What is the best type of coconut oil for health benefits?

Coconut oil is found inside coconuts. It is oil taken from the center or “meat” of the coconut. It is the main source of fat in the diet of Islanders. Coconut oil has a variety of benefits. There are a few kinds of coconut oil.

Refined coconut oil. Refined coconut oil is processed. It has to go through bleaching. The flavor and smell is taken away. This type of coconut oil will not give you as many benefits as other types will. Due to the processing, it loses some of it’s important nutrients. Refined coconut oil is mainly used for cooking purposes. As far as getting benefits from coconut oil goes, other types of coconut oil are better.

Virgin coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil is extracted from the center meat of the coconut. There is no processing involved. There are no chemicals present and no high heat is used. Virgin coconut contains the highest possible benefits. It has 50% lauric acids and medium-chain fatty acids which are the main beneficial components of coconut oil. This is the type of coconut oil to choose.

Extra virgin coconut oil. It sounds better than virgin coconut oil, but is it? Extra virgin coconut oil is supposed to be just virgin coconut oil that is grown in organic conditions. It is said that those who grow the coconut trees do not use any pesticides and only use organic manure. If this is true, the only people who benefit from this are those who only tend to eat organic foods. However, there is no way to know if they actually grow the coconuts in an organic way.

Although there is speculation, some brands who claim to have extra virgin coconut oil are certified organic and approved by the USDA. If it matters that much to you, go ahead and purchase certified organic extra virgin coconut oil. For those who do not mind whether it is organic or not, there won’t be much of a difference in the two as far as benefits go. You can still get all of the health benefits from virgin coconut oil.