Coconut Oil Benefits, Side Effects and Reviews

I've heard so many good things about this. My problem is, coconut oil taste so gross by itself on a tablespoon. How can you take coconut oil without wanting to wretch? It makes me nauseous, when I do manage to choke it down. I know they use to use coconut oil in baked goods a long time ago, because it was the only stable cooking oil that kept for long periods of time. It tastes great in small amounts, just not in great heaping tablespoons.
Otherwise, it makes a great skin moisturizer out of the shower. Smells good too.

Hello everyone, I love this site. Thanks to everyone who contributes to it in one way or another, also thanks to the wonderful people maintaining it, I can only imagine the amount of work that must go into it.

As for the coconut oil, I too find the taste very unpleasant (and the texture too, I live in a cold place and the oil is often in solid form), but the way I get around it is by adding about 1 1/2 teaspoons to a bowl of lentils, I usually cook lentils (with turmeric, cayenne, tomatoes and other spices) over the weekend and during the week, I reheat them in a pan, and then add the coconut oil to the bowl. It is a great improvement in taste. I hope this helps.

Hi Sandra: could you share your lentil receipe that you add the coconut oil too. Thanks

I use coconut oil on my skin after showers, it amounts to about 3 tbs. Once absorbed, wouldn't it be the same thing? no need to ingest it as your skin is a large organ.

Hi all,

ABSORPTION OF COCONUT OIL VIA SKIN

Coconut oil is not a 'thin' enough oil to allow for true absorption through the skin. As far as I know, only essential oils are able to do this. All other oils only seal; hence the use of oils for massage. It does, however, seal the skin and assist with dryness. Ingestion would be more advisable for medicinal use.

CANDIDA ALBICANS TREATMENT

"The active ingredients in Coconut Oil are Caprylic Acid, Capric Acid and Lauric Acid. These medium-chain saturated fatty acids are potent antimicrobial agents. They kill bacteria, viruses and fungi by causing their cell walls to disintegrate.

There are studies¹ that show how all the fatty acids work together to kill Candida albicans. Another study ² shows that Coconut Oil is as effective as fluconazole (Diflucan). It goes so far as to say; 'Coconut Oil should be used in the treatment of fungal infections in view of emerging drug-resistant Candida species. ' " Refer to the link below for more detail and info on how this oil works.

http://www.candida-albicans-cure.com/coconut-oil.html

Also perhaps bear in mind that fatty acids are not meant to be exposed to heat, since this kills the medicinal properties of the oils. Hence the need for coldpressed oils.

I personally mix mine with full cream plain yoghurt, macadamia nut, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Full cream plain yoghurt also has live a & b cultures which assist with digestion, similar to pro-biotics.

I have been using organic virgin coconut oil on my face and body for 2 weeks now. It has improved the texture of my skin however I seem to always looked flushed on my face and neck, almost looks like I am sunburnt. I have very fair skin and have been using only a medium coverage amount on my face and neck so that it absorbs almost completly. Has anyone else experienced this and does it calm down? Is it removing the dead skin layers as it seems to look like the effects of a light chemical peel?

Thank you

Yes, i do think your skin will look tanned because I have experienced it.

Thought this was me or I was seeing things. The last few weeks I have been using Virgin Coconut Oil as a body and face moisturizer and deoderant. Within the last week/week and a half I have started taking Turmeric in capsule form (home made). I don't recall the tanning effect prior to turmeric but I have definitly noticed within the last week a slight tanning effect taking place. I of course will continue to use both as I love the results and hope to experience more of this "natural" tanning effect.

Melissa, how much do you take a day?

i discovered coconut oil about 4 yrs ago and was using it for seborhea, and for dry patches of skin. I rubbed it into my cuticles each night, and on day 6, i realized the wart that had been on my finger for a few years was totally GONE! It had to be the oil, because i was not using a wart remover. Also, i have found that coconut oil helps heal my seborhea patches quickly, whereas medicines did not.

If you want to use coconut oil, cook with it! Butter your bread with it, use it in or on muffins instead of butter. My favorite is to use it for cooking pancakes, fried sweet potato french fries. Anything you fry because it is the only safe oil at high temperatures. Get creative with it. enjoy the lovely flavor. Put it in shakes!

