Benefits For Your Mouth and Teeth

So the news going around lately is about coconut oil benefits and how great it is. I’m sure you have seen it. You see posts about coconut oil and oil pulling and how wonderful it is for your body. Well I jumped on the band wagon with the oil pulling and got results right away with a much healthier mouth.

With just a few swishes I was seeing results and so were others. Strangers were asking me where do you get your teeth whitened! My gums stopped bleeding when I flossed and this may sound strange but my tongue even felt different. It felt clean and hydrated. I wasn’t as worried about having bad breath when talking with someone up close, loving garlic too much for that fear to be completely eliminated though.

Reading up on coconut oil benefits became a past time for me since I was so enamored by the results it gave my mouth. I am doing an oil pull maybe two times a week for fifteen minutes, twenty minutes is recommended but I am working my way there. It all started with an oil pull for my teeth now I am seeing all the benefits and it makes me want to live where the coconut palm grows!

 Check Out This Great eBook About Coconut Oil!

Coconut Oil Diet for your Heart and Waist

Coconut oil is a gift of nature that I am taking another step into by ingesting it on a daily basis. I have cooked with coconut oil quite often over the years. Using it as a butter substitute in baking and sautéing vegetables. I use it in a tropical granola that’s out of this world, I just haven’t taken a spoon and eaten it raw, the thought never crossed my mind.

The heat from cooking changes the chemistry of the food, so it makes sense to have a little spoonful of raw coconut. The biggest concern that raw foodies have is killing the nutrients in food by heating it which makes sense to me. Some nutrients can not survive being cooked. I am not a food chemist or nutritionist, but I do stick to the oils that are cold pressed, raw, unrefined, virgin and organic. Look for these labels for the most healthy options.

Some people don’t like the raw coconut smell but I love it, it makes me feel like I am on a tropical vacation but there are some options out there with less aroma. A product I am really excited about is Health Supports Coconut Oil Diet supplement. I know it makes sense to have a teaspoon of oil but I am finding these soft gel capsules are a bit easier to take for me.

There is some developing research that shows that taking coconut oil 10ml three times daily could reduce waist size after 1-6 weeks of use. – Score! – Sleek waist for me. Belly fat is proven to be not healthy for your heart so I am all on board for this reason alone.

Dietary use of coconut oil is linked to increased high-density lipoprotein which is HDL or your “good “ cholesterol. Coconut oil also gives you a boost of energy which is great for your heart and waist.

For Your Skin

Another one of the Coconut oil benefits is that it is a great moisturizer for your skin. How does it work? What makes it so beneficial for our skin?

If we look at the composition of coconut oil we see that it has saturated fats, which are medium chain fatty acids or triglycerides. When you apply it to your skin these fats help retain the moisture content of the skin. It puts a protective layer that prevents loss of moisture through the pores but being a good fat it does not clog the pores or your arteries. Ingested regularly it puts a nice healthy layer of fat deposit under your skin, giving your skin a plump, smooth even tone and reduces the appearance of pores.

Another set of components of coconut oil are the three fatty acids capric, lauric, and caprylic acid. The abilities of this little trio is that they disinfect and are antimicrobial, so when applied to the skin it can protect against infections. Our skin is the biggest organ of our bodies and our first defense against microbial infections.

Coconut oil is rich in protein and skin needs protein for rejuvenation of cells and tissue repair. One of my favorite things to do other than just putting it on my skin straight up is to make some lovely homemade skin scrubs. Add some high quality sea salts to the oil and you can get a great exfoliation scrub that all skin needs. This keeps your skin hydrated, protected and the old cells sloughed off and gives your skin a healthy glow.

Coconut oil doesn’t go rancid which is a great property for any skin care product to have especially homemade beauty products. Over the last year I have been using a sea salt coconut oil scrub on my feet where I have had problem areas of cracks in my heals, followed up with coconut oil whipped cream after. My feet are so much healthier now, this is also how I discovered my doggie loves coconut oil too!

 

Coconut Oil Benefits for your Pets

Yes my dog was a pest when I started putting coconut oil on my feet. She wouldn’t leave me alone and desperately wanted to lick my feet. I don’t care for a dog that licks and I didn’t know if it was okay for her to ingest it so I would shoo her away from me. Her persistence made me find out whether or not coconut oil was okay for dogs. Come to find out it is great for pets! We actually include coconut oil in her diet now too!

Coconut oil does everything for our pets as it does for us. I still don’t let my dog lick my feet but she gets her daily dose mixed in with her food and she always picks around and eats that first! Her coat is softer and she sheds less now, it actually has deodorized her too. As she gets older it will give her more energy and keep her ligaments healthy.

 

Coconut Oil in Daily Life

You can find so many healthy uses for coconut oil. I believe that The Wellness Mama has a great article of 101 ways to use coconut oil, even the medical community at WebMD has information about coconut oil benefits in your life. These are just a few ways we have incorporated coconut oil into our happy healthy lives.

We at Happy Healthy Living really believe in what we share and hope it brings to those that read and visit us more potential for their happiness and health in their lives.