Lose Weight with Coconut Oil
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If you want to lose weight you should cut fat
out of your diet, right? Well, not quite. It might seem counter-intuitive to
eat fatty oil to help you lose weight. Research has begun to show that fats are
not as damaging as we once thought — it’s more complicated than that. But it
does matter what kind of fat you’re eating.
Fat and Digestion
One of the keys to successful weight loss, and
to keeping the weight off, is to keep steady blood sugar levels. This helps to
stop you from snacking. Having fats in your diet helps you feel full for longer
and more satisfied. Fats help the body to break down and absorb several
different vitamins. This means you get
more from the other foods you’re eating.
Many fats need digestion in the small intestine
and use pancreatic digestive enzymes and bile to break down the fatty acids.
From there, the fatty acids are absorbed into the intestinal wall and the
bloodstream, and as they circulate, then release particles of fat, which
eventually form our fat cells. Coconut oil, however, is digested differently,
which makes it helpful in the quest to lose weight.
Coconut oil is what’s known as a medium-chain
fatty acid. Medium-chain fatty acids are easier to digest and so digestion happens
in the stomach, instead of the small intestine. This means the fatty acids are
sent to the liver at once, and used to produce energy for the body. Because
they are used right away, they boost the metabolism. This causes the other
calories eaten to be consumed by the body at a higher rate and are less likely
to be converted into body fat. Studies have shown that individuals who ate a
single meal containing a medium-chain fatty acid such as coconut oil had a 48%
increase in their metabolism . The increase in metabolism for obese people is
even higher at 65%. Even better, the metabolism boost lasted for a full 24
hours.
So eating a small amount of coconut oil
regularly could help to keep your metabolism working well, which will help with
weight loss.
Other health benefits of coconut oil
Other than its usefulness to help weight loss,
coconut oil contains other acids that help boost immune system function. Lauric
acid, which is found in coconut oil, has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and
anti-viral properties. Capric acid, also found in the oil, has strong yeast
fighting properties.
How do I eat coconut oil?
The benefits of medium-chain fatty acids like
coconut oil are especially true if you use it instead of other fats. Coconut
oil can be used in place of any oils that you might ordinarily cook with. It’s
solid at room temperature, but still soft, so you can use a butter knife to get
it out of the jar and into your pan. You can add a teaspoon of coconut oil to a
cup of tea, to a meal like porridge. You can use it in place of butter or
margarine as a spread on toast.
Author Bio:
Jessica Josh is a
freelancer who writes about health, nutrition, medical weight loss and ways to improve your lifestyle.
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