I have had a really bad itch on my forearms for the last 4 or 5 years, every time the weather warms up. It is something that effects me on a daily basis. Since using the virgin coconut oil, it has basically gone away. The one day I didn't use it though, I itched a bit, but as long as I put it on my arms daily, no itch.

Eat right does not work, look at Metabolic Typing, it works, your body becomes alkaline which is very important because acidity causes all our health problems. You are then advised what to eat that suits your body type & what vits & mins to take for optimum health so you save money on sups. Mins are more important than vits, imbalances cause a lot of problems.

This pendulum trick sounds like a Ouiji board!

We use a pendulum to communicate with our sub-conscience mind. That is probably what you are getting, the answer from your sub-conscience mind.

I don't think I would ask a pendulum anything!

My skin suffered the tear and wear of using numerous brands of different brands of cosmetics til the combination of these different chemicals being used on these cosmetics, resulted to facial skin damages. Wrinkles, and the worst which made me embarrassed everytime when people got surprised to see the black spots on my face which i knew from prolong used of differrent chemicals. I have tried numerous products to get rid of it. Some will give me an effect of two weeks but afterward the damaged on my face becomes worst. My face dont seem to response to any cosmetic, the more cosmetics i used the worst it becomes so, i thought of experimenting on natural remedies.I have started making my own formula when i came across this site which made my research more valid. Every night, as i watched tv i massage VCO on my legs and arms it made my skin so soft @ flawless. When i wear skirt, people thought i have stockings on my legs.

For my face, 3x a week, i combined
1 tsp of molasses or
honey
1/4 tsp of ACV [APPLE CIDER VINEGAR]
1/2 tsp of VCO [VIRGIN COCONUT OIL]
1 tsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp of oats

Make to a paste, splash face with warm water and gently massage the paste on your face. Let it stay 10-20minutes. Rinse it with warm water.

Then i toned my face with ACV, Hydrogen peroxide and water and moisturize my face with alternating VCO and grapeseed oil. Amazing it gradually whitened my face naturally, wrinkles free with less expenses. I am 49 yr old grandma with 3 grandchildren mistaken as more years younger than my age. Thanks to this site, it made me more creative combining the natural resources that are abundant in our country Philippines. By the way, i make my own VCO and sell to my friends also. I use VCO externally and internally as it is the cleanest and the cheapest oil on earth. I enjoy the benefit of a monolaurin found in VCO the same benefit found in a mothers milk. I rarely got sick as VCO is a natural antibiotic, that can get rid of viral @ bacterial lepid coated illnesses.Thanks to this heaven sent site and to the people who openly shares thier beneficial testimonies. God Bless Us All as we continue to spread and share the good news. Email me @ let me know how this works with you.

thanks for the recipe for the face. Did you say it gets rid of wrinkles? def. worth a try. what is your exact recipe for the toner with the ACV, h2o2 (peroxide), water and moisturizer? thanks

This is just a feedback to Che from Roxas City, Phillipines of June 26, 2008 post. I followed her formula for the facial and just beware before you try it. The turmeric burned my face and left it with a yellow tinge, no matter how much ACV and hydrogen perioxide mixed with water I used. My face now has red spots and a rash....hopefully the VCO will calm it down. If not, there's always make-up. ")

I feel your pain! I recently have broke out on my face and wanted to calm down the bumps and redness. I mixed turmeric, msm and a little bit of honey to make a paste and plastered it on my face. I am VERY fair skinned and it turned my face orange at first. I freaked out and used a beauty bar soap mixed with a little borax to make a scrub. This helped tone my face down to a faint yellow. Still not good! So I took a cottonball and saturated it with jojoba oil and that took the rest of the color off perfectly. Let's just say lesson learned! I'll stick to just drinking the turmeric :)

Where do you purchase your EVCO? thanks

I buy my Virgin CoConut Oil on the website www.tropicaltraditions.com. It is really good. You can also get expeller cold pressed if you don't like the coconut taste. Check it out.

Ditto on Tropicaltraditions!!! It is the best coconut oil and the most natural!!! And as she said, If you don't like strong coconut taste or smell, they have the expeller pressed oil, wich is very bland in taste and smell, but still has all the properties that make coconut oil great. Coconut oil has transformed my damaged, dry, brittle hair, into a beautiful shiny, healthy, thick mane!!! My skin feels like butter. And I just started taking it internally, so I'll see what it does for that!!!

