A voice for
herbal medicine

We share traditional, scientific and practical insights written by experienced herbalists and health experts from the world of herbal medicine and natural health

Coconut's lauric acid boosts vitality and well-being

Coconut – Virgin Coconut Oil

Cocos nucifera Arecaceae

Coconut virgin oil is packed with medium chain fatty acids - easy to digest and can improve the body’s metabolic rate.

Sustainability status

Not currently on risk lists but complete data may be missing on the status of the species. Commonly cultivated though may be sourced from the wild. Only source cultivated supplies or from certified sustainable wild collection. Read more about our sustainability guide.

Sustainability Status
Key benefits
  • Digestive remedy
  • Aids metabolism
  • How does it feel?

    The coconut plant is a large palm tree that can grow up to 30m in height. It has long, thin and pinnate leaves and produces a very smooth bark. If grown on fertile land, coconut palms can produce close to 70 fruits per year. Coconut palms are primarily harvested for their fruits, from which the dried coconut flesh, coconut water and coconut milk and oil are all used commercially. It is thought that coconut palms originated in the America’s, however, they are now cultivated across the globe. To make Virgin coconut oil, the coconut milk is expressed from freshly harvested coconuts and is fermented for 24-36 hours. During this time the water separates from the oil. The oil is then slightly heated to remove moisture and is filtered. The result is a clear coconut oil that retains the distinct scent and taste of the coconuts.

  • What can I use it for?

    Virgin coconut oil is easily digested and goes directly to the liver, improving its efficiency but also stimulating metabolic and digestive processes.  It will improve the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, calcium and magnesium. Virgin coconut oil will encourage healing of the intestinal lining.

    Virgin coconut oil contains caprylic acid which has anti-fungal, bacterial and viral properties which can help clear Candida albicans but will also soothe and nourish inflamed skin and encourage wound healing.

  • Into the heart of Coconut – Virgin Coconut Oil

    Virgin coconut oil is easily digestible and contains medium chain triglycerides/fatty acids (MCT’s) which increase the metabolic rate, impacting directly upon the efficiency of the digestive system and the liver.  Virgin coconut oil goes straight to the liver to be transformed into energy (lauric acid), by-passing the circulatory and lymphatic system, reducing the risk of cholesterol and blood-fat build up. Consequently, it can be a healthy addition to balanced weight loss programmes. Its oily nature also makes it a perfect remedy for internal and external inflammation and irritation.

    Medium chain fatty acids have a direct stimulating effect upon the metabolic rate improving all metabolic and digestive efficiencies. They head straight for the liver and therefore reduce the risk of cholesterol and blood fat build up which also protects the heart and the arteries from long term damage.

    Its heating properties translate into other benefits. In the airways, the result is increased blood supply to the mucosa and loosening of mucus congestion. In the digestive system there is also increased mucosal blood supply that leads to improved digestive secretions; with the volatile oil content there is added antispasmodic activity that helps reduce colic as well as the spasm that generates nausea and vomiting.

    Virgin coconut oil heads straight to the liver once it has been ingested and is directly transformed into energy which stimulates metabolism, specifically the digestive metabolism. It is indicated in digestive weakness and also in weight management and high cholesterol as it improves the metabolism of fats but also because the oil bypasses the circulatory and lymphatic system.

    Virgin coconut oil improves the efficiency of the thyroid and is indicated in both hyper and hypo-thyroidism where it will regulate and balance this gland.

    Virgin coconut oil will soothe and nourish inflamed skin and is an effective wound healer, improving the appearance of scars and supporting the healing process in conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis.

  • Traditional actions

  • Traditional Energetic actions

    Herbal energetics are the descriptions Herbalists have given to plants, mushrooms, lichens, foods, and some minerals based on the direct experience of how they taste, feel, and work in the body. All traditional health systems use these principles to explain how the environment we live in and absorb, impacts our health. Find out more about traditional energetic actions in our article “An introduction to herbal energetics“.

  • Did you know?

    The secret of this oil’s success is that it does not need to be broken down by enzyme dependant processes like the long chain fatty acids present in other saturated oils. By replacing long chain fatty acids with medium chain fatty acids allows more help for rebuilding cell membranes and increasing enzyme production.

    This oil also has a very high smoke point, so you can cook with it at high temperatures without compromising any of its benefits.

Additional information

  • Safety

    No drug-herb interactions are known.

  • Dosage

    1-3 tablespoons daily (adults) and, for children, half the adult dosage.

