Coconut Oil Fact and Fiction

by Kellene You may be too young to know this, but a long time ago, coconut oil (and some palm oils) was in virtually everything you ate.  Your French fries were cooked in it, your mayonnaise was made with it, and it was used in many of your processed foods as well.  So what changed? How did coconut oil fall from grace in the food industry? Well, like most instances such as this, the secret behind this switch has to do with money, power, and greed.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate to be manipulated in any way. In fact, I’m so stubborn in that regard, that you may find me to be the only one still sitting at the end of a play while everyone else is giving out standing ovations. I simply refuse to do it just because everyone else does. If a performer deserves a standing ovation, or a laugh, or applause I will enthusiastically do so. Otherwise, I will hold my position. Well, when I started researching all that I could find about coconut oil, I discovered that once again, I would be sitting while everyone else was lavishing praise on the wrong kinds of oil.  So, for those of you who also detest being manipulated by money instead of facts, this article is for you. In order for the soybean industry to advance as the first choice for oil, it had to squeeze out the primary leader—coconut oil. It did so by publicizing half-truths to the medical industry and then on to the general consumers.  In the mid 1980’s, with billions of dollars at stake, the American Soybean Association launched an aggressive, widespread smear campaign that painted coconut oil as the evil, artery clogging oil that everyone needed to run away from. As a result of this campaign, Americans can now thank the ASA for a great deal of the health problems which they experience including the very diseases which the ASA tried to paint coconut oil as causing. They can also thank the ASA for introducing harmful hydrogenated oils into our regular diet as well. Nonetheless, as you know, I don’t believe in the victim mentality so I thought I’d share with you some vital facts about the merits of coconut oil today. This way you can start deliberate and informed efforts towards better health as well as using an oil which won’t compromise its healthy foundation even after spending a couple of years on your pantry shelf. Many years ago, a nutritional specialist, Bruce Fife, was addressing a group of doctors. He opened his speech with this statement, “Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils one can use.” He was immediately corrected by one of the doctors in attendance who said, “Coconut oil is unhealthy; it causes heart disease.” Mr. Fife wisely responded by saying “that must be why all of the Pacific Islanders died off hundred of years ago.” It’s true. Pacific Islanders have long used every part of the coconut for their nutritional mainstays.  Coconut oil is no exception. And yet dozens of studies have shown these groups of people to possess NO heart disease, diabetes, and many other ailments common in our “more progressive” soybean and vegetable oil society. In fact, the countries with the palm oil intakes in the world are Costa Rica and Malaysia. Their heart disease rates and cholesterol levels are much lower than in the western nations. Why? Well, it all boils down to the fact that all saturated fats are not created equal. Yes, it’s true that coconut oil is a saturated fat. And thanks to a very successful indoctrination campaign, we usually associate the words saturated fat as being unhealthy. But what most people don’t realize is that there are three types of saturated fats; differentiated by the chain length of the fatty acids. There’s short, medium, and long chain fatty acids inherent in any saturated fat food.  It’s actually the long chain fatty acids that are very bad for our bodies. Long chain fatty acids are not easily digested in our bodies, as such they leave behind residues that help clog up arteries. Whereas medium chain fatty acids are easily digested in the body and leave no harmful residue.  Coconut oil has the most percent of saturated fats of most any oil, however, it’s the only oil that has NO affect on the cholesterol levels and arteries in our body—this is because it consists of medium-chain fatty acids which are easily digested and used in the body.  In fact, instead of causing heart disease like hydrogenated oils do (which come primarily from soybean oil) coconut oil actually prevents the development of heart disease!  Medium-chain fatty acids also have the added benefit of producing energy in our bodies instead of fat like other oils do. Understand that not all coconut oils are the same either. Heat, light, and oxygen are bad for most oils. By the time you even purchase olive oil at your grocery store it’s already been subjected to heat and light and as such has already begun to go rancid.  In order to avoid this problem with your coconut oil, be sure that you buy only cold-pressed (or expeller pressed) coconut oil. Any oil that has been heat expelled has already started going rancid.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but ALL conventionally processed and refined vegetable oils are rancid to some extent by the time they reach the store, folks. This rancid state is hard to detect but is ripe for developing disease-causing free radicals in our body. When we cook with them, adding more heat to the process, we are simply compounding the unhealthy effects it will have in our body.  On the other hand, cold-pressed coconut oil is so dependable and shelf-stable that many food manufacturers will use coconut oil in order to prevent their products from going rancid on the shelves. Unlike other oils, coconut oil has a double-carbon bond, making it much more stable even under heated conditions. Because of this bonding, coconut oil can be exposed to heat, light, and oxygen without promoting free-radical formation and oxidation. This means that the medium-chain fatty acids can remain stable even when you’re cooking with it. In spite of all of this, coconut oil isn’t just ideal for storage and cooking. It’s actually a great preventative food, chocked full of great health benefits. Not only is coconut oil not harmful to our bodies, but it’s actually great at countering the negative effects that other oils have on our body.  Several studies have been conducted which provided participants a small amount of coconut oil in addition to their standard oil found in a typical meal.  Those who added coconut oil to their diet in addition to their normal fare had a decreased negative affect on their cholesterol levels as opposed to those participants who had no coconut oil in their diet.  Coconut oil is also being researched as an aid for curing heart disease, gingivitis, HIV, herpes, cancer, and a myriad of other diseases readily found in western civilizations.  Coconut oil also counteracts many of the effects of hydrogenated oils such as memory loss, asthma, allergies, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, constipation, colitis, and senility. Coconut oil is so resistant to a free-radical attack that it actually acts as an anti-oxidant, helping to prevent the oxidation of other oils.  It’s also been found to promote healing after surgery or even of sprain joints in our body.  In his book, “The Coconut Oil Miracle”, Bruce Fife had an entire list of ways to use coconut oil as a disease prevention and treatment resource including killing fungus and harmful yeasts, healing skin infections, killing bacteria that causes pneumonia and meningitis, and in aiding in the loss of excess weight. I have to say, I’ve looked, but I’ve not found any vegetable, soy, or corn oil that does any of that. So, here’s a little bit of information for you. I hope that you will do a bit more research on your own to discover the merits of this great resource. I plan on stocking up on more of it as my primary source of cooking and baking oil.  I love that it has an indefinite shelf-life as well as the great health benefits.  Regardless of the fact that the other oils are less expensive, in my mind it doesn’t matter what they do or don’t cost if they are harmful to my health.  I consider preventative medicine practiced now to be my best asset in Medical and Physical Principles of Preparedness. Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter here To see our upcoming event schedule, click here Check out our in-home-course programs Subscribe to Preparedness Pro today and never miss a thing! For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit! Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. 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Comments