Is the coconut oil in its natural form or already finished product?

Regarding Coconut oil! There are utube videos on line that show you how to make your own coconut oil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oxR1Gt5lQ Not that difficult. Just knowing how.

WARNING!

I intended to purchase the product below from Amazon, then checked the reviews on it. Please read the review below:

Source Naturals
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil Softgels, 240 softgels
Price: $21.46

1.0 out of 5 stars Would not buy again, November 18, 2007

I bought these to take by mouth, but after seeing the thick covering decided I didn't want to ingest that material--then decided to use the oil inside the capsule on my skin.

When cutting a small hole and squeezing out the oil, I noticed a small pellet that wouldn't melt on my skin in almost all the capsules. Not sure what that material is, but am glad that I decided not to take them internally.

Also after doing some reading on Titanium Dioxide (listed as an ingredient) found that it is "Classified as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans" by IARC.

Now I plan to stop using it on my skin and throw away the rest of the bottle--should've done my research before buying.

A quick search on the net turned up some info about this product (Source Natural's Coconut Oil Softgels). The Titanium Dioxide (TD) is added to the product as well as gelative (presumably the capsule). TD is added to products for its optic whitening qualities. As that has to do with appearance, it makes no sense to use TD in a product meant for ingestion!

Pure coconut oil does not contain TD, and therefore does not carry the carcinogenic risk with it.

Check out swanson. They have bottles of organic coconut oil soft gels, (without the td), for 2.99 and its buy 1 get 1 free now. So for 2.99 you get 120 capsules then 4.99 s&h.I got 6 bottles and 2 bottles of ginger root and only pd 15 with s&h! I have been taking them for a month and my blood pressure has leveled out big time. it was 165/94 I am now at 136/76 as of 2 weeks ago.

I think you may have gotton a bad batch. I use LouAnna from walmart, it is white as it should be, it should not be yellow. I buy mine a little over $6 a jar. Smells faintly of coconut, I use it in baking and cooking and also use a big jar of organic coconut I keep on the counter.

Just started looking into vco, what do you mean by "pulling"?

I have been using coconut oil for about an year now, and I love it! I rarely drink it, however, I use it as a lotion instead of the store brand. My skin looks and feels great. Since it is a bit oily, I started to put it on my face. Mostly around my eyes and forehead. My younger sister commented once that I don't have any wrinkles and she has. She wanted to know my secret. I told her of course. I further told her that if you cannot drink the store brand lotions, why is she putting it on her skin? Coconut oil can be eaten. I also use it to moisten my lips. And on a couple occasions for hemorrodes- I know I misspelled that.

AWESOME!!! ... What an amazing report! It's nice to read a post from someone who has taken EVCO for many yrs. THANKS!

RBD coconut oil is not EVCO.

My favorite ways to use coconut oil - as a butter substitute in hot cereals (oatmeal, ect), on toast, or waffles, or vegatables, I also use it in the pan for cooking my egg whites. when I try to put it in my shakes it gets hard and flakey- which I do not like. I also use it on my skin. I get about 1 tbs per day. Also just started trying Blackstrap molasses today. will report benefits in a few weeks- I hope.

Dear Lisa, Thank you so much for the cocoa and honey tip! I will definitely try it. Cocoa is also a natural source of Flavanol Antioxidants. The coconut oil and Cocoa combination should be really beneficial. I'm hoping this will take care of my chocolate craving and save me from all of the icky sugar and dairy that is in most chocolate candy. I love this site and thanks again! = )~

I READ THE RECIPE FOR USING COCONUT OIL WITH COCOA POWDER POWDER AND HONEY AND COULDN'T WAIT TO TRY IT. I RAN TO THE KITCHEN AND MIXED SOME UP AND AM EATING IT AS I TYPE. I LOVE IT!!!! I HAD WONDERED FOR A LONG TIME HOW I WAS GOING TO FORCE MYSELF TO EAT IT OFF A SPOON. I AM DIPPING WALNUTS IN IT. THANKS FOR THE TIP. CONNIE

I have REALLY dry skin and Id like to try using the Virgin Coconut Oil cure... But doesn't the oil transfer to your pillowcase, clothing, etc.? Is this oil expensive? Please reply ASAP.

