If you have ever watched the film ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ you might be aware of the hilarious use of Windex for any and every ailment. When the character Gus Portokalos is confronted with any skin ailment, he says, "Put some Windex." It is portrayed as a crazy folk remedy for all sorts of things but gives off the impression that only the truly ignorant would really believe that any product can be a magical solution to almost anything. But wait; if you actually replace the use of the highly toxic Windex with COCONUT OIL instead, you may actually be onto something. I only recently in the last few years have discovered the AMAZING qualities of this oil, not only for cooking, but for cosmetic use, and medicinal use. Slowly I have replaced many of the toxic products I normally would have used with recipes made with this oil or simply by using it in its raw form.
Some of the ways that I’ve personally used it are:
- As baby belly lotion during pregnancy and afterwards for stretch marks and itchinessto remove baby cradle cap: pour some on, wait ten minutes, scrape off gunk
- replaced unhealthy cooking oils like canola and vegetable oils not only in stovetop cooking but in baking as well, however it does alter taste somewhat so experiment with your preferences
- as a moisturizer after a bath both for myself and my son: it is safe for him to consume even accidentally but he totally eats it too when we use it at night
- to heal my calloused feet after a good scrubbing: applied generously then put socks on overnight to allow full absorption
- as a weekly hair conditioner: I dye my hair fairly often and this is damaging to my hair but if I condition with coconut oil overnight even just once a week or every other week, my hair keeps its silky shine without the use of harsh hair products
- to remove make-up: I am glamour queen on the days that I choose to make an effort and that means needing to remove tough makeup at the end of the day and this does it effortlessly, without any stinging even with waterproof or extended wear products
AND an added bonus is that is far more economical to use coconut oil instead of the products it is replacing, especially if you buy it in bulk.
There are many other ways to use this oil, which I have yet to try and am slowly implementing. Instead of listing all the qualities and other uses which would make this post a mile long, I am going to direct you to some resources for you to check out for yourself to become knowledgeable on just how AWESOMSAUCE this stuff is.
The majority of these resources come from Hybrid Rasta Mama’s blog, who is a great enthusiast of coconut oil and promotes it shamelessly. She is the one who has opened the door to this wonderful holistic wonder product for me personally. So explore away!
Books:
Retailers:
How do you use coconut oil?
What a great list of links! I've been converting myself, but haven't delved anywhere near as deeply. Would you substitute it anytime you are going to use another oil?
ReplyDeleteI need to try the other (non food) uses.
It's fun!
I have been trying to do so but sometimes I find it alters the taste of my recipe too much and so use butter instead (I no longer use canola or vegetable oil). I think it all depends on your preference. I've even used it in baking and it has worked fine but again, it does alter the taste somewhat. It's all trial and error!
DeleteCoconut oil rocks! I've used it on my skin and we really like it as diaper cream (it's cloth diaper safe!) and in our cloth baby wipe solution.
ReplyDeleteMy son loves it after the bath, calling it his coconut bum!
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