Thanks for this post Kellene. I bought some coconut oil a while ago and wasn't sure if it was worth the money I invested. I am not too happy with how it makes everything I cook in it taste like coconut, but I'm glad to have its storage qualities confirmed.

Preparedness Pro's picture

Hmmm...that's interesting. I have NEVER had anything I cooked it with taste like coconut. Of course, if it did, I wouldn't mind cause I like coconut. But I've never had that happen.

My Nutiva coconut oil has an expiration date on it of about 2 years from now. Do you know how long it will really store? I'd like to really stock up for our food storage, but I don't want to overbuy since it is so pricey!

Preparedness Pro's picture

Corri, I would check on whether or not it's cold pressed or cold expelled. In such an instance, it should not go bad on you and would only have an expiration date to protect somebody's butt legally.

At last! The real news about coconut oil is being revealed!
It really tickles me to see the truth come to light!
When I began to read your blog, I thought you had
read Mary Enig's book. At first, the language was a
little difficult for me, then she drew me in. I was
fascinated! Good for you, Kellene!

I'm also storing up some coconut oil for the reasons you wrote about. Like, you, I've never had anything taste of coconut. In my case, that would be a BAD thing because my husband hates coconut!

OK, I'm convinced! I wasn't too happy to be storing shortening (gag!), but was unsure of what I could store instead. I find it fascinating that I've been taught for all these years that coconut oil is bad when it really isn't.

Kellene, what resources do you know of for buying coconut oil at the best price? I love what you've shared about it and what I've heard about it, and believe it's worth the cost, but budget constraints require finding the best price possible for slow and steady stock up. Any recommendations?

THANK YOU!!!!

