Health & Nutrition

Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil

Why is it that baby formulas often include coconut oil as an ingredient? Because coconut is one of the most healthy super foods in the world. Not all saturated fat is bad! Coconut oil is cholesterol- and trans fat-free, contains only 1% Omega-6 and is rich in medium-chain "good fats" that doctors recommend.

One of the good fats that comprises about 50% of coconut oil, is lauric acid. Lauric acid is a rare medium-chain fatty acid found in mother's milk that supports healthy metabolism and is now being studied for its anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial health-protecting properties. Some researchers predict that lauric acid will become as well known in health circles as Omega-3 is today.

Enjoy this healthy fat with the creamy taste of the tropics. Ideal as a high-heat cooking oil, a healthy substitute for shortening in baking, and a "better-than-butter" replacement on bread and veggies.

Nutiva Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil:

• Certified organic and non-GMO
• Made from fresh coconuts, not dried copra
• Cold-processed
• Unrefined
• Chemical-free
• Unfermented *
• Unbleached
• Undeodorized
• Unhydrogenated
• Pure white like fresh coconut
• Tastes like fresh coconut
• Has a fresh coconut fragrance

How virgin coconut oil is processed is the key to optimizing its taste, texture, color, and aroma. Within two hours of Nutiva's coconuts being chopped, the virgin coconut oil is cold-pressed. Contrast this with 99 percent of the coconut oil used today in cooking and body care. First, the coconut is chopped and left to dry in the sun for days. Then the meat is scooped out and sent thousands of miles to giant oil mills where the oxidizing coco meat is refined, bleached, and/or deodorized. Ironically, this product is often labeled as "certified organic.”

There is no comparison between Nutiva's cold-pressed, Organic extra-virgin coconut oil, with its light taste, pleasant aroma, and pure white color, and industrialized coconut oil, with its bland taste, faint aroma, and off-white color. Please note that any tiny brown specks found at the bottom of Nutiva's Coconut oil are from the coconut fiber and are indigenous to extra-virgin coconut oil.

The Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil

Since the 1960s, coconut oil has been unfairly labeled as "unhealthy." The media reported studies of how tropical coconut oils were laden with artery-clogging saturated fats. What was left out of these reports was the fact that the coconut oil used in the studies was not the virgin oil used for centuries but hydrogenated coconut oil.  We have since learned it's the hydrogenation — artificially adding a hydrogen molecule to oils in order to make them shelf-stable — that's the problem, not the coconut oil itself. Hydrogenated soy, corn, and canola oils — loaded with dangerous trans-fats and processed with toxic hexane solvents — are routinely added to packaged foods. Hydrogenation fattened corporate profits and American waistlines, and is now linked with trans-fats and associated heart disease.

Baby formulas often include pure coconut oil as an ingredient because coconut is such a healthy super food. Virgin coconut oil is rich in the essential fatty acids, the "good fats" that doctors recommend and is cholesterol - and trans fat-free.

Health Properties of Lauric Acid

One of the “good fats” that makes up about 50% of coconut oil, is lauric acid. Lauric acid is a rare medium-chain fatty acid found in mother's milk. It is now being shown to have anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial health-protecting properties. Some researchers predict that lauric acid will one day become as well known in health circles as Omega-3 is today.

As studies reveal the downsides of consuming too many Omega-6 vegetable oils with their saturated fatty acids, coconut oil is making a comeback. We suggest consuming 3 tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil a day.

Hydrogenated Trans Fat or Healing Coconut Oil?

The FDA started requiring the labeling of "trans fats" in 2006, and as a result the entire fat category is undergoing a review of its traditions and assumptions. Hemp and coconut oil products deliver the nourishing "good fats, which can play a vital role in our health. Millions of Americans are questioning the outmoded assumptions regarding “zero fat is good”, "tropical fats are bad," and "lots of vegetable oils are beneficial".

The traditional Pacific Islander diet included large quantities of coconut meat and oil, and those who still follow this diet have a low incidence of heart disease or weight issues. When a Western-style diet including vegetable oils replaces their traditional diet, all of the fat-related diseases common in the developed nations such as coronary heart disease begin to appear, their immune systems get weaker and serum cholesterol levels go up.

Besides its nutritional value, pure coconut oil also makes a luscious and soothing massage and body oil for dry and or damaged skin.

Size: 15 oz. (425 g) in clear PET bottle.