Anyone who is reading me should immediately go check out Running on Candy......Fueled by Sugar, Rainbows and Glitter. I do not think it will take long to see why spending time around this woman has been such an inspiration to me (and so many other people we know).
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September Blog Challenge Day 24 Have you ever fallen for a fitness “gimmick”?
I was going to say "no" because I research the living daylights out of my hobbies and dont tend to have a lot of money to throw at completely random unproven crap. But then I was also going to post about my first experiment with coconut oil as a food instead of a beauty product, so... maybe?
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| image via http://www.frugallivingnw.com |
Coconut oil has gotten a really bad reputation based on the amount of saturated fat it contains, and to be sure the descriptions of the chemical laden processing methods for regular grades of the oil give me the screaming heebie-jeebies. But as we're starting to find out from more and more sources, the fat vs health story is not so cut and dry as we once thought, and source can play a big part in the relative healthfulness and safety of a food.
Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World
Is Coconut a Superfood?
Abstracts from Peer Reviewed Literature on Coconut Oil (website's words, not mine)
No completely clear cut answers yet, but I have found that every time I go back to basics and ditch the over-processed products offered as the norm in our society I end up happier and healthier for it. I'm a butter over margarine, soap over sanitizer, yogurt over belly meds kinda gal, and I notice that in the long run the science always seems to prove me right.
Coconut oil has long been a staple of my external beauty routine, perhaps it has a place internally as well? I for one am up for giving it a shot. So that being said, on to the important part - dinner.
I decided to have a pair of artichokes tonight (today being Meatless Monday and all) where typically I will have just one. My usual accompaniment is melted butter, but for the last few years I've been (admittedly lazily) experimenting to find a way to cut down on the amount of butter without cutting down on nommability (that's a technical term) and usually I default to a bit of olive oil with some salt added. This NEVER does the trick though and I always feel subtly gypped. It tastes off, and bland, and somehow even greasier than plain butter.
Today I happened to catch sight of a jar of coconut oil in my pantry as I was looking for bay leaves and I thought perhaps I'd try that instead of the olive oil. The result was PURE DELICIOUSNESS. The butter coconut combination reminded me of coconut shrimp (a favorite) and the hint of sweetness added a great counterpoint to the artichoke.
I'm kicking myself for taking so long to crack open that jar. I don't know if I want to eat it by the spoon-full as suggested in some places, but I do plan to use it in a LOT more foods.
I'm not about to stop getting my cholesterol tested though.
I have jumped on the coconut water train.
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