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10 things you can use coconut oil for
Ten of the best ways to use coconut oil. Coconut for cooking, hair, nails and lips. How to use coconut oil to whiten teeth.
Coconut oil has become increasingly popular over the last few years, both as an ingredient for cooking and baking as well as in your beauty regime.
There are thought to be many benefits of using coconut oil, including its moisturising and conditioning properties.
There are so many things that it can be used for, but here are just a few of the uses for coconut oil which you may not have considered:
1. Coconut oil for cooking
Cooking is probably the best known and most common use for coconut oil.
Organic coconut oil is ideal for cooking with very high temperatures due to its high saturated fat content. This tasty oil is very resistant to oxidation at high heat due to its high levels of saturated fat, 40% of which is lauric acid.1
It can be used in dishes such as stir fries and curries, as it also adds a little bit of flavour too.
Coconut oil has been used in South East Asian cuisine as a staple ingredient for many years, before becoming popular in the UK.
Coconut oil is pretty versatile too! As it is solid at room temperature, it can be used as an ingredient in baking and cooking as a replacement for vegetable oil or butter in recipes, as well as a cooking aid. You can also use it for greasing baking pans – so it’s definitely worth having in your cupboard.
Please note: like with every food, especially calorie-dense fats, coconut oil can add some serious calories to your meal. Don’t just slather it onto everything, treat it like you would any other oil e.g. olive oil, especially if you’re trying to be healthy.
If you’re following the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet, coconut oil could become one of your staples.
The medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut oil can be converted into ketones by your body, which are an important alternative energy source for the brain.2 They are also essential for keeping your body stay in ketosis, which is the metabolic state that instructs your body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates.
A popular way to give your body a morning boost of ketones is to make a ‘Bulletproof Coffee’. Also known as Keto Coffee, Bulletproof Coffee is a high-calorie, no-carb drink designed to replace breakfast. It is claimed to fuel your morning, keep your body in ketosis and help you feel alert and focused.
Most recipes call for butter, coconut oil/MCT oil and coffee, with coconut oil providing the all-important MCTs. You can also make it vegan by subbing the butter for cacao butter or more coconut oil.
Here’s how to make it:
- Brew some organic coffee and add around 350ml to a blender
- Mix with 2 tbsp of unsalted butter/ghee /cacao butter and 1tbsp of coconut oil, then blend until frothy and foamy
- Enjoy your creamy coffee!
2. Coconut oil for the nails and skin
Coconut oil is great as a moisturiser for your body, especially for very dry areas such as knees and elbows.
It can also be used as a facial moisturiser. However it does not work as effectively if your skin is naturally very oily.3
Give your feet a winter treat and apply a thick layer of coconut oil to dry, cracked feet, before popping on some fluffy socks and sleeping in them overnight!
The benefits of coconut oil for skin have made it very popular in the beauty world; let’s find out why.
Coconut oil is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. A study about fatty acids and how antimicrobial they are concluded that lauric acid was the most effective.4 And coconut oil is full of the stuff! In fact, lauric acid makes up almost 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil.
Try applying some to your feet and putting on some socks before bed to give them some antibacterial TLC.
Do you find makeup wipes are harsh on your skin? Or maybe you’re on the market for a more environmentally friendly way to take your makeup off at the end of the day? Either way, coconut oil could be your solution!
All you need to do is:
- Get yourself some unrefined coconut oil
- Rub a teaspoon size between your hands until it warms and becomes a liquid
- Massage it onto your face with your finger – no cloth necessary
- Then rinse with warm water and repeat is necessary
Using coconut oil this way is also free of the harsh ingredients makeup wipes sometimes include and helps you avoid ‘scrubbing’ at your face and eyes. Coconut oil is also a good alternative for people with sensitive skin – just do a patch test beforehand.
Just to add to its skin-loving properties, coconut oil is also great for enriching dry skin with much-needed moisture. This tropical oil helps to moisturise dry skin by keeping it hydrated and helping the skin barrier.
Try applying it after a shower to lock in some of the water and help keep your skin hydrated.
What about other oils? A study comparing extra virgin coconut oil with mineral oil as a moisturiser for mild to moderate dry skin found that both oils helped to reduce the symptoms of dryness, scaling and roughness of the skin.
As mentioned previously, coconut oil can be a great way to enrich the skin with moisture, and the same goes for our delicate nail skin. Try massaging some into your cuticles before bed for newly moisturised nail skin come the morning.
