There are many ways to use coconut for your health, but getting silky and shiny hair, to cleaning your teeth and moisturizing your face. Internally, coconut can also help tremendously, both with coconut oil and coconut milk. This blog post will explore the different ways coconut can help with your digestive system.
Different Types of Coconut
Coconut Oil
The first type of coconut you can get for your gut health and digestive system is coconut oil. Coconut oil will come in a few different forms, so make sure you get the right one.
- Virgin, Unrefined Oil—This is the most natural and organic form of coconut oil, and tends to be the most popular choice. When it is virgin and unrefined, that means it will still have a strong coconut flavor, so keep that in mind.
- Refined Oil—If you want the health benefits of using or consuming coconut oil without the flavor of coconut, then get the refined. It might not be quite as natural, but it should still have many of the benefits.
- MCT Oil—While it is a little more expensive, you can also get MCT oil, which also does not have the flavor of coconut. This comes in liquid form that does not need to be melted first, like regular coconut oil.
Coconut Milk
Diary is one of the leading causes of digestive issues, especially in people with a sensitivity or intolerance to dairy products, or who have conditions like irritable bowel syndrome. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t have any type of milk at all. A better alternative is to start replacing regular milk with coconut milk. This is flavorful, has the same creamy consistency, and is simply a sweeter version of milk. It more closely resembled almond milk, so if you like vanilla almond milk, you will probably enjoy coconut milk as well.
Coconut Water
Drinking more water is a great way to start improving your digestion and help your bowel move more regularly, but you can also do this with coconut. If you find that you don’t drink a lot of regular water, it can be really helpful to have coconut water on hand. This adds a little bit of flavor to your water, making it more enticing and you actually enjoy drinking the water. It is also good with replacing other drinks like juice and soda, since it feels like you are drinking a flavored beverage and not just water.
Coconut Sugar
Whenever you are planning on adding sugar to something you eat or drink, whether you are adding sugar to your coffee or making baked goods, try adding some coconut palm sugar to it. This is more nutritious for you and can be a lot easier on your stomach. A lot of people with digestive problems find that it is the sugar content in their foods, not the dairy, that upsets their stomach. This is when the benefits of coconut really come in since you can get coconut palm sugar.
Why Coconut Water?
Drinking Clean
When you are looking for other drinks aside from regular water, you might be getting stuck on what is good for you. Fruit juice is fine if you use a juicer to make it yourself, but that can be a lot of work. It is hard to find bottled juice that is completely natural and doesn’t contain sugar or additives. With coconut water, you can find it in small or big containers, so it is easy to bring anywhere with you where you have a delicious and flavored drink with nothing bad added to it.
Improved Skin
Coconut water is also going to do wonders for your skin. This is both because coconut itself is wonderful for your skin, but also because drinking more water and hydrating properly helps with your skin quality. You will have youthful, glowing, beautiful skin with smaller pores and less breakouts when you begin adding coconut water to your regular diet. You can either drink it plain or add it to various recipes like broth soup, smoothies, and your own homemade fruit juice.
Weight Loss Efforts
Many people struggle with weight loss for a variety of reasons, which coconut water can help you with. The first way it helps you lose weight is by encouraging you to drink more water. You probably know how important it is that you drink more water while losing weight since it hydrates you and keeps you from drinking more fattening beverages. Coconut water is more delicious and has lots of other bonus nutrients as well. Another reason coconut water helps you lose weight is because coconut itself is good for curbing your appetite and reducing your cravings, especially if you are someone that often struggles with sugar cravings.
