen, pureed bananas), and even stir it into homemade coconut milk yogurt.

When making Paleo AIP baked treats like muffins, cookies, and biscuits, go ahead and add some coconut shavings to the batter. You will really enjoy the texture, flavor and health benefits!

I hope you found this Health Benefits of Coconut post helpful for you!

How do you use coconut in your kitchen and in your personal care routine? I’d love to hear.

Leave me a comment below!