Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is the healthiest, most versatile unprocessed dietary oil in the world. Our Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is made from organically grown coconuts and is an excellent cooking oil. It contains Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) which the body metabolizes quickly, converting the fats to energy rather than storing them as fat. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is a stable, healthy saturated fat that does NOT elevate "bad" (LDL) cholesterol.

Garden of LifeŽ Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is rich in lauric-acid (50-55% capric and caprylic acid.) These are super fatty acids with strong anti-microbial properties. We think it is simply the best tasting, most aromatic coconut oil on the planet!

Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been used as a cooking oil for thousands of years, and is still a staple in the diets of many people living in tropical areas today. It was once popular here in the United States as well, until shortages of imported oils during WW II created the need to promote local oils like soybean and corn oil. Soon, polyunsaturated fats became the norm in this country; and with it came a rise in obesity, higher cholesterol levels, and degenerative diseases related to aging.

Coconut oil has been shown to reduce the symptoms of digestive disorders, support overall immune functions, and to help prevent bacterial, viral and fungal infections. People who consistently use coconut oil, report changes in their ability to go without eating for several hours without experiencing the effects of hypoglycemia.

A study conducted in Yucatan where coconut oil is a staple, showed that metabolic rates of people living there were 25% higher than in comparable test subjects living in the United States. Increased metabolic rate is a key to healthy weight management and could account for the leanness of people living in areas where coconut oil is consumed on a daily basis. The study further observed that local women displayed none of the symptoms commonly associated with menopause.

Good Fat vs Bad Fat

Research done in the 1950s concluded that all fat was bad. And still today many people equate fat with weight gain, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, etc. However, certain fats actually help to prevent those conditions and are essential to good health.

Early researchers failed to distinguish between saturated, monounsaturated, and
polyunsaturated fats. They assumed at the time, that all fats (including coconut oil) were unhealthy because they raised serum cholesterol levels. But, in revisiting those studies, researchers found that hydrogenated (refined) coconut oil had been used. All hydrogenated oils produce higher serum cholesterol levels, and contribute to greater oxidation and free radicals in the body. In fact, further research has shown that excess amounts of trans-fatty acids (found in hydrogenated vegetable oils) increase the risk of degenerative diseases and other age-related maladies.

Studies have shown that the amount of unsaturated oil in the diet strongly affects the rate at which wrinkled skin develops. Taken internally and used topically, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is effective at slowing down that process.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil has tremendous antiviral properties. Lauric Acid makes up 50 to 55 percent of the medium-chain fatty acids in Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. In the body lauric acid converts into
monolaurin, a compound which is adept at fighting viral pathogens, and is also present in large quantities in breast milk, where it protects infants from viral,
bacterial and parasitic infections.