In Polynesia the word for coconut means tree of life. You can build your home from it while you have the food and water the coconut provides. You can make fires for cooking from the husks, clothing from the leaves. You can do many amazing things with this plant.
Most of us already know the benefits of drinking pipa, or young coconut water. It makes you feel refreshed and energized containing many essential vitamins and minerals. I have recently been exploring the benefits of coconut oil as well.
When introduced into the diet and also applied topically this amazing oil has many distinct benefits for all of us.
First, it directly assists in removing wrinkles and making you look younger when rubbed into the skin. There is also evidence to support that it successfully counteracts the harmful effects of sun exposure, healing and reducing blemishes and spots. It is also known to reduce joint and muscle pain when rubbed into the affected areas.
Coconut oil has a pleasant light fragrance and can be used to replace butter and other oils in many recipes. The advantages to using coconut oil are numerous because it is a medium chain fatty acid compared to long chain fatty acids which is what is in most foods containing oils. The use of coconut oil will actually make you healthier because it is easier to digest and helps in the absorption of other nutrients. By itself, coconut oil is an easy to digest source of energy when added into the diet. Coconut oil is composed of 92 percent saturated fatty acids (compared to unsaturated fatty acids and oils), the highest of all dietary fats, and is a great antioxidant. This helps reduce many of the negative impacts of aging including wrinkles, disease, memory loss, and other symptoms of the effects of free radicals in our systems. The list goes on and on. Degenerative conditions from the most serious such as heart disease and cancer to relatively minor such as fatigue and dry skin will be directly counteracted by coconut oil.
You can reduce your cholesterol and improve your health by using more coconut oil and by cutting down on butter and other oils.
There are many many more benefits which I am learning about, and there is lots of supporting evidence to back it all up. The main thing is, we have coconut oil available locally. It is a huge health benefit. If you drive down almost any of the streets in Esterillos you will see a sign for coconut oil for sale. If you need help finding it, I have a source I buy from locally, and you can also make it yourself if you have time, patience and coconuts. I am happy to provide more info. More to come on this topic…………
Yesterday while enjoying a beautiful sunset view on Jacó Beach with a ton of surfers riding the waves as an orange glow settled above them, I searched for a good perch to sit and soak in the view and feeling of a peaceful tropical “atardecer del sol” (sunset). Usually there are only a few souls out to take in this daily spectacular, but with such great waves today, I wasn’t the only one with this grand idea on such a beautiful late afternoon as the beach was crowded not only with surfers but with double that amount of people all seated on chairs and beach towels as they took it all in. My favorite 12′ long tree log was packed to the brim so I searched for another stump and finally found an old palm tree stump that was a little rough but usable. So I checked in and around it to make sure there were no crabs or snakes and seeing know, I settled on down onto the rough surface thinking my middle-aged arse could handle a few bumps. After about 15 seconds I realized it felt a lot rougher than it had looked initially and then to my horror I realized why. I was being bitten or stung repeatedly by little creatures. As I lifted up I saw them swarming….ants!
I tried to brush them off as best I could without lifting my dress, just swatting and swatting and still trying to maintain my composure. But they just kept on stinging and the group of local Ticos seated on my favorite 12′ log nearby turned around and started staring at me. I tried to be as nonchalant as I could as I started walking toward a nearby stagnant puddle that had been created from the mountain water that comes down to empty in the sea. This puddle was only a few feet away from my now captive audience as I stepped into it and politely plopped down scratching my backside the whole time. Seeing the puzzled, confused looks on all their faces, this is the exact moment I knew that it was time to crack out my newly acquired Spanish language speaking skills. I smiled sweetly as still rubbing my backside under water I called out: “Tengo hormigas en mi trasero!!!” The crowd quickly changed their looks of puzzlement and scorn to smiles and laughter for I had explained that “I have ants on my behind!!!”
And after looking at the damage left behind, no pun intended I can now add “Hormigas no son amigas!” (Ants are no friends.) For my butt has a lot more cottage cheese like red welts and dimples than what can be expected in cellulite at my age!!! But at least I can walk the beach proudly “sin verguenza” (without shame) for having been able to explain the unfortunate predicament to my neighbors here in tropical paradise.
If you haven’t seen the documentary “SharkWater” yet, Here’s an interview with the director. It’s interesting what happened to him and his crew in Costa Rica.
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