Coconut oil has a long and highly respected reputation in many cultures throughout the world, not only as a valuable food but also as an effective medicine. It is used throughout the tropics in many of the traditional systems of medicine. For example, in India, it is an important ingredient in some of the ayurvedic medical formulations. Ayurvedic medicine has been practised in India for thousands of years and is still used as the primary form of medical treatment by millions of people. They have learned over the generations that consuming coconut oil speeds recovery from illness.
Factors affecting skin degradation
We use hand and body lotions to soften the skin and make it look younger. Many lotions, however, actually promote dry skin. Commercial creams are predominantly water. Their moisture is quickly absorbed into dry, wrinkled skin. As the water enters the skin, it expands the tissues, like filling a balloon with water, so that wrinkles fade away and skin feels smoother. But this is only temporary. As soon as the water evaporates or is carried away by the bloodstream, the dry, wrinkled skin returns. Ordinary body-care products cannot permanently cure dry, wrinkled skin. Most lotions contain some type of highly processed vegetable oils that are devoid of all the natural, protective antioxidants that are so important to skin care.
Oils have a pronounced effect on all the tissues of the body, especially the connective tissues. Without connective fibres, we would become a shapeless mass of tissue. They give the skin strength and elasticity. When we are young and healthy the skin is smooth, elastic, and supple. As we age these fibres are continually breaking down because of free radical attack, causing them to sag and wrinkle. The once young, soft, and smooth skin turns dry and leathery.
Once a free-radical reaction is started, it can cause a chain reaction that produces more free radicals, which ultimately damages thousands of molecules. The only way our body has to fight them is with antioxidants. When a free radical comes into contact with an antioxidant, the chain reaction is stopped. For this reason, it’s good to have plenty of antioxidants available in our cells and tissues to protect us. The number of antioxidants we have in our tissues is determined to a large extent by the nutrients in our diet.
Conventional processing strips polyunsaturated oils from the natural antioxidants that protect them. When we put these types of oils on our skin they also create free radicals, causing permanent damage to connective tissues. This is why you should be very careful about the types of oils you use on your skin. If you use a lotion or cream containing this type of oil you are, in effect, causing your skin to age faster. The lotion may bring temporary improvement but accelerate aging of the skin and even promote skin cancer.
Using Cocoanut oil for Youthful and ageless skin.
Coconut oil can make your skin look more youthful. The surface of the skin consists of a layer of dead cells. As these dead cells fall off, new cells take their place. As we age, this process slows down, and dead cells tend to accumulate, giving the skin a rough, flaky texture. Coconut oil aids in removing dead cells on the outer surface of the skin, making the skin smoother, enabling it to reflect light more evenly, creating a healthier, more youthful appearance. The skin shines because light reflects better off evenly textured skin.
The difference between coconut oil and other creams and lotions is that the latter is made to bring immediate, temporary relief. Coconut oil, on the other hand, not only brings quick relief but also aids in the healing and repairing process. Most lotions do the skin no lasting benefit, and many actually accelerate the aging process. Why take the risk of permanently damaging the skin when you can easily use coconut oil to help bring back its youthful appearance. Applying coconut oil will help re-establish a healthy skin environment.
The removal of excessive dead skin and the strengthening of underlying tissues are two of the key advantages to using coconut oil as a skin lotion. People with a variety of skin problems have experienced remarkable results from using coconut oil.
Protecting the skin from Germs by use of coconut oil
Our skin acts as a protective covering, shielding us from harm much like a suit of flexible armor. It provides a protective barrier between us and literally millions of disease-causing germs that we come into contact with each day. If it were not for our skin, we could not survive; even organisms that are ordinarily harmless would become deadly.
The biggest chemical barrier to infectious organisms is the acid layer on the skin. Healthy skin has a pH of about 5, making it slightly acidic. Our sweat (containing uric and lactic acids) and body oils promote this acidic environment. For this reason, sweat and oil do us good. Harmless bacteria that can tolerate the acid live on the skin, but troublesome bacteria can’t thrive, and their numbers are few.
When coconut oil, which is made of triglycerides, is put on the skin, it doesn’t have any immediate antimicrobial action. However, the bacteria that are always present on the skin turn these triglycerides into free fatty acids. The result is an increase in the number of antimicrobial fatty acids on the skin and protection from infection. The free fatty acids also help to contribute to the acidic environment on the skin, which repels disease-causing germs. After all, fatty acids are acidic and therefore support the acid layer on the skin.
When bathing or showering, soap washes the protective layer of oil and acid off our skin. Often afterwards the skin becomes tight and dry. Adding moisturizers helps the skin feel better, but it does not replace the acid or the protective MCFAs that were removed. By using a coconut or palm kernel oil-based lotion, you can quickly help reestablish the skin’s natural antimicrobial and acid barrier. If you are troubled with skin infections or want to avoid infections, it would be to your benefit to use coconut oil after every bath.
Hair Care with Coconut Oil
It makes for a great hair conditioner. Application: A little oil (a couple of teaspoons) can be applied at night and washed out in the morning, or you can use a little more and thoroughly soak the hair for an hour or two before washing. Some people prefer to put the oil on, cover the head with a shower cap, and then take a long relaxing bath. After about an hour the oil is washed off. This process can be repeated every few days.
If you take a long warm bath make sure to apply coconut oil on your skin to replace the natural oils that have been washed off. In fact, any time you use soap you are removing your body’s protective layer of oil and changing the pH of your skin.
Complete removal of Dandruff Another advantage of using coconut oil as a hair conditioner is that it will help control dandruff. If you apply the coconut as described above, complete removal of dandruff takes place after two to three servicing.
Skin Elasticity Test
For this test, pinch the skin on the back of your hand with the thumb and forefinger and hold it for five seconds. Let go and time how long it takes for the skin to completely flatten back out. The shorter the time, the younger the functional age of the skin. Compare your results to the table.
If you want to prevent further degeneration and perhaps even regain some youthfulness in your skin, the best thing you can do is use coconut oil in place of other creams and lotions.
| Time (seconds) | Functional age (years) |
| 1-2 | Under 30 |
| 3-4 | 30-44 |
| 5-9 | 45-50 |
| 10-15 | 60 |
| 35-55 | 70 |
| 56 or more | Over 70 |