Benefits of Coconut and Coconut Products

Green coconuts on a palm tree

Everywhere you look coconuts are touted as a great super food. It’s high in good fats and nutrients and has tons of different uses. Check your favorite grocery store and you’re likely to find different brands of coconut water, oil, creams and other products. In its most natural form, it’s full of great digestive-friendly fiber and heart-healthy saturated fats. Incorporating coconut into your diet is a good way to bring a versatile food into your meals. Here’s a few great things about the different coconut products and why you should add them to your diet.

 

1. What are Coconuts?
2. Coconut Water
3. Coconut Oil
4. Coconut Flour

 

What Are Coconuts?

 

Is it a fruit, a seed, or a nut? Despite their name, coconuts are not a nut at all, but a fibrous one-seeded drupe. It doesn’t really roll off the tongue very well, so it’s usually classified as a fruit. Right off the palm tree, coconuts are covered in a thick green outer layer. It’s peeled away to reveal the hairy brown shell most people are familiar with. Breaking open that shell is the only way to reach the creamy white center and the liquid it’s filled with. You probably won’t find a whole coconut located at your local grocery store. Not unless you’re buying from street vendors selling cracked open coconuts with straws protruding from them.

 

Though it has been lauded as a super food, coconut has been cautioned due to its high-saturated fat content. The meat can be eaten from both young, green coconuts as well as the matured fruit. It has a different taste and consistency depending on when it is harvested. Most consider the younger, green coconut meat to be best, especially since it is easier to get. Raw coconut can be found either refrigerated or sun-dried. It’s a good source of plant-based protein and has tons of different nutrients in its whole, unfiltered form. Due to its high fat content, coconut tends to be a good way to stay full longer. Research has shown that it can help with weight loss. It helps burn fat quicker due to its nutrient contents.

 

Coconuts have been turned into several different products. The meat can be cut up and eaten raw, but most packages that you’ll find are sweetened. The meat is also where coconut oil is extracted from. It’s become a popular in recent years and has many different uses. The water comes from the interior of the fruit in young green coconuts and is high in potassium. It can be found in many different stores under many different brands.