Coconut Cream Health Benefits by Laura Ng

Many people love adding coconut cream to enhance the flavor and thickness of curry, while I add it for one more purpose - its health benefits. "Are you sure coconut cream benefits your health?" is the shocking question people usually pose when I told them that this creamy food is actually good for them. Are you wanting to ask the same question? To let you understand its health benefits, let's walk into its fat construction.

True. Coconut cream bears the saturated fatty acid structure. However, the structure is in the form of medium-chain rather than those animal saturated fats which are connected together as long-chain. Long-chain is extremely difficult to break down and so it gets easily stored as fat. Medium-chain breaks down easily and converts to energy (like carbohydrate) instantly.

So, where's the health risk associated with coconut cream? Essentially none provided you don't take too much. Too much of a good food can bring excess calories that your body doesn't need, so you know where these unwanted calories will end up in.

How Coconut Cream Benefits Your Health

As just mentioned, the medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) in coconut cream benefits you by giving you more energy to cope with your physical activities. But that's not all, the primary acid in it is called lauric acid - exactly the same as that in human breast milk, which helps us ward off intrusive viruses and bacteria.

What's more amazing about the health benefits of coconut cream is that when its lauric acid converts to monolaurin (an anti-viral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride), it boosts your immune system and protects you against many viruses, including hepatitis C, herpes and even HIV!

On top of that, its anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties can help prevent you from getting cancer. Oh, it's also exceptionally powerful for treating constipation! Having problems with getting rid of your body waste? This natural cream will be your instant cure, more powerful yet natural than chemically-processed laxatives sold over the counter.

You know what, not only coconut cream benefits your health, coconut oil, water and flesh do bear the same health-promoting properties, especially coconut oil which contains additional fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamin A, D, E, K and beta-carotene essential for your overall wellbeing.

Now you got a variety of coconut foods to add to your palate, you don't have to stick to adding coconut cream to just curry anymore. You can now add 2 - 3 tablespoons of coconut oil onto your cooked brown rice, include coconut oil or water in smoothies, or cut coconut flesh into smaller pieces and sprinkle as toppings for your dessert. That's how you can reap maximum health benefits of coconut food, instead of limiting to just its creamy component.