The Many Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil seems to be one of those miracle foods these days. A fix all for a multitude of health problems. Is it true? Is coconut oil really that great?

Well, in a word – yes. Coconut oil has a multitude of benefits.  Here are some of my favorites:  

Weight Loss

Coconut oil is helpful in boosting and regulating your metabolism. An increased metabolism can help you to burn more calories and lose weight.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a miracle where all you have to do is eat coconut oil and keep doing everything else the same to lose weight. However, coconut oil has medium chain fatty acids which aren’t as readily stored as fat in the body. So, using coconut oil as part of a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables as well as lean protein can help promote weight loss. 

Chronic Disease

Coconut oil promotes heart health by lowering blood pressure and improving the ratio of cholesterol by raising your good cholesterol. Both of these factors can help you to prevent the onset of heart disease. It also helps to reduce injury and damage to your arteries.

Coconut oil can help to stimulate your thyroid function. This can improve your energy levels and help you to lose weight.

Coconut oil has proved to be beneficial in regulating blood sugar. Keeping blood sugar levels stable helps in controlling hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) as well as diabetes.

Coconut oil also helps to prevent the cell damage done by free radicals. Free radicals are compounds in the body that damage cells and end up promoting disease (including cancer). Preventing free radical damage can help to prevent chronic diseases.

Candida is an overgrowth of yeast that can occur in the intestine and genital area. Coconut oil can help to relieve the inflammation and discomfort from candida infection. It also provides gentle relief, there are no detoxing symptoms from the yeast overgrowth dying in your body.

Skin, Hair & Nails

Coconut oil helps to promote healthy and shiny hair as well as helping to regrowth damaged hair. Use it as a conditioner and massage it into your hair.

It can also help with dry and itchy scalp, dandruff, eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. Just use it like a lotion and smooth it on.

Coconut oil helps with the healing of canker sores by speeding the healing process.

Cell Health & Infections

Coconut oil has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties due to the high amount of lauric acid found in it. This is one of the reasons why it helps with the yeast infection Candida. You’ll see the benefits both topically (from using it like a lotion on infections and sores) as well as internally as you switch to using coconut oil in place of your butters and oils in cooking.

Other Benefits & Uses

Coconut oil and baking soda mixed together make a great toothpaste. It even can help to whiten your pearly whites!

It works as an insect repellent, just use a little as a lotion and you’ll be repelling bugs for hours.

You can also use coconut oil to polish furniture or shoes, if you have some extra lying around. It not only provides a beautiful finish, but you’ll get the added benefit of a delicious and tropical coconut scent.

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Peppermint Chocolate Squares

Give these simple and tasty little chocolate bites a try. They’re easy to make, don’t require baking and a delicious little sweet treat to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Yield: 12 squares
Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients
6 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 Tbsp raw cacao powder
4 Tbsp almond butter
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp peppermint extract
Pinch of salt
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 2 Tbsp reserved
½ cup pecans, chopped

Directions

• Line an 8x8 inch dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Combine the coconut oil, cacao powder, almond butter, honey, vanilla, peppermint and salt in a small saucepan.
• Over low heat, in a double boiler, for 5-10 minutes, or until the ingredients are smooth and combined.
• Stir in the coconut and pecans (reserve 2 Tbsp of coconut for garnish).
• Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
• Sprinkle on the reserved coconut.
• Freeze until set.
• Cut into squares.
• Store in an airtight container.

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Healthy Chicken Marsala

This classic Italian dish never fails to be superb. It’s simple, delicious and elegant. Serve it with a side of whole grain pasta and a side salad or fresh steamed green beans.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided

2 large shallots, sliced

8 oz white mushrooms, sliced

1 cup dry Marsala wine

4 – 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour

14.5 oz chicken broth, low sodium

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 

Instructions

1. Brown the chicken in a large skillet using 2 Tbsp of oil. 
2. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
3. With the remaining tablespoon of oil, saute the shallots for 1 minute on medium high heat.
4. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 4 – 6 minutes.
5. Add the Marsala, and bring to a boil. Scrape the bottom of the skillet to get all of the browned bits off the bottom.
6. Mix together the flour and chicken broth. Whisk into the skillet.
7. Return the sauce to a boil and stir until the sauce is thickened.
8. Season to taste with salt and peper.
9. Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over the top and garnished with the parsley. 

Makes bout 4 servings.  

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5 "Healthier" Halloween Candy Choices

You might think it’s crazy to try and find healthy Halloween candy – and you’d be partially right. While it’s not realistic to find “healthy” candy, there are some candies that are a better option than others. 

When choosing candy, there’s always a few things to keep in mind.

