Tag Archives: Best cooking oil

Coconut Oil is Made in Heaven! Top 3 Virtues of Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil Made In HeavenTop 3 Virtues of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been consumed in tropical places for thousands of years. Studies done on native diets high in coconut oil consumption, show that these populations don’t suffer as much from the modern diseases known to the western nations where coconut oil is rarely consumed.

There are countless of uses of coconut oil, from health promoting to topical beauty applications to first aid treatments to household cleaning.

I’ll mention here only few most important benefits.

1. Ideal Cooking Oil. 

Coconut oil is an ideal cooking oil, as it is one of the very few that withstands the high cooking temperatures without being damaged.  Furthermore, coconut oil does not go rancid.

2. Medicinal Purposes.

    • Coconut oil has strong antimicrobial and antiviral properties; it destroys all kinds of microbes, from viruses to bacteria: e.g. HIV and herpes, influenza, measles, gram-negative bacteria and protozoa.
    • Coconut oil promotes heart health (coconut oil is “good” fat), healthy brain function, proper thyroid function, strengthens immune system, supports strong metabolism that aids weight loss etc.
    •         Coconut oil is easily digested and does not produce an insulin spike in the bloodstream.

3. Beauty and Personal Care.

Coconut oil aids restoring skin’s youthful appearance and as such can replace or use as a base for most of the beauty and skin care products.

It can be used alone or as a base ingredient in homemade body moisturizer, eye cream, facial cream, deodorant, toothpaste and many more.

It is also known for its hair benefits and used to restore tired hair, as a pre-shampoo conditioner or against dandruff.

Key Things to Remember

  • Not all coconut oil is created equal. You need to look for organic, cold pressed, unrefined, extra virgin coconut oil. I currently use  Amanprana and quite happy with it, otherwise Biona has a good quality one too.
  • It is an ideal oil used for cooking, baking, frying (if you really need to fry ;))
  • Coconut oil can be used as base or replacement for most of your skin care products.
  • Add it to your tea or coffee, smoothie, juice or food and it will act as an appetite suppressant.

Credits and Sources

http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/

http://coconutoil.com/

Food In, Beauty Out 🙂

Ideal Cooking Oil – Ghee

How To Make Ghee At Home

 

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Ingredients: 500gr of unsalted organic butter (made from cow’s milk)

Cooking time:    about 15-20 minutes

  • Put the butter in a heavy pan and let it melt.
  • When it starts boiling, turn down the heat until the butter just boils and continue to cook.
  • Keep a close look on the ghee, as it can easily burn. Do not cover the pot.
  • The butter will foam and pop while it cooks. It will start smelling like popcorn and turn a golden color.
  • Take a dry spoon to move away white foam on top.
  • When the liquid is clear and stopped making noise, then it needs to be taken off the heat.
  • Let it cool and then carefully pour in a dry glass container with a lid. Discard the milk solids at the bottom of the cooking pan.

Ghee does not need refrigeration and has lengthy shelf time. The medicinal properties are believed to improve with age. Store it in a dry place away from direct sunlight. Don’t serve the ghee with a wet spoon as this will create conditions for bacteria to grow and spoil the ghee.

 

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Enjoy!

Ghee – Both Medicine and Ideal Cooking Oil

gg3Ghee is my “magic” ingredient in almost every cooked meal.

Ghee is also called “clarified butter” because it is prepared by cooking the butter until the water evaporates and then straining out the milk solids.

Not only the ghee is one of best cooking oils (as it is one of the few unrefined oils that can withstand high cooking temperature) but it gives a beautiful, rich flavor to your dish.

Ghee is considered a medicine, it is used extensively in Ayurveda and has many healing properties including those of intellect promoting and vitalizing.

Interestingly the ghee is also a digestive and it helps improve absorption and assimilation.

As an alternative you can buy commercial ghee, however it won’t be as good as homemade.  Commercial ghee is normally made using a centrifugal separator and not all of the water and solids are removed.

It takes only 15-20 minutes to prepare the ghee and this is how I make it:    Homemade Ghee Recipe