On this mission to utilize the land for its healing properties, I have stumbled upon oils. Oils are the most incredible tools I have found to date and they are here to stay in my house. I started out with olive oil (just used for cooking and skin care), moved my way up to essential oils (these bad boys deserve an entire post of their own...life savers!), and now I am hooked on coconut oil. I began my love affair with coconut oil when I simply bought it for cooking. It has a high heat tolerance, it's a much better fat than genetically modified laden vegetable oil, and just to be honest...it was all the rage amongst the paleo/crossfit health nuts and I wanted to try it out. We all love a good diet fad don't we??
Coconut oil. Coconut oil. Coconut oil.
For the past year, coconut oil has been the core staple of the Boober family medicine cabinet. It heals and takes care of everything! I am very thankful for Western Medicine and how it has helped countless people, but I am also very cautious when it comes to using industrially produced medicines. Acetaminophen has been a lifesaver at times for me (I have a teething baby and a husband who has bad headaches quite frequently), but do we really know every ingredient involved and every step of the process it takes to create this chemical compound? NO! We can read the back of the box and scientific articles till we are blue in the face...not everything is put out there for the public to know. I can't knowingly and willing serve my family a chemical cocktail every time there is an ache. This is the part where coconut oil rushes in to save the day! YAYYYYY!
So as I was saying, I started using coconut oil in the kitchen. It is a much better substitute for butter and any type of cooking oil. It also goes very well in smoothies because of it's saturated fat content and antioxidant properties. Saturated fats aren't the ones you want to ingest all day, but the ones in coconut oil have a different chain composition than other foods such as pork and butter, and are actually good for you. Spoonful of coconut oil anyone??
Once I discovered how versatile this stuff could be, I started trying it on my skin. I had read through a pregnancy journal how coconut oil helps prevent stretch marks, and since I was pregnant at the time I figured I would give it a shot. During the fourth month of my pregnancy I began rubbing a coconut oil/lavender oil mix on my stomach and sides every night and I didn't get a single stretch mark for three months. That's also the time I blew up, so maybe it prevents stretch marks in some smaller ladies, it helped me for a while, but I did get really huge real quickly and it didn't prevent them completely. Although, it has helped the appearance of my tiger stripes tremendously! I didn't have the prettiest stomach right after Zaylen was born, and I still have a long ways to go, but the marks have faded and drastically reduced in size and I think credit goes to...you guessed it, coconut oil. It is also a better alternative to eye makeup remover. Just smooth a little bit over your closed eyes at the end of the day and the makeup comes right off! Coconut oil is a perfect blend to stop itching from bug bites and to rejuvenate sunburnt or dry skin. My skin stays fairly hydrated, but my husbands dries out as quick as a head of hair hanging out of a truck window. Zachary uses the oil for his beloved beard. It hydrates his chin while conditioning his beard. Win win. I have used it on my heels and elbows before, it works wonders!
Another great use for coconut oil...as a baby product! Zaylen had a little cradle cap a few months after his birth and once again I turned to coconut oil. I would put a generous amount on his scalp and let it soak in for a minute, then I would comb his head with a fine tooth baby comb and it would come up. Something else I use it for is to prevent a rash on his face from teething. I have a drool baby! This teething thing has not been fun for my baby, the amount of drool is unreal. With lots of moisture sitting on his chin, it leaves room for a break out or a rash, but a little bit of coconut oil on his chin and around his mouth acts as a barrier to protect his skin from soaking in too much drool. I also use it as his butt cream. He will be six months old this week and he hasn't had a single diaper rash thanks to coconut oil (and cloth diapers). I don't apply it at every diaper change, only here and there, or after he has taken a long nap or been in the car for a while in a diaper. My goal is to make it all the way to potty training without a rash...we can do it! I have heard coconut oil is great for eczema as well, but thankfully Zaylen has never had that either so we haven't had to cross that bridge. But if we had to, I would turn to coconut oil faster than I could say, "bless his heart."
Not only does coconut oil mend our skin, it also aids in having better health. I have stopped my allergies from flaring up by rubbing a bit on the inside of my nose, it is safer and works faster than taking a Benadryl. I have also used it to tame frizzy hair, to season my cast iron skillets, and have used it as a replacement to lanolin cream after I gave birth (if you aren't sure what that is, please feel free to look it up). One last awesome use I have found for coconut oil is on cuts and scrapes. It's acts as a natural Neosporin by making a thin protective barrier to block out bacteria and speeding up the healing process. Although I haven't used coconut oil for these purposes, it has been shown to boost metabolism, increase energy, help with digestion, kill lice, and alleviate heartburn.
I'm sure I will find more incredible ways to use coconut oil, but in the meantime I challenge you to pick up a jar of this product and start your own journey to a healthier, natural medicine lifestyle. This is an amazing mission I am on, I have already discovered numerous plants, foods, and oils that have healing properties. I feel good about what I put into my body and on my skin, and I feel even better knowing I'm helping my family in a healthy way. When buying coconut oil, try to purchase virgin or extra virgin unrefined coconut oil. This type comes from the first press during the extraction process. If that is unavailable the next best thing would be a non-hydrogenated refined oil that specifically says in has been through a chemical free extraction process. These oils have the same benefits and nutritional values, but chemical free is always better. Good luck and please keep me updated on your coconut oil uses!!
xoxo
Cursty
1. Radhakrishnan, E., Bava SV, Narayanan SS. [6]-Gingerol Induces Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis and Prevents PMA-Induced Proliferation in Colon Cancer Cells by Inhibiting MAPK/AP-1 Signaling. PLoS One. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25157570
(Dr. Crater, if you are reading this I apologize if the citation is wrong. You taught me how to correctly cite a research article, but I haven't even thought about these things for over two years now. And I am definitely not pulling out any old notes, yes I kept every last one...sentimental reasoning.)
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