Five ways to incorporate coconut oil [into your daily diet] | Part 1

If you guys have read my blog for awhile now, you know that I have a total obsession with coconut oil. I put it all over my body, I put it in everything, and I put it on everything. Coconut oil is such an amazing product that you likely have in your house (if you don't, I want you to turn off your phone or computer and run to Trader Joe's right now to get some). Why I am even saying that you should incorporate coconut oil into your daily diet in the first place?

Coconut oil is an amazing source of fatty acids, which you need in your diet! It also increases the burning of fat, so if you're looking into health benefits or weight loss suggestions, incorporating it into your diet is a really good idea. Because of the saturated fats within coconut oil, HDL is increased and this can help with high cholesterol levels. It is a great moisturizer for the hair and skin, and a natural sun protectant as well. Now, I know I'm no doctor. I've taken pharmacy classes, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry, so I do understand why coconut oil does what it does to the body. But, if you don't trust me, google coconut oil health benefits and I guarantee that you will believe me then.

Over time I've found so many ways to incorporate coconut oil into my daily diet, so I wanted to share them with you guys in case it's something you'd like to try, or if you're looking for new ways to incorporate it into your life. Tomorrow, I want to talk about ways to incorporate it into your daily life.

1. Add a scoop into your hot tea or coffee // This is such a no-brainer every single morning that will give you that dose of coconut oil that you need. This may be hard to get used to at first, because the consistency looks oily, and the taste may be difficult to get used to. The smell and taste of coconut oil is a big love of mine, so this wasn't a hard transition for me to make. Add a teaspoon of honey or a wedge of lemon in with your tea along with it if the taste is a bother for you. Have a spoon or wisk nearby if the oil separation bothers you.

2. Substitute for butter in cookie recipes // Another no-brainer! Coconut oil makes for an extra fluffy texture to the cookies, which I think is incredible. Here is one of my favorite recipes. Make sure that you have the right consistency of oil, much like warmed butter, soft and easy to work with, but not melted!

3. Melt and put over natural non-buttered popcorn // This is my favorite way to have coconut oil. I melt coconut oil in a mug, and pour it on top of a bowl of natural unbuttered popcorn, it adds the perfect amount of flavor and little something to the plain popcorn! It's delicious. Jason actually loves nibbling on this too.

4. Use in place of cooking oils when making dishes like stir fry // I like to put coconut oil in a pan before making a stir fry or any pan dishes instead of using butter or olive oil.

5. Add 1-2 teaspoons into your smoothie // Two ways to do this one. You can put the coconut oil in the blender in solid form with your smoothie mix, if you like those little chunkies of coconut (like I do), or you can melt it first, then add into your blender for a smoother consistency.

See the theme here? There are so many ways to incorporate coconut oil that once you start, will just become second nature because they are such no-brainers. There are a million other ways, these are just a couple of my personal favorites. Side note, for internal use, make sure you're purchasing organic virgin coconut oil! How do you use coconut oil in your diet?