Coconut and Weight Loss

I have been a huge fan of coconut my whole life.  As a child, I would take the option of buying a coconut from the store over a candy bar any day.  I used to love drilling into the eye and drinking the beautiful water  before spending the next few days working my way through the pure white flesh.  Mmmmm...

Anyway, lately people seem to be more and more interested in the wonderful benefits of this fabulous nut and it's little wonder as there are so many benefits of all things coconut to our health! Coconut water contains loads of vitamins, minerals, and incredibly, electrolytes!

Coconuts, believe it or not, may actually help us with weight loss! Most people seem to be really worried about the saturated fats in coconuts and are skeptical that consuming coconuts will affect their waist lines! So here's some information about coconuts and coconut water that I hope you find useful.





There has been an explosion of coconut water on the scene lately! Coconut water, which is the liquid that comes out when you whack open a coconut,  is our natural 'Sports Rehydration Drink' and the perfect post hangover beverage to help replenish and re-balance your electrolytes.

Coconut water also keeps you hydrated and feeling fuller for longer and has been reported to increase your metabolic rate. Coconut water also flushes out toxins, and contains 3 grams of fibre per cup, helping keep to maintain balance of blood glucose levels, thus helping you to get control of sugar cravings.

Not all brands of coconut water are created equal however. When reading the ingredient list, make sure to look for pure coconut water without any sweeteners, and sans sulphites. My personal favourites are Dr Martins and Vita Coco although Dr Martins can be quite tough to get hold of and works out to be rather more expensive.  This is largely because their coconut water is raw though.  Both are however, 100% pure unadulterated coconut water.



So, what about weight loss? Well, coconut milk is a puree of water and the fresh white coconut meat that has been cooked down, and strained.  Creamed coconut is the version that is solid at room temperature and is usually purchased in 'blocks' weighing about 250g each.   Although there is a lot of saturated fat (yes, this scares people), the saturated fats in coconut milk are composed mostly of medium chain fatty acids.
This is fantastic news because medium chained fatty acids are easily metabolized in the body.  Instead of being stored as fat, medium chain fatty acids get burned off and used as energy quickly (vs. long chain fatty acids found in cow’s milk). Therefore, consuming coconut milk can actually help with weight loss! Also, the medium chain fatty acids do not have an negative effect on cholesterol levels.

And, just one more thing to tell you.  Although I did go over the top and got a bit bored with it, (learn from my mistake and don't go silly! this was a short term experiment) last year, I was eating, on average, a block of creamed coconut a day.  Having for example, coconut crepes with berries for breakfast, curries made using various meats, fish or veggies and creamed coconut and any other coconut recipes I could come up with for lunch and dinner.  I would also take fresh coconut flesh out in a serving saver in my bag when I went out in case I got hungry (although I rarely ate outside of mealtimes because I had no cravings nor was I hungry) and made myself homemade dark chocolate sweets with... you guessed it, coconut!  In 7 weeks I lost 11 lbs.  Then it was Christmas, I ate Christmas foods and didn't go back to eating so much coconut again afterwards but I didn't regain that weight either.  My point is, I still drink coconut water regularly and that's great, but all the fat in creamed coconut and I LOST weight.  You decide :-)