Preparedness Pro's picture

The best price is one in which you dont' have to pay shipping. I buy mine through Five Star Preparedness. I pay $65.95 for a whole gallon. It's the Hope's Harvest kind. But if you had to pay shipping, then I wouldn't recommend that.

I was able to find the Hope's Harvest kind at www.realsalt.com which is the sister site to the Hope's Harvest site. It was $69.99 and qualified for free shipping.

Preparedness Pro's picture

Yup. That's a great deal however, Five Star Preparedness has a group buy this month for only for only $57.99 which makes it an awesome deal even with shipping!

The best deal I have found on coconut oil is a 2 pack of Nutiva 54oz (108oz total) containers of virgin cold pressed oil for just under $40 shipped from Amazon. Between the two containers there is well over a gallon of oil in them making it a better value.

Forgot to add that Nutiva brand does not have a strong coconut flavor in fact it is tastes quite neutral with barely a hint of flavor. I am quite pleased with it. French fries and popcorn have never tasted better cooked in it and I love how you can reuse the oil over and over unlike vegetable oil which goes bad and seems to consume itself. Never will use vegetable oil again in cooking.

Sound great!
If you buy it in a large container should it be put into smaller ones like jars since I do not use much oil?. I was just thinking this would add to the shelf life. Where is the best place to buy it.? You said all coconut oil is not the same.....do you mean some does not have medium chain fatty acids?

Preparedness Pro's picture

If any heat is used in the packaging, then it does not retain the key qualities that I've mentioned in the article. In some instances, during the heat process, long chained fatty acids are introduced into it, just like what happens with hydrogenated oils.

Once again, good info. I have recently started storing coconut oil also. I don't remember the reference but some types of coconut oil give a coconut flavor but the expeller pressed does not. I use it all the time.

I'm convinced....I am going to add coconut oil to my food storage program and use it in my daily cooking. What brand is the best to purchase?

Preparedness Pro's picture

Hopes Harvest is the brand I purchase. But I'm sure there are many others. Again, focus on "cold pressed" or "cold expelled"

The coconut oil I bought (through a buying group)is expeller pressed organic virgin oil. It was very expensive and makes everything taste like coconut. http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/expeller-pressed_coconut_oil.htm
If anyone has any input on this particular brand I would love to hear it. Also, any recommendations on some reasonably priced, good quality oil.

Sue,
I used to use Tropical Traditions oil, and I think it is a great brand! Like you said though, it's expensive. Two years ago I bought some from Mountain Rose Herbs (see Comment #9), and it has been fantastic. Their gallons of unrefined organic coconut oil are $37, plus shipping. When I bought two years ago, I bought a one-gallon bucket and a five-gallon bucket (of refined organic). The shipping on those two together was $24. So even if your shipping for a single gallon was $10, it would still only be $47 total. If you bought in bulk, I'm sure the average shipping would go way down.

Katie, the TT oil was only $48 a gallon through a group buy, so I guess it wasn't so bad. Seemed expensive to me though, especially when my friend kept telling me she could get it for $13/gallon for her soap-making!

The $13/gallon coconut oil is surely refined. I still think it's far better than rancid vegetable oils, but it still goes through quite an extensive refining process. See here: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/oilprofile/coconut.php
and scroll down to 'Refining'. I'm sure that other companies use even worse processes, including hexane solvent extraction, in the cheap oils.

Oops. I just read some more info and found out that virgin oil retains the coconut taste. Apparently the expeller pressed oil is cheaper and goes through a steaming process that takes out most of the taste. Useful to know, I thought.

Preparedness Pro's picture

don't get expeller pressed confused. You want "cold pressed" or "cold expressed". Both of those do NOT use any heat in the process. And when you get that kind you will not have a coconut flavor in any of your cooking or baking.

So Kellene, I did some more reading on this particular oil, and it is wet-milled and cold-pressed, using no chemicals or heat. And yet tastes strongly of coconuts. Any thoughts? They even said on the website that it retains the taste of the fresh coconut.

Preparedness Pro's picture

It must have been exposed to intense heat prior to you receiving it then--such as enroute in delivery, or in the warehouse. That's the only think I can think of, darn it.

