I am
posting this from ‘God’s Own Country’, which has been named Kerala for obvious
reasons: ‘Kera’ in Malayalam refers to coconut. Pay a visit to this beautiful
part of the world and you will find coconut trees in plenty everywhere.
People
in this region are generally healthy and good looking and I can tell you that
coconuts have contributed quite a lot to their well being. Coconut oil is the
most commonly used cooking oil in Kerala even though a small percentage of
people here have switched over to other cooking oils probably by hearing about
the high saturated fat content in coconut oil.
If you
search the internet for ‘health benefits of coconut oil’ you will get an
amazing volume of results, exposing the hollowness of the arguments in certain
media about the harmful effects of coconut oil. In fact there have been
deliberate attempts to reduce the score of coconut oil with regards to its use
as a healthy cooking medium. The term ‘saturated fat’ has been used very
liberally by media to disqualify coconut oil. But what really matters is the
size or length of the fat molecule. Oils and fats are composed of molecules
called fatty acids. Coconut oil is composed mostly of ‘medium-chain fatty
acids’ (MCFA) unlike the majority of other oils and fats (whether saturated or
unsaturated) which are composed of ‘long-chain fatty acids’ (LCFA).
Medium-chain fatty acids are helpful in reducing the risk of heart diseases and
this is exactly why coconut oil scores positively in this context.
Coconut
oil is very popular in Kerala not only as a cooking medium but as massaging oil
and hair oil. Its anti bacterial and anti-fungal properties are well known. When
applied topically, it helps to protect the skin by forming a chemical barrier
to ward of infection. Majority of the people of Kerala consider coconut oil as
the best cooking oil in spite of biased propaganda against it.
The following
link will take you to a very useful post on the benefits of coconut oil which
appeared in Huffington Post:
When it comes to coconut oil benefits, anyone can say that it is indeed a superb oil that comes from an amazing fruit. I've been using coconut oil as my natural moisturizer and so far, it has been so effective because it softens and makes my skin and hair so smooth.
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