1. Fat.  First and foremost, take into consideration the amount of fat in a serving. Especially take into account the amount of trans fat and saturated fat. Saturated fat has been linked with higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, so try to keep your total daily saturated fat intake less than 10% of your total calories. This means you should choose candy with a minimum of saturated fat. Trans fat is even worse than saturated fat. Trans fats aren’t broken down in your body properly, and they increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease your HDL (good) cholesterol. Remember that if it’s less than .5 grams per serving can still be listed as “0 grams trans fat”. You’ll have to wait until 2018 before trans fats are completely gone from the market. In the meantime, watch for partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
2. High Fructose Corn Syrup.  There’s controversy over whether or not the body processes high fructose corn syrup differently than regular table sugar. But one thing is certain – as levels of high fructose corn syrup have increased so have levels of obesity and diabetes. It’s better to just avoid high fructose corn syrup in foods and stick to plain old sugar.
3. Sugar.  Even though you should stick to “plain old sugar” in foods (and candy), its better not to go overboard. Keep in mind that it only takes 4 grams of sugar to make one teaspoon. 
4. Dental Health.  Dentists have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Sure, all those cavities are good for business (they have to make a living too), but they also don’t like to see their patients come in with cavities and tooth decay. All those delicious suckers and chewy candies contribute to both cavities and tooth decay. Any time that a really sugary food stays in the mouth for an extended period of time, there’s an increased risk for cavities and tooth decay. Having the sugary candies in the mouth causes an increased production of saliva, which changes the pH of the mouth and makes it ideal for dental problems.
5. Portion Size.  No matter what type of candy you choose, remember that a little goes a long ways. Just because dark chocolate is good for you (all those antioxidants, not to mention the mouth feel of the dark chocolate melting over your tongue – it just helps raise your endorphin levels, let’s face it), it doesn’t mean that you should eat the whole bag. While the nutrition facts for a type of candy might look good – take a look at the serving size and be honest about how many pieces you’ve had.

So, after all of this, what could possibly be a good type of candy? Well, let’s start with some that aren’t good.

5 WORST Candy Choices

• Candy corn – filled with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, preservatives and artificial coloring. I'm not gonna lie, I love me some candy corn.  But its so addicting and so unhealthy that I just have to skip out on it altogether.  
• Suckers – a great way to see your dentist more often than you’d like with all that sugar just hanging out in your mouth.
• Starbursts – another great way to spend more quality time with your dentist. Not to mention all the high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring and flavors these tasty treats are filled with.
• Skittles – even though you get to eat the colors of the rainbow, these are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and artificial flavors
• Sour Patch – loaded with sugar and acidic, which wears away teeth enamel.

These sweet treats are much better options for you to snack on – just remember not to go overboard.

5 Healthier Candy Choices

• Fun sized peanut M & M’s – a great portion size (just make sure you don’t eat a couple handfuls from the bag and call that fun sized), not to mention it’s got chocolate and a tiny bit of fiber from those peanuts, which also have a tiny bit of protein.
• Twizzler – the ultimate low fat candy. It’s low in sugar and doesn’t have all those trans and saturated fats.
• Hershey miniatures – another great portion controlled food. They’ve also only got 4 grams of sugar per bar.
• Smarties – another great portion controlled snack. They’re pure sugar, but its sugar, and not high fructose corn syrup. There is also only 6 grams of sugar per roll of smarties.
• Dark chocolate – anything dark chocolate (with reasonable portion sizes) is always a good choice.

I hope this post will help you to make better choices this Halloween.  And remember, candy is not food, so don't be afraid to just toss it in the trash.  I myself don't like the temptation so it ends up in the trash can pretty quickly in my house.  

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Pumpkin Pie Hummus

Ingredients:

15 oz can organic chickpeas
1 1/4 cup organic canned pumpkin
2 tsp. pumpkin spice
1+ tsp. cinnamon
2+ tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. organic brown cane sugar

Instructions:

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Peel off skins (they will slide right off) and add them into food processor. Add all remaining ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth. At this point I had to sample the hummus and I felt that it needed a little something extra. I added in a little more orange juice and a hefty dash of cinnamon. Try it our yourself and play around with the ingredients to get it just right. I personally wanted it sweeter so thats why I added in those extra ingredients.

Serve with cinnamon pita chips, apple chips or apple slices. 

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Smoky Sriracha Hummus

This is DELICIOUS and super easy! Goes great with veggies, crackers or on a sandwich. 

Ingredients:

• 1-15 ounce can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Blend everything except olive oil together in a food processor or high speed blender. Once well combined, add olive oil and mix again. Saves up to two weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Great as a dip or sandwich spread!

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