Aromatic
An ‘aromatic’ remedy, high in volatile essential oils, was most often associated with calming and sometimes ‘warming’ the digestion. Most kitchen spices and herbs have this quality: they were used both as flavouring and to ease the digestion of sometimes challenging pre-industrial foods. Many aromatics are classed as ‘carminatives’ and are used to reduce colic, bloating and agitated digestion. They also often feature in respiratory remedies for colds, chest and other airway infections. They are also classic calming inhalants and massage oils, and are the basis of aromatherapy for their mental benefits.
Astringent taste
The puckering taste you get with many plants (the most familiar is black tea after being stewed too long, or some red wines) is produced by complex polyphenols such as tannins. Tannins are used in concentrated form (eg from oak bark) to make leather from animal skins. The process of ‘tanning’ involves the coagulation of relatively fluid proteins in living tissues into tight clotted fibres (similar to the process of boiling an egg). Tannins in effect turn exposed surfaces on the body into leather. In the case of the lining of mouth and upper digestive tract this is only temporary as new mucosa are replenished, but in the meantime can calm inflamed or irritated surfaces. In the case of open wounds tannins can be a life-saver – when strong (as in the bark of broadleaved trees) they can seal a damaged surface. One group of tannins, the reddish-brown ‘condensed tannins’ are procyanidins, which can reduce inflammation and oxidative damage.
Bitter
Bitters are a very complex group of phytochemicals that stimulate the bitter receptors in the mouth. They were some of the most valuable remedies in ancient medicine. They were experienced as stimulating appetite and switching on a wide range of key digestive functions, including increasing bile clearance from the liver (as bile is a key factor in bowel health this can be translated into improving bowel functions and the microbiome). Many of these reputations are being supported by new research on the role of bitter receptors in the mouth and elsewhere round the body. Bitters were also seen as ‘cooling’ reducing the intensity of some fevers and inflammatory diseases.
Blue-purple colouring
Any fruits with a blue-purple colouring contain high levels of the polyphenols known as anthocyanins. These work 1) on the walls of small blood vessels, helping to maintain capillary structure to reduce a key stage in inflammation, and improving the microcirculation to the tissues; 2) to improve retinal function and vision; 3) to support connective tissue repair around the body.
Cooling
Traditional ‘cold’ or cooling’ remedies often contain bitter phytonutrients such a iridoids (gentian), sesiquterpenes (chamomile), anthraquinones (rhubarb root), mucilages (marshmallow), some alkaloids and flavonoids. They tend to influence the digestive system, liver and kidneys. Cooling herbs do just that; they diffuse, drain and clear heat from areas of inflammation, redness and irritation. Sweet, bitter and astringent herbs tend to be cooling.
Hot
Traditional ‘hot’ or ‘heating’ remedies, often containing spice ingredients like capsaicin, the gingerols (ginger), piperine (black or long pepper), curcumin (turmeric) or the sulfurous isothiocyanates from mustard, horseradich or wasabi, generate warmth when taken. In modern times this might translate as thermogenic and circulatory stimulant effects. There is evidence of improved tissue blood flow with such remedies: this would lead to a reduction in build-up of metabolites and tissue damage. Heating remedies were used to counter the impact of cold, reducing any symptoms made worse in the cold. .
Mucilaginous
Mucilages are complex carbohydrate based plant constituents with a slimy or ‘unctuous’ feel especially when chewed or macerated in water. Their effect is due simply to their physical coating exposed surfaces. From prehistory they were most often used as wound remedies for their soothing and healing effects on damaged tissues. Nowadays they are used more for these effects on the digestive lining, from the throat to the stomach, where they can relieve irritation and inflammation such as pharyngitis and gastritis. Some of the prominent mucilaginous remedies like slippery elm, aloe vera and the seaweeds can be used as physical buffers to reduce the harm and pain caused by reflux of excess stomach acid. Mucilages are also widely used to reduce dry coughing. Here the effect seems to be by reflex through embryonic nerve connections: reduced signals from the upper digestive wall appear to translate as reduced activity of airway muscles and increased activity of airway mucus cells. Some seed mucilages, such as in psyllium seed, flaxseed (linseed) or guar bean survive digestion to provide bulking laxative effects in the bowel. These can also reduce rate of absorption of sugar and cholesterol. .
New-mown hay aroma
The familiar country odour of haymaking, of drying grass and other plants, is largely produced by coumarins (originally isolated from tonka beans – in French coumarou) and widely used in perfumery. They are chemically categorised as benzopyrone lactones and are important phytochemicals, with strong antioxidant activity in the laboratory and likely effects in modulating inflammation. They were most often associated with the calming effect linked to their use in stuffing mattresses and pillows and plants, high In coumarins were commonly used for these properties.
Resinous
Resins are most familiar as tacky discharges from pine trees (and as the substance in amber, and rosin for violin bows). They were most valued however as the basis of ancient commodities like frankincense and myrrh (two of the three gifts of the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus) and getting access to their source was one benefit to Solomon for marrying the Queen of Sheba (now Ethiopia). Resins were the original antiseptic remedies, ground and applied as powders or pastes to wounds or inflamed tissues, and were also used for mummification. With alcohol distillation it was found that they could be dissolved in 90% alcohol and in this form they remain a most powerful mouthwash and gargle, for infected sore throats and gum disease. They never attracted much early research interest because they permanently coat expensive glassware! For use in the mouth, gums and throat hey are best combined with concentrated licorice extracts to keep the resins in suspension and add extra soothing properties. It appears that they work both as local antiseptics and by stimulating white blood cell activity under the mucosal surface. They feel extremely effective!
Salty
The salty flavour is immediately distinctive. A grain dropped onto the tongue is instantly moistening and a sprinkle on food enkindles digestion. This easily recognisable flavour has its receptors right at the front of the tongue. The salty flavor creates moisture and heat, a sinking and heavy effect which is very grounding for the nervous system and encourages stability. People who are solid and reliable become known as ‘the salt of the earth'.
Sharpness
The sharp taste of some fruits, and almost all unripe fruits, as well as vinegar and fermented foods, is produced by weak acids (the taste is generated by H+ ions from acids stimulating the sour taste buds). Sour taste buds are hard-wired to generate immediate reflex responses elsewhere in the body. Anyone who likes the refreshing taste of lemon or other citrus in the morning will know that one reflex effect is increased saliva production. Other effects are subjective rather than confirmed by research but there is a consistent view that they include increased digestive activity and contraction of the gallbladder.
Sweet
In the days when most people never tasted sugar, ‘sweetness’ was associated with the taste of basic foods: that of cooked vegetables, cereals and meat. In other words sweet was the quality of nourishment, and ‘tonic’ remedies. Describing a remedy as sweet generally led to that remedy being used in convalescence or recovery from illness. Interestingly, the plant constituents most often found in classic tonics like licorice, ginseng are plant steroids including saponins, which also have a sweet taste.

Sign up to our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to receive the very latest in herbal insights.

Sign up to our newsletter