Coconut Oil & Weight Loss by Laura Ng

How does coconut oil relate to weight loss? "Eating whatever oils will make you fat" is the common belief for the general public. But coconut oil is different, despite its 92% saturated fat content.

Saturated fat from animals and some vegetable sources (like soybean oil, peanut oil etc) belongs to the long-chain structure which makes it difficult for your body to break down. So, normally most of this long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) or long-chain triglycerides (LCTs) will end up in your fat cells easily. That's why heavy meat-eaters or even vegetarians who eat foods fried with those oils gain weight so much easily than those who eat more whole fruits and vegetables.

What about the saturated fat in coconut oil? About 50 - 60% of its saturated fat comes from the medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) family, which when consume, can easily be broken down and converted to energy to fuel your bodily functions and activities, instead of getting deposited in your fat storage.

Because it gives a power boost to your energy level, you tend to move more and hence, you'll burn more calories than you normally would. The end result is, weight loss. But the weight loss benefits of coconut oil don't stop there. Its thermogenic effect encourages the burning of long-chain fatty acids storing in your fat deposits as well.

As Dr. Julian Whitaker, a well-known authority on nutrition and health, says, "LCTs are like heavy wet logs that you put on a small campfire. Keep adding the logs, and soon you have more logs than fire. MCTs are like rolled-up newspaper soaked in gasoline. They not only burn brightly, but will burn up the wet logs as well."

You'll experience more weight loss effect with coconut oil due to its fat-burning fat. It does sound strange to eating a dietary fat to burn more body fat, but that's what happens to eating coconut oil. You can get a small bottle of virgin coconut oil to try out for 2 weeks and see how it promotes weight loss and reduces your waistline. (There are few different types of coconut oil, but I highly recommend virgin coconut oil for both health benefits and effective weight loss.)

I've been taking coconut oil for about 2 years and I use it as an additional energy booster before my workout sessions, and also to help maintain my ideal weight. But I'm not the only one gaining this dramatic weight loss benefit from coconut oil, thousand others are gaining from it. So, you just can't lose when eating coconut oil for weight loss. Enjoy.