Are you someone who loves to eat bread for breakfast every morning and wondering which spread to apply to your bread next?
I’m sure you’ve tried butter, jam, and peanut butter to all sorts of cheese spreads, but have you ever tried homemade coconut butter? Well, coconut butter is not just yummy, but also is packed with health benefits.
How does coconut butter benefit your health?
- Helps boost immunity:
Coconut butter is rich in lauric acid. This lauric acid has antimicrobial properties that can help fight and ward of diseases and keep the body safe from any bacterial or viral infections.
- Helpful for weight loss:
Coconut butter helps promote weight loss as coconuts contain high medium-chain fatty acids (MCTs). These medium-chain fatty acids provide energy to the body and do not remain in the body as fat. These medium-chain fatty acids also help body metabolism and increase energy levels.
For those looking to lose weight, having coconut butter can help promote satiety and supresses the body’s natural appetite. Which meals the lesser food you consume, the lesser will be your calorie intake, resulting in weight maintenance and weight loss.
- Helps reduce bad cholesterol levels:
Coconut butter can help reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL) levels in the body and promote an increate in the good cholesterol (HDL) levels. This means that it will also help promote better cardiac health and heart functioning.
- Increases and improves cognitive functioning:
Our body produces ketones (certain substances that the body produces if the cells do not get enough supply of glucose or blood sugar). Therefore, when the ketones in the body consume the medium-chain fatty acids, it ca help boost brain functioning and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive diseases.
Here’s a quick and easy homemade recipe for you to try out!
Ingredients:
Method:
Take the dried coconuts and scrape out the hard brown peel using a knife or peeler. Then, cut the dried coconut into pieces and using a high-speed blender, blend it into a smooth paste. Make sure the paste is free from lumps. You can also add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to make the paste smooth and liquidy. Store in a container for upto one month in room temperature.
Serving suggestion:
You can also spread a layer of the coconut butter on your pancakes or on toasted bread and have it.
How is coconut oil different from coconut butter?
- Coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid that contains no fibre, unlike coconut butter.
- Coconut oil is cold-pressed for the coconut that has matured, while coconut butter is made from the flesh of the coconut which has been dried.
- Coconut oil changes color and becomes transparent and melts when heated, while coconut butter retains its consistency.
- Coconut oil is pure oil, while coconut butter contains only around 60% of coconut oil.
- Coconut oil can be used while cooking, but coconut butter cannot be used for cooking but can be used as a spread on toast or pancakes.