Coconut Oil Unrefined vs Refined: Is Coconut Oil Good For You? Article written by the Spencer Brothers on /2021. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
What is Coconut Oil?
It may seems self explanatory, but coconut oil is the oil that is extracted from the meat and milk of the coconut fruit. The world isn’t always this simple (i.e. baby oil), but in this case, it is. It has been used for about four thousand years for both external and internal use. Coconut oil has a lot of great health benefits that we will get into below.
Is Coconut Oil Good for You?
This has become quite the controversial question over the last five years. This is mostly due to coconut’s oil high concentration of saturated fats, which are generally considered bad for your health. Although most sources of saturated fat (Fatty meats, etc) raise bad cholesterol, this effect doesn’t seem to be as life threatening when it comes to coconut oil. There are still studies being done before a final conclusion will be reached on this, but it does seem that the scientific community does agree that coconut oil is healthy for you, in large part due to it’s health benefits.
Coconut oil is made up of a lot of fatty acid, which counterintuitevely has a a lot of positive effects on the body. These may provide Ketones for the brain, antimicrobial effects on the body, and good energy for our bodies. Although the internal uses of coconut oil have been attacked recently, there has never been any doubt about the external benefits of coconut oil. It has a great effect on skin, nails, hair, and teeth. Overall, coconut oil has a lot of health benefits and should definitely be in your house. But now let’s see which one is best for you. Coconut oil unrefined vs refined.
What is the difference: Coconut Oil Unrefined vs Refined?
Unrefined coconut oil is minimally processed in order to maintain the fullest integrity of the original oil. This oil is extracted using low heat, which leads to a lower smoke point. This oil will generally have a coconut smell and tast
Refined coconut oil is generally more processed through bleaching or other extraction methods. The bleaching process does not involve bleach at all, but is simply sending the product through carbon filter. These methods are used in order to remove or reduce the coconut taste and smell from the final product. These processes also use high heat in order to extract the oil, which will lead to a higher smoke point.
Which is better: Coconut Oil Unrefined vs Refined?
Unrefined coconut oil may a better choice if you want the taste and smell of coconut. Due to it potenitally having a higher concentration of antioxidants, it may be best for external uses. Warning: due to the low smoke point of unrefined coconut oil (~350F, ~176C), cooking with unrefined coconut oil may lead to burnt oil which has been proven to be very unhealthy and could even have links to cancer.
Refined coconut oil is a better choice if you want the benefits of coconut oil without the taste and smell. Some people also may have adverse reactions to unrefined coconut oil that aren’t necessarily allergic reations. If you do have a coconut allergy, neither unrefined or refined coconut oil will be consumable for you. Lastly, if you are wanting to cook at higher temperatures, you should use refined coconut oil as it has a higher smoke point (less likely to burn the oil).
A quick summary: both forms of coconut oil have a lot of the same health benefits. so, ultimitaly it is simply a matter of preference.
Thank you for reading this Coconut Oil Unrefined vs Refined: Is Coconut Oil Good For You? article. Check out our other articles below:
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