Kellene,
I have been researching and using coconut oil for years. And believe me, the 'researching' part of that was significant -- I am the type that looks into the details for months or years before trying new things. Anyway, in all the time that I've been a fan of coconut oil, I have never heard that heating releases the flavors into the oil. I have always heard that extra-virgin cold-pressed oil WILL taste like coconuts, and that is a sign that it has *not* been heat-processed.

However, the coconuts are grown in Africa, the Phillipines, etc. Tropical Traditions's website explains that the internal temperature of the coconuts on the tree reach well over 100 degrees since the ambient temperature is so hot.

Also, think of olive oil. The first cold pressing of olives will have a rich olive flavor. The next pressings or the heat-processed pressings will have the extra-light/mild flavor.

Hmmm, as usual, fascinating and useful information. I'm anxious, now, to go out and find some coconut oil to try!

"This rancid state is hard to detect but is ripe for developing disease-causing free radicals in our body."

After you've been using coconut oil for a while, you can smell the rancidity instantly!

I started buying quarts of coconut oil a few years ago, and finally took a leap and bought it in gallon and 5-gallon sizes.

Sue is right -- the virgin coconut oil will smell and taste strongly of coconuts. The expeller-pressed, since it is refined, does not retain the taste.

I do a Wasatch Front group buy for organic extra-virgin coconut oil in the fall, around October. If anyone wants me to notify them when I do it again this year, let me know! katiedoyle at byu dot net (that doesn't really fool the search engines, does it?)

Preparedness Pro's picture

cold expeller pressed is not refined. Refining requires heat in the process, just to be clear. It can get a bit confusing.

(and yes, it does a good job fooling the search engine bots *wink*)

I'm confused about why the cold pressed oil wouldn't taste/smell like coconuts then. The price you're paying is very high, so it seems like it should be good-quality oil. I will have to research this some more!

Preparedness Pro's picture

When extreme heat is applied during the refining process, it releases the coconut flavor of the oil. Otherwise the oil should taste rather benign. Just like Bay leaves don't flavor your food when used as an oxygen absorber, yet do provide an intense flavor when cooked in your soup.
If the oil is cold-pressed, then nothing has been done to release the coconut flavor, thus cooking with it below 450 degrees won't have a taste effect on it.

See Reply 22

Preparedness Pro's picture

ding, ding, ding, ding! I have the answer! Yeehah! I'll share it on an upcoming post. I can't believe I didn't figure this one out before. *beating my forehead*

I'm excited to see what it is!

This is certainly interesting. I had no idea about this. I will definately have to look into this. Anything that will improve both health & length of storage is an improvement in both ways.

I have used coconut oil off and on for a few years, as well as extra virgin olive oil. I used to use Canola oil as it us touted to be just wonderful til I found out about this:

Canola Oil

Compiled by Darleen Bradley

Recently I bought a cooking oil that is new to our supermarkets, Canola
Oil. I tried it because the label assured me it was lowest in 'bad' fats.
However, when I had used half the bottle, I concluded that the label told
me surprisingly little else and I started to wonder: where does canola oil
come from?

Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from
sunflowers; but what is a canola? There was nothing on the label to
enlighten me which I thought odd. So, I did some investigating on the
Internet. There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new
'wonder' oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little
longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details.

Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything
containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up
word, from the words ' Canada ' and 'oil'.. Canola is a genetically
engineered plant developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant, which is
part of the mustard family of plants.

According to Agri Alternatives, The Online Innovation, and Technology
Magazine for Farmers, 'By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long
been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans
and other animals'. (This, by the way, is one of the websites singing the
praises of the new canola industry.)

Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect
repellent. I have been using it (in very diluted form, as per
instructions) to kill the aphids on my roses for the last two years. It
works very well; it suffocates them. Ask for it at your nursery. Rape is
an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base
and as a illuminate for color pages in magazines.

It is an industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems, causes
emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and
blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds
in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was thrown out.
Remember the 'Mad Cow disease' scare, when millions of cattle in the UK
were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a
mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a
disease called 'scrapie'.

It was thought this was how 'Mad Cow' began and started to infiltrate the
human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from
animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared. We also have not seen any further
reports of 'Mad Cow' since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not
scientifically proven, but interesting all the same. US and Canadian
farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil
(canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian
and US government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say
that canola is safe to use. They admit it was developed from the rapeseed,
but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but
'canola' instead.

