Everyone’s trying to consume more coconut oil these days. I recently read Grain Brain, a book by neurologist Dr. Pearlmutter. Besides stressing the negative and mostly irreversible impact of gluten and sugar on the brain, he advocates for the consumption of lots of good fats including olive oil, butter, fish oil and coconut oil. Since our brains are mostly made of fat, we need lots of it to keep this organ working properly. Unfortunately, a lot of people are paying for the misinformation that’s been pushed as unquestionable science for 40 years; i.e. the “healthy” low fat diet. Now we know that’s an oxymoron and our unhealthy population proves it. We should all be trying to add these healthy fats into our diet.
Dr. Ben Edwards of Lubbock advocates at least a tablespoon of organic virgin cold-pressed coconut oil daily. This can be used in cooking, added to coffee, as a spread, or just eaten straight out of the jar. If you’re like me, I keep all my fresh oils in the refrigerator so they won’t go rancid (already a common problem of all those off the shelf oils at the supermarket). That makes using coconut oil a little harder. It gets quite firm when chilled and is difficult to dig out of the jar. If you buy your coconut oil by the gallon, it’s even more difficult to reach into the jar once you’ve used the first half. This is my solution to that problem.
Set your jar of oil out on the counter until spoon-able. Dip out enough to fill a medium saucepan. Return the jar to the refrigerator. Warm the oil in the saucepan on low heat until it is pourable. Or in warm weather months, just set it out on the counter until pourable. Pour into mini muffin pans with muffin papers. The cups hold about a tablespoon of oil each. Place the pans in the refrigerator or a cold place until the oil becomes solid again.
Place in a ziplock bag and keep refrigerated. Now you have a single serving tablespoon of coconut oil ready to pop into the skillet, popcorn popper, melt for breads and cakes or break into pieces for coffee or eating. Hope this helps you consume more healthy coconut oil!
New research is showing that the healthy oils in coconut oil are among what scientists and nutritionists call “MCT oils”. Consumption of these oils is becoming very popular as more and more people discover their health benefits. This article on MCT Oil Benefits vs. Coconut Oil will help educate you on this popular trending knowledge.