Many people have heard of coconut oil and coconut butter but don’t know what the differences are other than one is a liquid and one isn’t. Coconut oil is only the oil that is pulled from the meat, the white hard inside, of the coconut itself. Coconut butter is the meat taken out of the shell and broken down by either being blended or pureed into a creamy mixture for coconut butter. It is important to note that roughly all of coconut meat is oil. Both are consumable in reasonable quantities and can be used in all kinds of foods. Equally so, both are good for the body and skin, offering many amazing health benefits.
Most people know that you can use either one in foods and cooking, but don’t confuse the idea that you can substitute one for the other in all cases. Coconut butter and coconut oil have different textures and do taste somewhat different, although both certainly do have the coconut flavor. If a recipe is specifically calling for one or the other, it is better to go with that than the other, but if all you have on hand is the alternative, it never hurts to try it.
Does Coconut Butter and Coconut Oil Offering Many Health Benefits?
Coconut oil and coconut butter contain no trans fats. While it is true that these both contain a lot of saturated fats, more than half of them are medium fatty acids which promote good health and are easily digested for absorption into the body and defending the immune system. It is widely believed that too much of either is bad for the heart, but medical research has proven that your heart is healthier if you consume a little of either in your diet weekly. Coconut oil has also been proven to boost the health of your mouth when used. In this process, you warm coconut butter and place it in your mouth and “pull” it through your teeth. This process helps to pull out bacterial from the mouth and help in maintaining oral health. This should not be done in excess though.
Can Promote Weight Loss and Reduce Risk of Disease
Coconut oil and coconut butter have been shown to help promote good weight loss in the body and allows you to maintain your body weight. It also helps to reduce your risk of heart disease, bacterial infections, viral infections and fungal infections. For those of you who are diabetic, either one will help you control your diabetes better by promoting good balances in the body. Those who suffer with chronic fatigue can also see some benefits, such as more energy and a strengthened immune system, which is essential for fighting back against chronic fatigue.
You will have increased energy, give your metabolism a boost and won’t feel so many sugar crashes throughout the day. Having a little stomach trouble like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Crohn’s Disease? Medical research has proven that coconut oil and coconut butter can help to reduce the symptoms and flare ups from both. Do you notice your skin feeling a little dry, itchy or looking a little dull? Coconut oil and butter have also been proven to help rejuvenate the look of your skin, give it a healthy glow, and helps promote strengthened skin which can lead to the reduction of wrinkles and age lines.
How Can Coconut Be This Good For You?
One of the main components to the meat of the coconut is the fatty acid. About half of the fatty acid is made up from lauric acid, which is known to have anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoal properties. Once it has been ingested into the body, it is turned into a component that defends the body by attacking lipid viruses (these include herpes, influenza HIV). This will not prevent you from contracting any of these, but it can help the body defend itself from them better.
Making the Right Shopping Choice
Be careful in which versions of these you purchase. Since both are now very commercialized, manufacturers are looking for cheaper and easier ways to make and sell it. Overly manufactured versions are known as RBD, which means that they have been refined, bleached, deodorized or a combination of the three. Many refined versions of coconut oil are made from copra, which is when the meat of the coconut is dried in humid sunny temperatures and the oil is pressed and dried out of the coconut. They may also heat the coconut to extract the oil through a “sweating process but in doing so many of the nutrients, especially vitamin E, are lost in the process. When coconut butter or coconut oil says “virgin it means that the coconut meat was either scraped or grated out of the shell to preserve the nutrients.
When using either in cooking, you should always be wary of what you are doing. Coconut oil tends to heat a little slower and last longer, while coconut butter burns very fast and is absorbed quickly when used in cooking. Coconut butter is best saved for using outside of heating it for cooking. Be careful how long you heat coconut butter because it can burn very quickly, so if you need to heat it, consider heating for no more than 15 seconds in a microwave safe container. Coconut oil, on the other hand, can be heated in a pan or on top of other foods easily without burning off completely.
Storage and Preservation
Coconut oil does not need to be refrigerated, but should be kept in a dry area in a glass or food safe plastic container. While you don’t need to refrigerate coconut butter, it will last longer when stored in a glass container in the fridge. When coconut butter is cold, it is harder to work with, so if you do refrigerate it, leaving it out on the counter should soften it up quickly.
Hopefully this little explanation helps you understand the differences between coconut butter and coconut oil, how they can each be used, and the benefits of each one.