Except canola means 'Canadian oil'; and the plant is still a rape plant,
albeit genetically modified. The new name provides perfect cover for
commercial interests wanting to make millions. Look at the ingredients
list on labels. Apparently peanut oil is being replaced with rape oil. You
will find it in an alarming number of processed foods. There is more, but
to conclude: rape oil was the source of the chemical warfare agent mustard
gas, which was banned after blistering the lungs and skins of hundred of
thousands of soldiers and civilians during W.W.I. Recent French reports
indicate that it was again in use during the Gulf War.

Check products for ingredients. If the label says, 'may contain the
following' and lists canola oil, you know it contains canola oil because
it is the cheapest oil and the Canadian government subsidizes it to
industries involved in food processing.

I do not know what you will be cooking with tonight, but I will be using
olive oil and old-fashioned butter, from a genetically unmodified cow.

Here is more information.............

Canola oil from the rape seed, referred to as the Canadian oil because
Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the USA . The
Canadian government and industry paid our Federal Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the
(GRAS) List 'Generally Recognized As Safe'. Thus a new industry was
created. Laws were enacted affecting international trade, commerce, and
traditional diets. Studies with lab animals were disastrous. Rats
developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid
gland. When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits
dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs. No studies on
humans were made before money was spent to promote Canola oil in the USA

Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by
a build up of long-chain fatty acids (c22 to c28) which destroys the
myelin (protective sheath) of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain
fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the
Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it
was in an unrefined form.(*) (* taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT
KILL by Udo Erasmus.)

My cholesterol level was 150. After a year using Canola oil I tested 260.
I switched back to pure olive oil and it has taken 5 years to get it down
to 160. Thus began this project to find answers since most Doctors will
say that Canola oil is O.K..

My sister spilled Canola oil on a piece of fabric, after 5 pre-treatings
and harsh washings, the oil spot still showed. She stopped using Canola
oil, wondering what it did to our insides if it could not be removed from
cloth easily. Our Father bred birds, always checking labels to insure
there was no rape seed in their food. He said, 'The birds will eat it, but
they do not live very long.' A friend, who worked for only 9 months as a
quality control taster at an apple-chip factory where Canola oil was used
exclusively for frying, developed numerous health problems. These included
loose teeth & gum disease; numb hands and feet; swollen arms and legs upon
rising in the morning; extreme joint pain especially n hands, cloudy
vision, constipation with stools like black marbles, hearing loss; skin
tears from being bumped; lack of energy; hair loss and heart pains. It has
been five years since she has worked there and still has some joint pain,
gum disease, and numbness.

A fellow worker, about 30 years old, who ate very little product, had a
routine check up and found that his blood vessels were like those of an 80
year old man. Two employees fed the waste product to baby calves and their
hair fell out. After removing the fried apple chips from the diet their
hair grew back in. My daughter and her girls were telling jokes. Stephanie
hit her mom's arm with the back of a butter knife in a gesture, 'Oh mom',
not hard enough to hurt. My daughters arm split open like it was rotten.
She called me to ask what could have caused it. I said, 'I'll bet anything
that you are using Canola oil'. Sure enough, there was a big gallon jug in
the pantry.

Rape seed oil is a penetrating oil, to be used in light industry, not for
human consumption. It contains a toxic substance, (from encyclopedia).
Even after the processing to reduce the erucic acid content, it is still a
penetrating oil. We have found that it turns rancid very fast. Also it
leaves a residual rancid odor on clothing.

Rape seed oil used for stir-frying in China found to emit cancer causing
chemicals. (Rapeseed oil smoke causes lung cancer) Amal Kumar Maj.

The Wall Street Journal June 7, 1995 pB6 (W) pB6 (E) col 1(11 col in).

Canola oil is a health hazard to use as a cooking oil or salad oil. It is
not the healthy oil we thought it was. It is not fit for human
consumption, do not eat canola oil, it can hurt you. Polyunsaturated or
not, this is a bad oil

Kellene, how is it that we are reading the same books at the same time with out discussing it? I am still waiting for one book from the library by Dr. Fife "The Coconut Oil Miracle", BUT I am reading Dr. Fife's "Eat Oil, Look Thin", which again talks about the wonderful coconut oil.

