Health and Beauty benefits of Coconut Oil

Health and Beauty benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil’s benefits for skin and hair are emphasized a lot in our country, and why not , coconut oil has such characteristics that in whatever way you choose to use it, it will only do you good. Whether taken internally or used externally coconut oil is extremely beneficial.
Coconut oil is extracted from matured coconuts. The manufacturing process is such that first, coconut milk is first made, from the milk, oil is extracted.

Depending on whether coconut oil is taken internally or externally, benefits of coconut oil are in hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength.


These benefits of coconut oil are because of its components which include lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid. Incredibly, lauric acid is the same compound that can be found in breast milk. And we all know that breast milk is packed with nutrients and disease-fighting ingredients that help keep babies healthy. So in a way, coconut oil is to adults, what breast milk is to babies.

Coconut Milk
Coconut Milk

Benefits of Coconut oil –

1. Skin Care
When applied on face and body, coconut oil acts as an effective moisturizer, it especially works great on dry skin by preventing dryness and flaking of skin. The coconut oil will exfoliate the outer layer of dead skin cells, and will make skin softer and smoother. It works by penetrating into the deep layers of the skin to strengthen the underlying tissues. Coconut oil also delays wrinkles, crow’s feet and sagging of skin which come with age.

2. Hair Care
Coconut oil is best nutrition for hair. It promotes healthy growth of hair providing them with a shiny
texture. It is extremely useful if applied a few hours before shampooing. If need be, coconut oil can be applied after shampooing to keep hair shiny. It is also a good conditioner and helps in the re-growth of dull, damaged hair. It also provides the essential nutrients for nourishing damaged hair

3. Stress Relief
Coconut oil is extremely soothing and thus helps in reducing stress. Applying coconut oil to the head followed with a gentle massage for a few minutes helps in lowering physical and mental fatigue. Heating oil and then massaging on muscles and joints will relax and rejuvenate your body. It is excellent massage oil and 20 minutes of massage on body before bath will give you radiant and youthful skin.

rati beauty ad
Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil

4. Weight Loss
There is science to suggest that Virgin coconut oil has the ability to help stimulate your metabolism. Virgin coconut oil is not hydrogenated and has no cholesterol. Thus coconut oil is preferred by athletes and body builders and by those who are on strict diet. The reason behind this is that coconut oil has lesser calories compared to other oils. In fact, its fat content is converted into energy and it also does not lead to accumulation of fat in heart and arteries. Coconut oil finally, helps you intensify energy levels and endurance.

5. Heart Diseases
There are many misconception and controversies whether coconut oil is good or bad for the heart. This is because coconuts contain a large quantity of saturated fats. Scientifically it has been proven that, coconut oil is beneficial for the heart. It contains 50% lauric acid, which helps in preventing various heart problems. Even though saturated fats should be avoided, the saturated fats present are in coconut oil are not harmful. It does not lead to adding LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) levels. Coconut oils work in favour of your heart by reducing high cholesterol and high BP.

Apart from helping your heart, coconuts also help in supporting your immune system, proper functioning of your thyroid gland and providing you with instant energy source.

Coconut oil smells and tastes amazing, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t bring coconut oil in our daily beauty routines and daily cooking.

Fun facts about coconuts –



Falling coconuts kill 150 people every year, this is 10 times the number of people killed by sharks.

Coconuts are used as ‘prasadam’ in temples because of its property to provide instant energy.

Image Sources : 1, 2, 3


34 thoughts on “Health and Beauty benefits of Coconut Oil

  1. I love that coconut prasad we get from temples. Cant use coconut oil in my hair because the smell gives me headache but I love eating raw coconuts, coconut burfi, :eat: coconut upma and every single south indian food that has coconuts. :eat: :eat: :eat:

    Oh and coconut water to he h e

    falling coconuts kill so many people :pain: but why do people stand under the coconut tree when they know it’s risky. :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly:

    1. Rati.. good point… no point standing under coconut trees especially when they dont really give any shade huh 😉 :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush:

  2. coconut oil helps in weight loss!!!! REALLY??????
    yipppeeeee 😀 am a cocnut oil “bhakt” from now on…
    Thank you Smita for the detailed info 🙂

  3. Smita nice one, i use coconut in almost all the curries, esply our sambhar with tempered and grind coconut masala is my speciality 🙂

    Rati :-* :-* :-* ur so much like ma roomie,

    she is a hard core punjabi (Meena Sood), but loves my coconut based curries and i use coconut oil to temper curries……..

    1. Wow really ? Whats coconut masala? Do you mean chutney ? Tell me more :P:P
      I loooove coconut as a flavour, love things cooked in coconut oil, gives food a different taste altogether.

  4. My dad is a cardiologist.He says that any oil is bad for heart….coconut/groundnut/sunflower and even olive oil.So consume very little oil approx.1 tablespoon per person per day.

    Sorry about making this comment …your article is really nice.I just thought That I should ask my dad and comment.Please talk to a cardiologist or a physician before writing any article on health.Health and beauty are related but you should be more careful when you write health benefits.Don’t trust articles written in magazines and internet…not all such articles are reliable.

    1. Hi Isha,
      Nice of you to consult your dad about this. But I didn’t write this article as ‘healthy hearts’ , the heart part is a very very small part of this article, and is not the point of the article. The point of the article is benefits of coconut oil.
      I agree that too much oil is bad for you body, but at the same time, your body needs oil especially in cooler weathers. Also, it is impossible and unhealthy to completely remove fats and oils from your diet.
      I also did mention that there is a lot of controversy regarding it all, so there are two sides to it all. I guess, to each his own.

  5. I agree with all the health benefits except skin care, esp face. broke me out bad and had little pimples on body as well when i used this. its very comedogenic. but love it for the hair!! thanks sudha.

Leave a Reply to Suma Cancel reply
