big food hippie here. love both. i use coco oil for cooking, making hemp or almond mild creamy, added to smoothies, and yes, on my skin everyday.

chia seeds are great in smoothies or straight if you soak them in water for 10 minutes. crazy delicious raw vegan (i am neither) chia pudding recipe i have if you want it let me know. good "cleansing" food.

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Christy Przystawik
Holistic Health Coach. Chef. Mother. Motivator.
coachchristymarie.com

I think there are some components of coconut oil that are also found in breast milk, it's naturally anti-something (-bacterial? -biotic?).

You can make smoothies with chia seeds.

Anonymous wrote:How can it be a "healthy" oil? It's 86% saturated fat, which is probably why it hardens just like animal fat does.

Heart Diseases:
There is a misconception spread among many people that coconut oil is not good for the heart. This is because it contains a large quantity of saturated fats. However, coconut oil is beneficial for the heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in preventing various heart problems including high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. The saturated fats present in coconut oil are not harmful as it happens in case of other vegetables oils. It does not lead to increase in LDL levels. It also reduces the incidence of injury in arteries and therefore helps in preventing atherosclerosis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/coconut-oil-benefits_b_821453.html

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/19/how-good-is-coconut-oil-for-you/

Anonymous wrote:How can it be a "healthy" oil? It's 86% saturated fat, which is probably why it hardens just like animal fat does.

Not everyone agrees that saturated fat is unhealthy. Check out the documentary Fat Head.

It's the great anomaly of coconut oil.

How can it be a "healthy" oil? It's 86% saturated fat, which is probably why it hardens just like animal fat does.

Healthy*

Coconut oil and coconut water are very different things.. both healthiest, but my understanding is that coconut oil is a great healthy fat. I like coconut, but when I eat raw, the taste of "grease" is what grosses me out. I will try eating less.

About the water... I am from a place where we drink it ALL the time... I love it! But honestly, I like it fresh, straight from the coconut.

It does seem really sensitive to temperature and easily melts and hardens. I've never tried it on salad and think I'd probably just go with olive oil in that context. I basically just use it in place of butter and use olive oil for frying or dressings. So I'll spread coconut oil on a waffle, for instance. When I eat it raw, I just scoop a bit out with a spoon, like less than a tablespoon. I love all things coconut though, so it might be a matter of taste. You might want to try coconut water too. Either by cutting a hole in a young coconut, or store-bought. Whole foods sells one that comes in a can and is called coconut juice. That one tastes the best in my opinion. I get the one with pulp. Kind of pricey, but better than the other prevalent brands. And avoid Goya - they add sugar. Coconut water is so refreshing when you are parched (or hungover) and has a lot of nutritional benefits.

OP here. I have been using it for cooking, but sometimes it is annoying. Like yesterday, I had some melted in hand, and used it to coat my salad. Well, as soon as I poured it on the salad, it hardened....

Also, I tried eating it raw, and was gross... maybe I put too much in my mouth? How much do you eat?

I use coconut oil on my skin - makeup remover and moisturizer. I also eat it raw sometimes. It's really good for your skin and supposedly helps with metabolism (though I can't really attest to that last bit). I haven't had any winter skin dryness since using it. Some people do oil-pulling with it, which is apparently swishing it around in your mouth for awhile to soak up toxins. I don't know anything about that, but there are google threads about it. You can also cook with it. My mom uses it in place of olive oil in a skillet. I use it in baked goods and if I have to grease a pan. It's very all-purpose.

I want to know more about Chia seeds and coconut oil as "healthy foods." What can you tell me about them? Do they really work? How do you use them? In what recipes? How often? What kind of health benefits you have noticed since beginning use them (if any)?

ETc.