Fungal nail infections are usually caused by the athlete’s foot fungi spreading to the nails, but they can also sometimes be caused by yeasts, like candida.5
In a 2015 study, published in the American Society for Microbiology, researchers reported that coconut oil has an anti-fungal effect, and that feeding mice a coconut oil-rich diet reduced the size of the population of candida in their guts.6
Try these quick nail care tricks to reap the benefits of coconut oil:
- Speedy hand and nail scrub. For healthy nails, mix coconut oil and sugar, and massage into your hands and nails. Rinse off with warm water.
- Cuticle moisturiser. Massage coconut oil into your cuticles in a circular motion before bed for an overnight moisture hit.
- Instantly shiny nails. Want unpainted, natural nails to look more polished when you’re heading out? Simply dab a little coconut oil onto your nails before you go.
3. Clean and whiten your teeth
It is thought that coconut oil can help cleanse your mouth so you can use it by swishing it around your mouth, like a mouthwash each day.
Doing this may help to improve dental health and may also reduce bad breath.7
Please note that you should not use coconut oil in place of your normal toothpaste, mouthwash or floss, but that it can be a good addition to your usual dental routine.
The trend for bright white teeth has gained some serious momentum over the past few decades – not that we didn’t care about clean teeth before – a lot of people just want their teeth as white as possible.
However, with this popularity comes cheap products claiming to whiten your teeth quickly and cheaply. Coconut oil may just be the at home teeth-whitening alternative people have been looking for.
Coconut oil is most commonly used in the practice of ‘oil pulling’, which is the process of swishing oil around the teeth and mouth for a prolonged period of time and spitting it out.
This process has been seen to help improve oral hygiene when practiced correctly and regularly and used alongside normal dental hygiene practices like brushing teeth and flossing.
There are several oils recommended for oil pulling, each with their own benefits. Coconut oil was seen to decrease plaque formation.8 Plaque (a film of bacteria that forms on teeth) is the most easily repaired cause of yellow teeth, and coconut oil could help you produce less of it.
Read more: Different ways to whiten your teeth
4. Make-up remover
Coconut oil can break down lipid-soluble impurities such as make-up and sebum, leaving your face clean and fresh.
Simply massage the oil into your skin and then remove with a flannel.9
If you have especially oily skin, you should follow up the initial make-up remover with a gentle cleanse, to remove any excess oil.10
5. An ingredient for smoothies
Simply add one tablespoon of coconut oil to your usual breakfast or protein smoothie recipe.11
Coconut oil is an antioxidant, which helps to protect the body against free radicals caused by toxins.
Compounds within the coconut oil can also be used by the body as a source of fuel.12
6. Deep condition your hair
People have been including nourishing coconut oil in hair care routines for hundreds of years, but why?
First, let’s get the low-down on this tropical treat. Coconut oil is a saturated fat rich in the fatty acid (triglyceride) lauric acid – and this is the component that makes it such a hair hero.
With all the heat, hair dye and other styling we put our hair through in this modern age, one thing we need to do is try to keep hair damage at a minimum. Coconut oil may help you do just that.
One study tested the effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil on the prevention of hair damage. Coconut oil was the only oil found to reduce protein loss remarkably for both undamaged and damaged hair when used in pre-washing and post-washing treatments.
Researchers suspect that lauric acid plays a big part in this, as it is highly reactive with hair proteins and can penetrate inside the hair shaft due to its low molecular weight.13
Dry scalps can be irritating and are one of the main causes of dandruff – and coconut oil may help. Moisturising your scalp with a little coconut oil may help you say goodbye to dry and flaky skin. Be careful though, it won’t work for everyone and may just end up making your hair greasy, so do a little patch test first.
A telling indicator of hair health is how well it grows. Although further studies into the connection between coconut oil and hair growth need to be done, coconut oil may help to improve the health of your hair. When hair is healthy, it is less prone to the breakage and split ends that may inhibit growth.
Now you know the benefits of coconut oil for hair, here’s how to put them into practice:
- Protect with a pre-wash. As coconut oil can penetrate hair follicles and protect your hair from the inside out, it can stop your hair from soaking up too much water when you wash it. Damaged hair is much more porous than healthy hair and when hair absorbs water and increases in size, it can become damaged and break.14 Try applying some coconut oil through the midsection and ends of your hair about 30 minutes before you wash with shampoo and conditioner as normal.
- Apply as a conditioner. It is recommended that everybody use a hair conditioner after shampooing to decrease friction, minimise frizz and detangle the hair.15 Coconut oil makes a great conditioner to help prevent breakage and strengthen hair shafts. Use it as an alternative to your regular conditioner or add a few drops to your normal conditioner.
