The Amazing Coconut
Submitted by David Weaver on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 12:32pm
The coconut is a wonderful fruit with countless benefits, uses and medicinal purposes. The meat of the coconut may be cultivated into coconut flakes, milk, cream concentrate and even flour. When pressed or when the cream is separated, coconut oil is created. The liquid within the fruit is coconut water and is rich in fiber, proteins, and antioxidants. Health benefits of coconut oil:
Coconut oil has shown to improve skin conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and other skin infections. It helps prevent premature aging and degenerative diseases. The oil contains lauric acid which is good for your heart. Coconut oil assists in weight loss, digestion, and immunity. It has many healing properties that make it effective against infections such as its antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties. The oil is also helpful in helping our bodies absorb other important vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin-D, calcium, magnesium and amino acids.
The rest of the coconut- Coconut oil and coconut milk are great for cooking and baking. The milk is a great ingredient for making smoothies, marinating chicken or steaks, making soups or curries and even non-dairy ice cream! The meat of the coconut can be processed into flakes which are great for baking, adding to salads and snacking and can even be made into flour and used in place of wheat flour for muffins or breads.
There are so many other benefits we can enjoy from the coconut, find more information in the links below and try it out for yourself!
http://www.coconutdiet.com/index.htm
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html
Recipes
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
1 can tuna (or fresh crab or shredded chicken, etc...)
2-3 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup walnuts
dashes of cayenne pepper
squeezes of lemon
bunch of basil
fresh ground black pepper
half of avocado
stalk of celery
Combine in food processor! Stuff hollowed out tomato. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Health Tips
Buy Organic
Foods that were once thought to be very good for your health, are still good for your health. BUT, many of them also have added problems and dangers associated with them that they never had before.
There are some more commonly known problems such as the use of pesticides, toxins and other dangerous chemicals that now exist in non-organic foods. These can lead to various health problems and conditions. Just do a search for "side effects of pesticides" and see what you come up with.
But aside from these issues, there is a very big problem even worse than pesticides; Genetically Modified Foods. The US does NOT require labeling of GMO foods. Fruits and vegetables are some of the most commonly modified foods. They are created in labs and then patented as something the said company owns. There are no laws about the safety of these foods being put into distribution. They are only required to have a patent. Some foods that are VERY likely genetically modified are soy, corn and it's products (canola oil, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) and wheat.
So just by eating the way our pre-agricultural ancestors ate, we can avoid some of our present day dangers all together. We already know that grainfed animals are the "protein equivilant of cardboard." We also now know that there are some potentially dangerous effects of the other foods we are eating as well. So if we are trying to live as healthy and disease-free as possible, let's think more carefully about what we put in our bodies. Buying organic, grassfed, local products is good for the local community, good for your health, and good for future generations.
"A plant, fruit, or animal grown without the administration of artificial pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones (in the case of animal products), most closely replicates wild or untampered-with growing conditions" - Mark Sisson
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” ~ Thomas Edison
