Have you heard all the fuss about coconut oil? It’s supposed to be good for this and good for that. If you’ve heard about the health benefits, but aren’t quite sure how to incorporate it into your life, I have put together 5 ways to use coconut oil that you can do every day.

I have been using coconut oil for a few years now, and I love it so much I take a little jar of it with me when we go away! And I have multiple containers of it around the house for different uses. (So if I bake you something you don’t need to worry that there might be the same coconut oil in there that I’ve been using to take off my eyeliner, I swear.)

5 Ways to Use Coconut Oil:

1. Bake with it. You can use coconut oil in place of butter in many recipes. It can actually be a good alternative for people with a dairy allergy. (Some people with nut allergies are allergic to coconut, so if you’re baking for people you don’t know please let them know your recipe includes coconut oil.) I have used it in place of butter in Rice Krispies treats and they were delicious! Not exactly a healthy example, but they were good.
2. Spray your pans with it. I buy this coconut oil spray and use it for cooking eggs mostly. It doesn’t make the eggs take like coconut. It’s just a healthy way to “grease” the pan. The spray makes it easier to keep from going overboard with the oil.
3. Put it in your coffee. This might sound crazy, but it’s really good! And maybe it sounds slightly less crazy than putting butter in your coffee?? (Which is really kinda delicious too) It’s a great way to get the healthy fats that coconut oil has to offer. It might help you get rid of unhealthy creamers too. I put a tablespoon or so in my black coffee, blend it quickly and sprinkle with cinnamon. It gets a little frothy and feels like a latte.
4. Moisturize your skin and hair. Coconut oil does wonders for your skin. I love that it’s natural so you don’t worry about ingredients- it’s just coconut oil. It also has antimicrobial properties. I use it to remove my eye makeup and it does a better job than any eye makeup remover I’ve ever used and moisturizes the eye area at the same time. You can put it in your hair as a conditioning treatment, too!
5. Try oil pulling. This one might sound gross, too. But it has tons of benefits including detoxification, getting rid of bacteria before they get farther than your mouth, healthier gums, and whiter teeth. It can improve big areas of health- like energy levels and immunity- over time. It’s a very old practice and is advocated by a wide range of people. You just take a tablespoon (start with less if it freaks you out) and swish it around your mouth, kind of sucking it in and out between your teeth, for about 20 minutes. Then spit it out- this is important because you don’t want to swallow all the stuff you just swished out! And spit it out into the garbage, not the sink. It would be great to do this every day, but you can start with once a week. It’s best to do it first thing in the morning. I usually do it while I’m working on my blog 🙂 My friend does it in the shower.

Coconut oil can do amazing things for your health. It reduces inflammation (which is linked to all sorts of diseases) and boosts immunity. It’s also really good for brain health. It’s been found to help with weight loss, too. If you Google the benefits you’ll be amazed. I have heard people say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, but after reading lots from both sides I am still convinced it’s a good thing. When used as part of a healthy diet. If you eat like crap and add coconut oil with all those saturated fats, healthy or not, I don’t know that it’s a great idea.

This is the coconut oil I use and love. I order it from Amazon. If you’d like to try it you can order it from Amazon here.

I also love this coconut oil cooking spray– it only contains coconut oil and it sprays nicely. Some sprays contain propellants, but not this one. You can get the spray at BJs, too, in a 2-pack.

There are lots of homemade products you can make using coconut oil too: facial cleansers and scrubs, body washes and scrubs, shampoo and conditioner, lip balm, deodorant, toothpaste, diaper cream…

Have you ever made something using coconut oil? I’d love to hear how you use this amazing oil!