- Use as a styling aid. Before you pick up the hairdryer or hair straighteners try applying a dab or coconut oil to damp hair and work through the ends to help tame frizz.
- Make a nourishing hair mask. If you want to give your hair a real treat, take some coconut oil and massage it through your hair. Leave it in for a couple of hours or overnight, making sure you put a towel over your pillow or sleep in a shower cap. When you are ready, rinse off and wash your hair, using a, gentle shampoo.16
7. Coconut oil as an ingredient in a DIY body scrub
For a very simple exfoliating body scrub, combine a tablespoon of coconut oil with a tablespoon of ground coffee.
Just keep the same ratio if you would like to make a bigger batch.17
Use after washing in the shower, to help remove dead skin cells.
8. Lip balm
Coconut oil is ideal for use as a natural lip balm.
It is highly moisturising and thought to have some protection against sun exposure.
Coconut oil is also all-natural, whereas some lip balms may contain additional, synthetic ingredients.18
9. Use for cleaning make-up brushes
It is really important to keep your make-up brushes clean.
Coconut oil is perfect for dissolving dirt and grime that can otherwise cling to make-up brushes.
Massage coconut oil onto the brush head and then swirl the brush on a tissue or in water until you begin to see the dirt coming off.
Once clean, wash the brush again and then let it dry.19
10. Use as a massage oil
For those times when you have had a hard day and you need a relaxing massage from a partner, friend or family member, you can use coconut oil to help soothe tired muscles.
You can also mix coconut oil with a few drops of your favourite essential oil, for an even more relaxing effect.20
Summary
Coconut is a highly versatile ingredient that has been used for centuries.
Coconut can be used for:
- Cooking
- For nails and skin
- Cleaning and whitening teeth
- Makeup remover
- Smoothie ingredient
- Hair conditioner
- Body scrub
- Lip balm
- Cleaning making up brushes
- Massage oil
Which coconut oil is best?
So now you know all the ways you can use coconut oil and the benefits it may possess, you probably want to know which coconut oil is best.
There are several types of coconut oil, each distinguished by the way they have been processed and their intended final use. Every type has different benefits depending on how you want to use it.
- The best coconut oil for hair, skin and teeth: unrefined, cold-pressed (extra virgin) coconut oil. The purer the better when it comes to non-food use of coconut oil.
- The best coconut oil for cooking: the unrefined, virgin coconut oil you would use on your hair and skin is also great for baking and sautéing, but not for frying as it has a smoke point of 170C. If you want to get frying, opt for refined coconut oil as it has a higher smoke point of 204C.
Coconut oil terms
- Refined coconut oil: Processed for a milder taste and a higher smoke point so it can be used to fry food
- Unrefined coconut oil: Purer and less processed with a deeper coconut flavour and a lower smoke point
- Cold pressed coconut oil: Not exposed to a high heat before or after pressing
- Extra virgin coconut oil: The term for unrefined and cold-pressed coconut oil
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23105229/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25997382/
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-oil-uses
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC444260/
- http://www.bad.org.uk/shared/get-file.ashx?id=205&itemtype=document
- http://msphere.asm.org/content/1/1/e00020-15
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4382606/
- https://www.elle.com/uk/beauty/body-and-physical-health/a34531/coconut-oil-uses-and-benefits-for-skin-and-hair/
- https://www.allure.com/story/beauty-uses-for-coconut-oil
- https://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/amy/using-coconut-oil
- https://nutritioninthekitch.com/detox-smoothies-with-coconut-oil/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12715094/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387693/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387693/
- https://www.prevention.com/beauty/a20428276/coconut-oil-cures-for-your-skin-and-hair/
- https://www.luxyhair.com/blogs/hair-blog/7-ways-to-use-coconut-oil-in-your-beauty-routine
- https://allgoodproducts.com/14-uses-for-coconut-oil-an-all-good-family-favorite/
- https://sheerluxe.com/2020/06/25/10-beauty-uses-coconut-oil
- https://sunwarrior.com/blogs/health-hub/50-of-the-best-uses-for-coconut-oil
Last updated: 1 March 2021
The advice in this article is for information only and should not replace medical care. Please check with your GP or healthcare professional before trying any supplements, treatments or remedies. When using a hair oil for the first time be sure to do a patch test to ensure it’s suitable for you. Be wary of allergens with nut-based oils. Always read the label. Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
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