Debbie, THANK YOU THANK YOU for the info on the Canola oil. I was going to say that canola is from Canada + Oil.. But you go to that point. I was also going to say that Rapeseed poisons the ground it is grown in, so that nothing else can be grown there.

I am taking ALL my canola oil back to Costco. Then I will get online and order some good Coconut oil for my pantry.
Thank you!!

Kellene, also, because you wrote this so well (again!!) I am add a link to my website for people to come read this.

Preparedness Pro's picture

We're just soul sisters, Lisa. That's the explanation, pure and simple. Except that I can't just read a book without marking it up and putting in tabs and all. My books are my babies. :-) So I can't get them from the library. :-)

I bought some coconut oil through our stake a year or so ago but haven't tried it yet. You just gave me the inspirationg to try it out!

Kellene, you are absolutely right about coconut oil. It is the wonder oil of the planet! I get mine from Green Pastures. It smells mildly like coconut (which I love), but when I put it on my bread or cook with it or put it on my skin, it does not taste or smell. I love it! Better then butter!
I also appreciate Debbie's post on canola oil. This stuff should be banned from our food supply. It is worse than high fructose corn syrup. I really applaud your posts on the health aspects of preparedness. Thank you so much.

Kellene, since coconut oil is basically a solid at room temperature, does it resist rancidity better than less-saturated oils? I've been considering buying a couple hundred pounds of banana chips from a bulk-foods company that haven't been packed yet for long-term storage (I plan to do so myself, packing them in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers) but wondered if during the period between the banana chips' production and the time I pack them how prone to rancidity the oil in the chips would be. Any insight on this?

Preparedness Pro's picture

Coconut oil resists rancidity for a myriad of scientific reasons. And it is actually used frequently in the food production business of PRESERVING foods longer than other oils which are volatile. So I'd go for it personally.

I remember well the GREAT fries of the early seventies until the oils had to be changed....thanks for the great article!

Fries were also fried in beef tallow for quite a while, which again, is a better choice than rancid vegetable oils!

Thanks for the info. I remember the coconut oil/movie-popcorn fiasco and have been wondering how it went from the worst thing we could eat to a superfood. Could you please post links to some of the studies and references you used? I'd love to do some additional research.
Thanks,
Kim

Actually, I did post references. I encouraged everyone to read the studies used in the book I cited.

I know this is an old thread, Kellene, but can you recommend some places where people can order bulk quantities of coconut oil?

Five Star Preparedness can do that. Just check their website.

Hi Kellene my mom is suffering from depression an alzheimers,she has lost her memory completely,she can't remember me an I read Dr.Newport story about her husband.I bought the coconut oil an it said refine coconut oil an I'm from the caribbean an the oil is made in my country which is St,Lucia.So do u think this the right oil to use since its refine?plz help because I'm confuse.

I'm confused as to what you're using the coconut oil for? For your mom? If you're attempting to alleviate some health issues as severe as what she has, I certainly wouldn't use a refined coconut oil. But I also would be looking to the use of essential oils instead of coconut oil.

Are you actually "cooking" as you would for frying, etc. in this oil? It was my understanding it should be used in small quantities.

Yes, I am. I can assure you that the native tribes who used coconuts for everything and had amazing health did NOT use it in small quantities.

So after reading all this stuff about coconut oil, I have one more question.
I make my own mayonnaise, for a lot of reasons, but that being said has any one tried making mayonnaise with coconut oil?

Yes, and I just didn't like it nearly as much as the olive oil, but when I infused another flavor in there (basil, fig, or apple) it was divine.

Found great price for 3.4 gallons of cold pressed coconut oil. With shipping was $51.00

Random question, I know, but sometimes I make butter cream icing for my decorative cakes... which calls for a lot of shortening. Would you use Coconut oil instead? and if so, would the ratios be different? Just wondering! Thanks for all the information!

The coconut oil will be more like using butter, so you'll have to use less in order to get the stiffness that you want in your frosting. I'd start with a 25% reduction.

I have been using it for

I have been using it for several years now and love it. Coconut oil is also supposed to be GOOD FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. Stores for at least 2 years unrefrigerated, unlike other oils that may only last a few months

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