Using it in cooking? Topical for skin/hair?

Just curious if it does do anything.

2. Stress Relief: Long day at the office, kids won’t stop screaming and your dog left a little “present” on your vintage bedspread? Relieve mental fatigue by applying coconut oil to the head in a circular, massaging motion. The natural aroma of coconuts is extremely soothing thus helping to lower your stress level.

3. Digestion: The saturated fats in coconut oil have anti-bacterial properties that help control, parasites, and fungi that cause indigestion and other digestion related problems such as irritable bowel syndrome. The fat in coconut oil also aids in the absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, making you healthier all around. Try this delicious vegan, creamed spinach recipe.

4. Fitness: Coconut oil has been proven to stimulate your metabolism, improve thyroid function, and escalate energy levels, all of which help decrease your unwanted fat, while increasing muscle. Because of this, coconut oil has shot to popularity by being the world’s only natural low-calorie fat. Sign me up!

5. Healing: When applied on scrapes and cuts, coconut oil forms a thin, chemical layer which protects the wound from outside dust, bacteria and virus. Coconut oil speeds up the healing process of bruises by repairing damaged tissues. Plus, it smells a heck-of-a-lot better than anything from the pharmacy.

6. Hair Care: $20 hair conditioners? I don’t think so! Coconut oil is one of the most nutritious products you can put on your hair. Massage a bit of the oil onto your scalp and presto – no more dandruff. Since it provides the essential proteins required for nourishing damaged hair, it’s used in a ton of over-the-counter hair products anyway. Why not cut to the chase and skip all the unnecessary chemicals?

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-healthy-uses-for-coconut-oil.html#ixzz1teTlOGGb 

Read something about replacing butter at times with it.. not all time.. how's the taste?

I also use it for making soap, but I haven't experimented enough with other lye based soap formulations to tell you if the advantages there were due to the coconut oil as one of the oils or just due to getting away from the crap that goes into commercial soap.

I cook popcorn in a pan with coconut oil then season and use lime or lemon.

Well, fyi I meant I dont use butter for popcorn I watch my fat intake. Good oils yes bad in measures doses. I switches doctors a few years back and new doctor wanted to run labs (hadn't had em done since I was 19) he askes about my diet. I told him and he explained to me my labs were gonna be bad. I told him my cholesterol was 126 when I last had that test at age 12 and we would see.

DOCTOR not the nurse called me three days later laughing his azz off and apologized. He said he underestimated how much wild game I ate, my cholesterol was 126 and my good cholesterol was high. He said whatever I'm doing don't stop.

Thanks for the drs report nancy.

i do that all the time 🤦

You can substitute it for butter, I do it all the time. It's not a 1:1 substitution in baking though, you use a bit less actually.

Regarding flavor, there are two forms available:

Virgin coconut oil - this is an unrefined oil, it's expeller pressed and strained, that's it. Because of this, it has a low smoke point, like 280F IIRC. It tastes and smells like coconuts. Great for things like sauteed shrimp or skinless chicken breast and certain vegetables. Also good for baking when you desire the flavor of coconut in the finished product.

Refined coconut oil - the water has been processed out, along with the odor and flavor. This has a higher smoke point, upper 300's - l want to say 360F, but not sure offhand. So you can cook a bit hotter with it. It has virtually no flavor.

General belief is that the refining wipes out a lot of the "good" compounds/enzymes and such that are in the virgin oil that are highly beneficial. Regardless, both the virgin and refined oil are a pure saturated plant fat with no cholesterol, so they are both very easy for your body to process and convert into energy, unlike polyunsaturated and, even to some extent, monounsaturated fats.

Thanks Jaime, appreciate the information.

I experimented on some ramen noodles, put about half table spoon in it. Keep a stock as back up for when I forget to bring food to work. It's much better than the terrible cafe at work. There are no places close enough to go to on lunch to get back in time.

Just gotta figure when to use and how much to use. Doesn't seem like there many bad aspects of it. Want to try to get my woman to use some. She on some meds for anxiety and last year had thyroid removed, so, she can be prone to easy weight gain. Guess with even subtle effects, it is worth trying.

Robert I use the refined as TGerb said higher smoke point and I dont use it for flavoring. Refined retains its natural preservative effects.

Seriously reccomend finding a good Naturopath that specializes in nutrician. Vitimins (good ones) can do wonders with much lower side effect risks.

I'm keeping track. you owe me tree fity