Saturday, January 8, 2011

Power of Nature Series: Skin & Body Care Benefits of Coconut Oil

Skin & Body Care Benefits of Coconut Oil

Hair Care: Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrition for hair. It helps in healthy growth of hair providing them a shiny complexion. Regular massage of the head with this tropical oil ensures that your scalp is free of dandruff, lice, and lice eggs, even if your scalp is dry. This therapeutic oil is extensively used in the Indian sub-continent for hair care. It is an excellent conditioner and helps in the re-growth of damaged hair. It also provides the essential proteins required for nourishing damaged hair. It is therefore used as hair care oil and used in manufacturing various conditioners, and dandruff relief creams, and normally applied topically for hair care.

Stress Relief: This nutrient-rich oil is very soothing and hence it helps in removing stress. Applying this oil to the head followed with a gentle massage helps in removing mental fatigue.

Skin Care: Coconut oil is excellent massage oil for the skin as well. It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skins including dry skin. The benefits on the skin is comparable to that of mineral oil. Further, unlike mineral oil, there is no chance of having any adverse side effects on the skin with this vegetable oil. Therefore, it is a safe solution for preventing dryness and flaking of skin. It also delays wrinkles, and sagging of skin which normally become prominent with age. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections and forms the basic ingredient of various body care products such as soaps, lotions, creams, etc., used for skin care.

Immunity: Great for the immune system. It strengthens the immune system as it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. The human body converts lauric acid into monolaurin which is claimed to help in dealing with viruses and bacteria causing diseases such as herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and even HIV. It helps in fighting harmful bacteria such as listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa such as giardia lamblia.

Healing: When applied on infections, it forms a chemical layer which protects the infected body part from external dust, air, fungi, bacteria and virus. A natural oil that is most effective on bruises as it speeds up the healing process by repairing damaged tissues.

Premature Aging: This super-moisturizing oil helps in preventing premature aging and degenerative diseases due to its antioxidant properties.

Heart Diseases: There is a misconception spread among many people that this oil is not good for the heart. This is because it contains a large quantity of saturated fats. However, it is actually beneficial for the heart. Contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in preventing various heart problems including high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.

Digestion: Internal use of this rich oil occurs primarily as cooking oil, helping in improving the digestive system and thus preventing various stomach and digestion related problems including irritable bowel syndrome. The saturated fats present have anti microbial properties and help in dealing with various bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc., that cause indigestion. Also, this natural oil helps in absorption of other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Weight Loss: Very useful in reducing weight. It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and enzymes systems. Further, it increases the body metabolism by removing stress on pancreases, thereby burning out more energy and helping obese and overweight people reduce their weight. Hence, people living in tropical coastal areas, who eat coconut oil daily as their primary cooking oil, are normally not fat, obese or overweight.

Infections: Known to be very effective against a variety of infections due to its antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. According to the Coconut Research Center, this oil kills viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, SARS, etc. It also kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, etc. This medicinal oil is also effective on fungi and yeast that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, diaper rash, etc.

Bones: As mentioned earlier, this oil improves the ability of our body to absorb important minerals. These include calcium and magnesium which are necessary for development of bones. Thus very useful to women who are prone to osteoporosis after middle age.

Dental Care: Calcium is an important element present in teeth. Since this tropical oil facilitates the absorption of calcium by the body, it helps in getting strong teeth and stopping tooth decay.


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