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.
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