Malcolm, the coconut oil sinks in so fast, always assuming you don't literally butter yourself with it, that if you wait for a while it won't oil your bedding. Just use what will sink in in a few minutes

It is not horribly expensive. All different price ranges. Get virgin organic from Trader Joe or online at a variety of places. A gallon of the best is about sixty dollars online. I don't remember what the pints in the store cost.

Malcolm.54, the coconut oil is roughly $15 or less for a lb. You will only need a drop for your whole face, use very sparingly. It absorbs well, so if your skin stayed shiny, you have used too much.

After days of using it once a day, there is a very noticeable softening and moisterizing of the skin. At least for me!

Organic virgin coconut oil at Trader Joe's is $5.99 for a 16oz jar. (It's a glass jar, too - important.) I use one tablespoon a day internally and use it externally as a skin moisturizer and that 16oz jar lasts me months and months.

My son woke up with gum in his hair. I put extra virgin coconut oil in his hair, massaged it, and in less than 5 minutes the clump had gotten all gooey and soft and I was able to comb it out. For bigger hunks I would say let it sit for 10-15 minutes. It worked like magic!

Just about any oil (including peanut butter) will do the same to chewing gum in the hair. If the gum is on something you can stick in the freezer, do so and after it is frozen you can chip it off.

I take my coconut oil in hot tea or warm to hot water, and also in the morning I make a smoothie and add that in last...Have been taking it since Aug of 2007, and lost 20 lbs and an added benefit was that it reduced my Cholesterol and Triglycerides..I was able to get off of the medicine that the Dr. had prescribed...

It's excellent in the instant hot chocolate, too. It seems to make it a lot richer...yum!

I suffered with skin complaints for a long time, I often got those little red bumps on my arms.also red lumps under and around my nose and general teenager style spots on my face. I started using coconut oil on the surface of my skin only. The brand I use is _____which is made in the UK and contains no other ingredients other then natural 'pure' coconut oil (thats what it says on the label). I experimented with different ways of using the oil on my face and body. I found that the skin on my face and arms became softer and I now rarely get spots or skin irritation (except at that spot). The best method for my face is to use the oil on my skin as a cleanser to open pores, then remove the excess with a cotton pad. After that I cleanse with an astringent. I use pure distilled rose-water which smells beautiful, closes my pores nicely and also makes my skin wonderfully soft. To top it off I moisturise again with the coconut oil, leave it on the surface to sink in a little, and take the excess of with a cotton pad (usually in places like my forehead and chin which don't absorb as much). I can't stress enough how much healthier my skin is. My complexion is brighter and I have less to no problem zones anymore.

Kay, also living in the UK and only just having found out about coconut oil where did you buy it and what make?

I started taking extra virgin coconut oil in order to asisst in losing weight-it has not done that but I do notice a massive difference in my complexion. I have had acne since highschool-since taking EVCO, I do not break out anymore. for a month my skin has been clear! Crazy but true.

I used coconut oil on my face today and yes, I turned reddish. But so far so good, it seems to be clearing up some pimples. HOWEVER, I started to get heart palpitations and I immediately took 1 tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses to stop the palpitations. So even if you use coconut oil topically, it can cause palpitations. Be careful!

The reason you had MORE pimples is because coconut oil is a potent antibiotic, antiviral, and antifungal. The action of your body to create more acne is its way of expelling toxins through your skin.

My advice to EVERYONE is to start at lowest dosages on all these great remedies.. I now take a teaspon of Coconut oil every morning for my breakfast, before I exercise. It gives me energy, keeps me fungus, virus, food poisening, bacteria free and seems to be all I need till noon or so. It also keeps me regular and tummy trouble free. (I still take a garlic capsule whenever I eat out to pre-combat unknown food poisening which I have had in the past) Ingesting coconut oil, inward and outward, in the beginning, created a smooth, lightened complexion after a lifetime of horrible rashy eczema that wrinkled, scared and totally aged & ruined my skin. Then I had a die-off that had me worried as my skin got totally worse until it got better. But, I've learned the secret of using natural products: go slow, go light, go consistantly. T. So here is what I do now:

DAILY FACE CLEANING:

1. warm, , damp cotton round, doused with coconut oil to clean once in the morning and once at night. (If rashes due to my food allergies appear, usually around my mouth, I dab on a little Balmex before bed)

2. M-W-F night: Mask or scrub: mix BAKING SODA with a little water. This further lightens dark spots and controls bacteria.

