The society we live in basically picks a food and put a cape on it with the idea that such food is a SUPER FOOD and it can work wonders. I wonder how we got here though. Lets take a little peek at one of those foods today shall we?
Coconut oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).
It contains high-levels of saturated fat and so is slow to oxidise reducing possiblities of rancidification.
There are two major process of producing coconut oil from the kernel which are: WET AND DRY PROCESS.
PRODUCTION
1. DRY PROCESS: Dry processing requires that the meat be extracted from the shell and dried using fire, sunlight, or kilns to create copra.[2] The copra(dried kernel nut) is pressed or dissolved with solvents, producing the coconut oil and a high-protein, high-fiber mash.
2. WET PROCESS: The all-wet process uses coconut milk extracted from raw coconut rather than dried copra. The proteins in the coconut milk create an emulsion of oil and water. The more problematic step is breaking up the emulsion to recover the oil. This used to be done by prolonged boiling, but this produces a discolored oil and is not economical. Modern techniques use centrifuges and pre-treatments including cold, heat, acids, salts, enzymes, electrolysis, shock waves, steam distillation, or some combination thereof.
FATTY ACID CONTENTS OF COCONUT OIL
Caprylic saturated: 7%
Decanoic saturated : 8%
Lauric saturated : 48%
Myristic saturated : 16%
Palmitic saturated :9.5%
Oleic monounsaturated : 6.5%. Facts show that coconut oil contains a whooping amount of saturated oil and should be consumed moderately.
COCONUT OIL
Nutritional value per 100 g
Energy 3,730 kJ (890 kcal)
Fat…………………99 g
Saturated…….. 82.5 g
Monounsaturated….. 6.3 g
Polyunsaturated……. 1.7 g
VITAMINS Quantity %DV†
Vitamin E……….. 1% 0.11 mg
Vitamin K……….. 1% 0.6 μg
MINERALS Quantity %DV†
Iron……………… 0% 0.05 mg
Other constituents Quantity
phytosterols …………….86 mg.
Coconut oil is usually termed Medium chain triglyceride and the benefit of this MCT is that it requires very little energy for absorption into the body and it readily diffuses from the GI tract to the portal system instead of going through the lymphatic system.
It is used for weight management in underweight children and also in children with infantile cholestasis so the oil diffuses directly to the portal vein.
Other uses of coconut oil are for hair growth by women, as alternate fuel source in some countries.
Know that there is SUPER FOOD, every food is good in its own way and could be harmful to the body if taken in excess .
Source: wikipedia.