I keep seeing articles about how coconut oil is better for you than other kinds of oil because it's metabolized differently. Does anyone know whether or not there's any truth to this? Also, if you've tried it in cooking, does it affect the flavor of the food? I'm worried it would be too sweet.

I have a big jar of this but haven't used it yet. I did lots of reading into it and it sounds like it's one of the best oils to cook with due to it's high smoke point. Saturated fats like butter don't get destroyed easily in cooking, so they don't release free radicals into the food. I've heard that it doesn't affect the flavour of the food but I don't know how as it does taste like quite a strong flavour!

This is something I have saved on cooking oils

Thanks for the fact sheet! I figure I'll give it a try in some of my Asian and Thai dishes. There are a number of dishes that call for coconut, so if the oil imparts any flavor, it'll be fine. Definitely looks like it's worth checking out!

I use mostly coconut oil and olive oil to cook with. I think coconut oil is much more healthy than a lot of the other oils. I also use it as a deep conditioner for my hair, to whiten my teeth, and for some other things. Coconut oil has many uses.

I tried my coconut oil for the first time tonight when making mashed sweet potatoes. I used 10g and it did have a slight taste of coconut. It wasn't too bad but I wouldn't want everything I cook to taste of coconut!

I've hard such good things about coconut oil, but more as a moisturizer for hair and skin. I think I'll have to do a little more research on it about cooking and health benefits. And thanks for the chart Bev! That's a good start in my research!

That's an excellent chart, thank you. I have tried coconut oil in curries and it does taste of coconut, which I love, but not everyone in the family does. For most things, I use organic rapeseed oil which, I have read, also has a lot of good properties. I also love the taste of bacon fat.

Coconut oil contains a lot of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) which are processed differently to other fats, but so many people are int eating spoons of it, or adding it to coffee, which really is a complete load of crap. Why add hundreds of calories of oil to your daily calorie intake? Calories matter, I would say get most of them from food.

Great to cook with though.

Adding oil to coffee! Ugh! No! Sounds like a terrible idea. I agree that if you use it in cooking, that's one thing. I enjoy making curry with coconut milk as a base, so I imagine it won't taste much different. It could be a shortcut for other sweet dishes, though. I especially like the idea of using it for sweet potatoes.