Coconut Oil's Health Benefits

I wanted to pass on some info on Coconut Oil its such a nutritious oil. This is taken from Dr. Joseph Mercola's blog, he is one of the foremost experts on coconut oil.

The Hidden Truth About Coconut Oil

The truth about coconut oil is obvious to anyone who has studied the health of those who live in traditional tropical cultures, where coconut has been a nutritious diet staple for thousands of years.

Back in the 1930's, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.

Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that both populations exhibited positive vascular health. There was no evidence that the high saturated fat intake had a harmful effect in these populations.

The many benefits of coconut oil are finally reaching the mainstream.

Benefits like:

• Promoting your heart health
• Promoting weight loss when and if you need it
• Supporting your immune system health
• Supporting a healthy metabolism
• Providing you with an immediate energy source
• Helping to keep your skin healthy and youthful looking
• Supporting the proper functioning of your thyroid gland

the MCFAs in coconut oil are more health-promoting, because:

• MCFAs are smaller. They permeate cell membranes easily, and do not require lipoproteins or special enzymes to be utilized effectively by your body.
• MCFAs are easily digested, thus putting less strain on your digestive system. This is especially important for those of you with digestive or metabolic concerns.
• MCFAs are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
• MCFAs in coconut oil can actually help stimulate your body's metabolism, leading to weight loss.

·         In fact, the ability of MCFAs to be easily digested, to help stimulate the metabolism and be turned into energy has entered the sports arena. Several studies have now shown that MCFAs enhance physical or athletic performance.

·         Additionally, research has demonstrated that, due to its metabolic effect, coconut oil increases the activity of the thyroid. And you've probably heard that a sluggish thyroid is one reason why some people are unable to lose weight, no matter what they do.

·         Besides weight loss, there are other advantages to boosting your metabolic rate. Your healing process accelerates. Cell regeneration increases to replace old cells, and your immune system functions better overall.

·                 

·         Nature still has a few miracles up her sleeve.

·         You've probably heard that breast milk is jam-packed with nutrients and disease-fighting ingredients that help keep babies healthy.

·         Well, incredibly, coconut oil contains one of the same compounds -- lauric acid -- found in mother's milk! And lauric acid is the predominant type of MCFA found in coconut oil.

·         Fortunately for our health, lauric acid in both breast milk and coconut oil transforms when consumed into a substance called monolaurin, the actual compound responsible for helping to strengthen the immune system.

·         

T

3 worst artificial ingredients, plus natural alternatives

Robyn O'Brien, Delicious Living

Apr. 1, 2012 6:00pm

Synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners, and genetically modified organisms. Here's how to eliminate them from your diet with healthier natural choices.

They’re cheap, colorful, and preserve shelf life—it’s no wonder artificial ingredients are now in most processed foods. Every year, U.S. food manufacturers use 15 million pounds of synthetic dyes alone, even as scientific evidence increasingly links some additives to health issues such as allergies and certain cancers. “The body doesn’t recognize these chemically produced ingredients as simple foods, so it has to work harder, and that leads to irritation over time,” says Ashley Koff, RD, coauthor of Mom Energy (Hay House, 2011).

Advertisement

One way to avoid additives is to buy foods labeled USDA Organic. Here are the top questionable ingredients—and healthier natural choices.

Synthetic food dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2)

Synthesized from petroleum products, artificial food colors are in cereals, baked goods, and even salad dressings. Some clinical studies link them to hyperactivity in children.
In 2009, Britain insisted food makers take them out of foods marketed to kids. The U.K. version of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, for instance, is now free of artificial growth hormones and colors.
Better alternatives: Vegetable (or no) coloring. Try mac and cheese that’s colored with annatto, derived from achiote seed. Vegetable-colored jelly beans (look in your bulk section, or try Surf Sweets) are better choices than, say, fake-color Skittles. Instead of blue yogurt tubes, offer kids plain or vanilla yogurt with granola, honey, or chocolate chips. And avoid rainbow-hued sports drinks; try uncolored coconut water instead.

Artificial sweeteners

Controversial synthetic sweeteners such as  aspartame (Equal Classic, NutraSweet), acesulfame K, and sucralose (Splenda) don’t seem to work well for weight loss or diabetes prevention, the health issues for which they’re commonly marketed. In a recent study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, drinking diet sodas increased waist circumference in humans; a second study found aspartame raised blood sugar levels in diabetes-prone rats.
Better alternatives: The herbal extract stevia, or rebaudioside A, has a long history of safe use in foods. The sugar alcohol erythritol serves as the base of sweeteners like Swerve, which provides an easy 1:1 replacement for sugar. Xylitol is another good option—especially in gums and mints because it fights tooth decay—but it can upset tummies in large doses.

Genetically modified organisms

Introduced without labeling into the U.S. food system in the 1990s, GMOs are now in the vast majority of packaged foods. (Governments in Europe, Japan, and other countries mandated labels because of a lack of research on long-term safety.) GMO-food consumption is now considered a risk factor for allergies, autism, ADHD, and asthma, says Charles Benbrook, PhD, chief scientist at the nonprofit Organic Center.
If you see corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, or sugar (made from beets, not cane) on an ingredients label—and the product isn’t organic—you can assume it contains GMOs.
Better alternatives: Non-GMO Project verified and USDA Organic foods. Organic regulations prohibit GMO ingredients. Also look for the Non-GMO Project seal  which means the food has met thresholds mandated in Europe.

Been gone a while, Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been back here fo a while. I have been so busy and preoccupied since our move out west and now we are moving up to Oregon. This is not alot of fun, I haven't had to pack and move for 15 years and I liked it that way.

Anyway here's one of my favorite recipes for a quick lunch or dinner. Your gonna love it.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

This is for 1 sandwich

Portobello Mushroom Caps  (1 per person)

1 thick cut ¼” slice of a sweet onion

1/2 of a sweet red bell pepper

Garlic Veganaise (recipe follows)

*Optional Cheese slice (vegan or dairy cheese of your choice, I prefer a sharp provolone)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 slices of your favorite bread or 1 roll (Ciabatta)

If you do not have a George Forman Grill place the veggies in a hot skillet brushed with grapeseed oil to grill.

Prepare the veggies by cleaning and seeding the pepper then cut in half and place on a hot George Forman Grill close the grill and cook until the pepper is soft and chard around the edges. Remove the stem from the mushroom sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside to grill on George Forman, do the same with the onion slice. 

Toast the bread or roll and spread both sides with garlic veganaise. Place the mushroom on the bottom slice, then the onion and the pepper top with second slice of bread and Enjoy!

If you are using cheese you can top the whole thing with cheese and place under a low broiler until melted then top with the second slice of bread.