These two things are all I do for my face. When my skin feels dry, I light-dab CO & water on it. Took years of self-experimentation to get this right FOR ME.

DAILY BATH:

1. Smear CO all over- let sit for 5 minutes, then scrub off with a dry white cloth;

2. Mix up a 1 cup (pudding consistency) of water, baking soda, and optional spritze of organic cologne in small plastic tub. Get into the dry tub and scrub down body with mixture, letting it dry on for about 2 minutes.

3. Rince off with lukewarm or cold water.

(This bathing routine takes -15 minutes each morning and has great benefits: clean, non-smelly skin, removes wrinkles, dark spots, eczema and dermatitis. Plus, no deodorant needed.

INTERIOR BODY:

1. Coconut Oil (1tsp) for breakfast. ACV (2tsp/4oz water) before bed.

2. Lunch and dinner consists of : Protein/meat, fruit, veggies (many raw as possible). AVOIDING Milk, Grains, Sugar as much as humanly possible or I have "bad skin days".

3. At least 2-4 beer mugs of water daily and I try to sneak in a homemade veggie juice drink or smoothie whenever I can.

DAILY FITNESS:

1. 5 minute warm-up stretcch

2. 16 minutes rope-jumping on thick rubber mat ( alternate 1min jump/1min walk aroud) When done jumping rope, I walk around until my pulse gets under 100, then I continue to #3.

3. 5 minutes: sit-ups, weighted side-bends, and push-ups

This is it for me each day. It's simple, doesn't require supreme effort, just consistency. And it works! So, I know what I have to do each day now and I just hop to it!

Thanks for this very insightful information. You must have a rockingbody! I've sent so much money to learn the things you've just said in the post. So Thank you! I will use this on myself and my daughter who has terrible ezcema. I really think her ezcema is agrevated by wheat, dairy and sugar. It's hard to get a kid not to eat these things. But, I will do the skin treatments and continue to work on reducing all the bad stuff in her diet. I'll post results in about a month.

For the athlete foot try apple cider vinegar. Wash you feet and use equal parts of the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide and after you moisturizer whith coconut oil. You have to be consistent and patient.

I started using Virgin Coconut Oil and I love it. I usually sunburn the first time I lay out in the sun, then peel, then I tan afterwards. I usually lay out without sunscreen or tanning lotion. So, I decided to put VCO on my body and layed out in the sun for four hours. I burnt a little, but nothing compared to usual. I also applied VCO twice a day after that and didn't peel at all, but it turned into a great tan. I will use VCO forever. P.S. I also started taking it internally 3X a day-yummy.

Virgin Coconut Oil is great for sunburns (any kind of burn for that matter). If you mix Lavender and/or Eucalyptus essential oil in with VCO it will take the sting and heat out, helps prevent blistering and peeling. My friends and family laughed and thought I was crazy but now all come to get the "Burn Cream"

I have used coconut oil for many years. I learned this from my aunt who was noticing her hair was falling out more than usual so she starting using it on her scalp and hair and it not only stopped her hair loss, but actually made her hair grow strong, abundant and shiny so I started using it myself. Needless to say I have really thick strong, to much hair actually.

Has anyone used coconut milk on their hair and scalp instead of the oil? I haved tried the oil, and although I like it as a moisturizer for my face and body, it seems a bit too heavy for my hair, and doesn't seem to wash out well. The coconut milk (pure, with no additives) seems a bit lighter. I am wondering if it offers the same benefits for the hair and scalp, however. Thanks!

I was wondering if Coconut oil was supposed to be sweet. I guess I am really naive when it comes these things since we are just starting to get into treating ourselves in a healthy manner instead of conventional MDs (not that there is anything wrong with that). I got some 100% Pure Virgin Coconut Oil. It was solid with a dark sediment. I stirred it but did not scrap the bottom and then took a spoonful and swallowed it. It was not what I was expecting and had to drink water to not gag. It this normal?