What are the benefits of coconut water and other products derived from coconut? Not that long ago, unless you lived in the tropics, you probably seldom idea about coconut. Possibly you had a coconut flavored drink every so often (more likely than not, one containing alcohol!) - but you never determined coconut to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Now, however, it seems that every other stock that's for sale in a natural foods store has coconut in it!
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Yes, we're hearing about the benefits of coconut water, coconut milk and coconut oil all the time. Coconut oil is not only good for cooking, but it's used in all kinds of skin care products. Coconut water is now becoming beloved as an alternative sports drink. Coconut milk, meanwhile, is starting to become a prominent milk substitute, especially as soy based products are becoming conjecture in many ways. So let's take a closer look at this coconut craze and see what benefits can be derived from this fantastic fruit from the tropics!
Coconut Water
Coconut Water
The Benefits of Coconut Water, Milk and Oil
Vita Coco Coconut Water Variety Pack, 17-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12) Review
Vita Coco Coconut Water Variety Pack, 17-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12) Feature
- 5 essential electrolytes: potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous
- More potassium than a banana (don't tell the monkeys) & 15 times more potassium than the leading sports drink
- Potassium helps regulate blood pressure, heart function and enhances the hydration process
- Contains 3 coconut water, 3 pomegranate, 3 acai pomegranate and 3 tangerine
Vita Coco Coconut Water Variety Pack, 17-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12) Overview
One evening in a Manhattan bar in February 2002, childhood friends, Ira Liran and Michael Kirban, were speaking with a couple of girls they had just met from Brazil. When asked what they missed most about their country, one of the girls, without hesitation, answered "agua de coco." Coconut water, she explained, is the most nutritious and delicious drink in the world. Two months later, Liran traveled to Brazil and started researching the prospect of branding coconut water for the American market. He realized the girl's enthusiasm for the beverage was not exaggerated—Brazilians just can't get enough coconut water. After spending several months working with coconut plantations and producers, making connections, and learning the politics of production in Brazil, Vita Coco was born. Meanwhile, Kirban started the initial market research in New York. Meeting with distributors and beverage insiders, he quickly realized the tremendous consumer interest in "functional beverages." He spoke with several distributors who then introduced Kirban to some of their key accounts. The response was fantastic. Three years later in 2005, the two successfully brought Vita Coco to market in a handful of stores along the East Coast. Now, six years after that fateful night in Soho, Vita Coco has not only carved a market in the non-carbonated beverage business, but is also redefining the alternative sports beverage category.
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Coconut water is the clear liquid you find when you open a young coconut. It's plainly sweet, yet low in fat and it's fat and cholesterol free. For this reason, it makes an perfect sports drink. It's the ideal compromise between citizen who find plain water too boring but who don't want to load up on sugar and empty fat that are found in market sports drinks.
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is the thicker, creamier white liquid that's prepared from meat of the coconut. In other words, you can't crack open a coconut and get coconut milk - you only get coconut water this way. Coconut milk has to be made.
Coconut milk is sweeter and richer than coconut water, production it a good substitute for quarterly milk or soy milk. While coconut milk is determined by many to be very healthy, these claims are sometimes disputed because it's high in saturated fat (the same is true for coconut oil, as we'll shortly see). However, many nutritionists are rethinking the whole "saturated fats are bad" philosophy.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is enjoying a real renaissance in the condition food community, probably even more so than coconut water or milk. Suddenly, we're hearing that this oil, though high in saturated fat, is ideal for cooking as well as for skin care.
It seems that former explore that supposedly proved that coconut oil caused a rise in cholesterol was based on using hydrogenated coconut oil. As many citizen are now aware, this is a process that produces the "bad fats" or trans fats that are the cause of so many condition problems. Trans fats in anyone raise the Ldl or bad cholesterol to go up. Pure coconut oil, however, has no such effects - just the opposite.
One of the major benefits of coconut oil is that it contains lauric acid, which is a natural enemy of many harmful microorganisms and Possibly even cancer cells. Lauric acid helps protect the body against bacteria, fungi and viruses, so it has many wholesome qualities.
Coconut Products and Weight Loss
If you're trying to lose weight, which coconut products should you consume? The short acknowledge is, "all of them!" This doesn't mean, however, that you have to go overboard and drink or eat coconut products from dawn till dusk. Even though coconut milk and oil both comprise wholesome fats, if you're trying to cut back on fat you obviously don't want to overdo it with any kind of fat.
You can use all of the products in moderation and gain the benefits. This is true for everyone, whether you want to lose weight, gain weight or vocalize your current weight. You can drink coconut water as a sports drink, or just when you want a refreshing cold drink. Don't drink it in place of quarterly water, though. Pure H20 should still be your traditional beverage of choice!
Coconut milk is probably the best milk substitute if you're vegan or lactose intolerant. Even if you do eat dairy, there's no conjecture not to add coconut milk to your diet. You can find many wholesome recipes that use coconut milk, or you can just drink it as a refreshing beverage that's a bit more huge than coconut water.
Coconut oil is ideal for cooking. This is one big edge it has over the other super wholesome oil - olive oil. I'd never advise giving up olive oil, as this is not only yummy but it's one of the healthiest "good fat" foods you can consume. However, olive oil is not good for cooking, as it loses its benefits and assuredly becomes toxic. So, if you want a uncomplicated formula, consume olive oil raw and coconut oil for cooking (though coconut oil is also fine uncooked).
Coconut oil also has many other benefits, and it can be used as a moisturizer and even in your hair. You can find many products on the market that comprise coconut oil, but very often it's safer to just use it level up. Many products, even those sold in condition food stores and online from condition and nutrition companies comprise all kinds of conjecture ingredients.
Do your explore - the Dr. Mercola website has a lot of good information on the dangers of many supposedly wholesome and natural skin care products, shampoos and so forth. With plain coconut oil, you don't have any such worries! You can't assuredly use pure coconut oil as a shampoo, but you can use it in your hair as a conditioner and then wash it out with a gentle and preferably organic shampoo.
In conclusion, more benefits of coconut-derived products are being discovered all the time. Of course, the native peoples of regions where coconuts grow - many tropical regions from Africa to the South Pacific- have long known how healthy, as well as yummy this fruit is. Now, however, contemporary civilization is ultimately catching up. So, coconut water, coconut milk, coconut oil - and just plain coconuts of course- are all foods you can eat with pleasure and without guilt!
The Benefits of Coconut Water, Milk and Oil
Our Founder, Mark Rampolla, fell in love with coconut water as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central America. An avid athlete, Mark loved drinking fresh coconut water after running, hiking or hanging out at the beach. In 2004 he left a fast-track corporate career to pursue his dream of bringing the healthy, natural benefits of coconut water to consumers across the world.
