I said “Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take?”
I said, “Doctor, to relieve this belly ache,”
You put de lime in de coconut, you drink ‘em bot’ togedder
Put de lime in de coconut and you’ll feel better…
While I cannot attest to the effectiveness of the remedy featured in this 1971 Harry Nilsson hit song, one thing is for sure: coconut does offer a variety of healing benefits beyond its nutritional content. Some islands boast the fruit (or is it a nut? a meat? …or all of the above?) as the primary staple, using the coconut meat, juice, milk and oil in a variety of ways. In the Pacific Islands the oil is believed to be a cure for all illness and the tree is considered the “tree of life.” According to the VitaCoco website (a coconut water wholesaler), coconut contains “contains high levels of lauric acid, what the body uses to make monolaurin, a disease-fighting fatty acid derivative. Lauric acid has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties that protect the body against various infections and boost the immune system.” In other words, it’s good for you!
It will be hard to list all of the benefits of coconut, but we’ll try to whet your appetite if you’re one of the hold-outs.
Snacking: Add coconut flakes to your homemade trail mix or granola bars. A great way to take coconut on the road is the Oskri organic bar, boasting coconut and rice syrup as the only ingredients in the original bar, and mango, almond, strawberry, cherry and pineapple as other options (sorry, Harry, lime not available!). If you are an ice cream lover, make homemade coconut milk ice cream, adding pureed fruit at the end of the cycle, for a divine and affordable dairy-free sweet treat.
Drinking: Nothing’s better than birthday cake for breakfast the day after the celebration, right? Well another version of “dessert for breakfast” is simply pouring coconut milk from the can onto a bowl of fresh berries from the Oak Park Farmer’s Market (for reference, one organic coconut milk can of the Whole Foods 365 brand costs $1.49). “Light” coconut milk is usually just watered down; instead combine regular coconut milk with another non-dairy option like almond milk if you find it too heavy or want it to last longer. Some stores even sell half-gallon “drinking coconut milk” now.
Coconut water is a great way to stay hydrated. The water is extracted from coconuts that are green before turning brown – the water actually turns into the hard meat most often associated with coconut. The water can be stored in your pantry but you must refrigerate it after opening and drink it within 24 hours.
Cooking: If nothing else, shift to using coconut oil for all of your stovetop cooking; due to its high heat stability (up to 375 degrees), it will not create trans-fatty acids when cooked at higher temperature. Coconut oil is primarily medium-chain triglycerides which do not store as fat, are converted to energy more easily, and enable the body to metabolize fat more efficiently. You might find it weird at first because coconut oil must be spooned out of a jar versus poured out of a bottle – just one of its many characteristics that make it unique! Let go of having to perfectly measure and use it to sauté vegetables, fry an egg, or cook a veggie burger.
Baking: You can easily melt the oil in an oven-safe container in your oven while it preheats and then use it in your baked goods, changing your recipe to a vegan one or simply feeling better about what you are ingesting. We’ve used the oil as a one-for-one substitute for butter and other oils in pancake recipes, cookies, muffins, and breads with great results.
If you aren’t already out the door, hop on your bike and head to the store for some coconut – oil, flakes, raw, whole…whatever floats your boat. Trust the process – your health and wellness will improve, even if intangible and simply preventively, by shifting in the ways suggested above!
