If you’re a regular reader, and even if you’re not, then you’ll probably hear me talking about the benefits of cooking with organic extra virgin coconut oil at some point.
Before we even get into the reasons why you should cook with it, let’s talk a bit about its general health benefits. Coconut oil is made up mostly of unique, healthy saturated fats, known as medium chain triglycerides (MCTs for short).
MCTs are easily broken down into energy by your body, and they are good for the health of your heart and arteries.
The short and medium-chain fatty acids found in organic coconut oil are also vital for speeding up your body’s metabolism, aids a healthy thyroid (vital for metabolism and weight loss) and enzyme system, and removes digestive stress on the pancreas, leaving you more energy to burn body fat.
N.B. One of the MCTs found in tropical oils is Lauric acid. It is known to strengthen the immune system, and medical studies are being carried out to determine its effectiveness at controlling contagious disease.
OK, I know it’s a lot to take in, but cast your mind back to the part where I said extra virgin, organic coconut oil is “made up mostly of unique, healthy saturated fats”. This statement is the key reason why it is the number #1 choice for use in cooking.
Saturated fats are actually the healthiest fats to cook with! Why? Because they are the most stable when exposed to heat/ light. Combine this with the fact that the saturated fats in coconut oil are mainly healthy MCTs, and you’re on to a winner.
On the other hand, processed polyunsaturated fats (found in vegetable cooking oils, soybean, cottonseed, corn, grape seed, and sunflower oils) are highly reactive to heat and light, making them prone to oxidization. This inflammation is what makes polyunsaturated fats so unhealthy, causing heart disease, clogging arteries and causing degenerative disease such as diabetes.
Click here to read more about healthy vs unhealthy cooking oils
This is basically the complete opposite to what you’re used to hearing from the so-called “health industry”.
Choosing The Best Coconut Oil
Like I always say, organic, and in this case extra virgin, is best. Make sure you do not pick up any hydrogenated coconut oil by mistake.
I’ve done a lot of research on the web, and tried at least 15 brands of coconut oil myself, and I have to say Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, or Barlean’s if you live in the UK, are by far the best.
The texture, taste and aroma that these guys produce is second to none. And it looks as though the reviews on Amazon.com tend to agree with me too.
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Me with Barlean's extra virgin, organic coconut oil
I use it no matter what I’m cooking, using all techniques from baking, roasting, stir-fry, shallow-fry and sauté. Recently I wanted to lightly sauté some potatoes and decided to throw in some paprika. What can I say! By far the most amazing aroma I’ve ever experienced, at least as far as my cooking goes
Why not try your own little combinations and let me know what works.
Discover the TRUTH About the Foods You’re Eating and why they’re making you STORE More Belly Flab
Check out my in-depth article on saturated fat for more information.
Return to the Fat Burning Foods home page.
Oatmeal – Think rolled oats and stay clear of the instant, sweetened variety. Rolled oats might be very plain in terms of flavour but you can add to the taste easily with fruit, nuts and some of the berries listed below. Steel rolled oats are even better for you but can be quite expensive.
Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Macadamia etc) – Yes, nuts are a fatty food, but this fatty food actually helps you burn body fat! So if you want to get rid of fat and lose inches on your stomach then you’ll want to incorporate nuts to your diet. Nuts are perfect as a side order for a larger meal, a light snack (ditch those chips and crisps) or for desert.
Berries (Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Cranberries etc) – We’ve already mentioned that berries are a great way of sweetening your usually bland oatmeal, but that’s not all they are great for. You can also add them to your protein shake, salad, natural yogurt or a mixed bag of nuts for a fat busting snack.
Red Meat: That’s right, we’re talking beef, bison and game! Traditionally Beef is seen as a fatty meat. And it’s seen as a fat gaining food rather than a fat burning food. However, Beef that has been raised on grass and other natural foliage is actually much healthier than the grain reared meat you’ll find at your local grocery store. It has 30% less fat, but the fat content has the perfect ratio of essential fatty acids required for fat loss.
Whole, organic, free range eggs: Most people are scared of eggs because they believe them to be high in fat and cholesterol. But the truth is, organic, free-range eggs have no affect on blood cholesterol (blame processed and refined fats for that). Furthermore, the essential fatty acids inside an eggs yolk are vital for fat burning.
You might be forgiven for thinking that the best foods to help you with your fat loss are the low-calorie, zero-fat, sugar-free, diet, and lite foods advertised in the media. But you’d be wrong!
Obviously the type of fats to avoid are the processed, hydrogenated fats found in junk foods, ready meals, processed foods etc. These junk food evils actually prevent your cells from metabolizing calories and nutrients properly. And for what? A little extra shelf life.
Fruit juice has been touted as a true health food (yes I know it’s a drink
Many people will argue, and I would agree, that most diets and weight loss programs fail because they leave you feeling deprived. So does this mean you do have space for the odd chocolate treat in your nutritional program?
Not all chocolate is the same. Milk and white chocolate contain an extremely high quantity of processed sugars and other junk, leaving relative little cocoa (cocoa is believed to have some significant health benefits).
But from the perspective of a healthy nutritional program and our weight loss goals, here are the most important:
The wrong thing to do, and I see this all the time in people who FAIL in their efforts to lose weight, is to deprive yourself throughout the day and then gorge on a large bar of milk chocolate as an end of day treat.
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