Coconut Oil: Our Favorite Snack

We've been buying gallon buckets of coconut oil for the past few months after reading Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, and Eat Fat, Look Thin by Bruce Fife. Fallon and Fife both recommend lowering carb intake, eating a diet of nutrient-dense foods including cod liver oil, and adding 1-6 tablespoons per day of coconut oil. We started our low-carb, coconut-rich diet a few months ago.

Coconut oil is nature’s richest source of medium chain fatty acids, also called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCTs are easily digested, are immediately converted into energy rather than stored as fat, raise body temperature, and increase the body's metabolism, thus producing energy and creating weight-loss. Back in the 1930’s, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, even with the high fat concentration in their diet.

Not only do MCTs lead to weight loss, but they have special health-giving properties as well. The most predominant MCT in coconut oil is lauric acid. Outside of a human mother’s breast milk, coconut oil is nature’s most abundant source of lauric acid. Lauric acid in both breast milk and coconut oil transforms when consumed into a substance called monolaurin, the actual compound responsible for helping to strengthen the immune system. Coconut oil is truly a healing food. Not only does it increase energy and stimulate metabolism, accelerating weight loss, but it also heals skin and hair, has antioxidant, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties, is stable enough to resist heat-induced damage and doesn't go rancid quickly like other oils. It is cancer-fighting, promotes heart health and digestive health, boosts the immune system, increases functioning of thyroid gland, and maintains normal cholesterol levels. And the list continues. Check out The Coconut Diet for pages of info on coconut oil's myriad health benefits.

Some people swallow plain coconut oil by the spoonful (which makes me gag just thinking about it), some stir it into their tea, some add it to popcorn, smoothies or meals. Our favorite way to get it into our bodies is through coconut bark. We love it, we eat it all day long, and the kids love it. It satisfies our hunger so we don't crave carbs or eat so much, and we love knowing it is good for us.

Coconut Bark
2 cups coconut oil
1 cup butter
5 T peanut butter
Cocoa or carob powder (optional)
Vanilla and stevia to taste

Warm everything in a pan on the stove until it melts and is mixed well. Pour into a 9x13" dish and put in freezer. Once frozen, remove it from freezer and let sit on counter till warmed up enough to cut it into squares. Cut and enjoy. Keep refrigerated.