So on another visit when a merchandiser approached me with product information, I proudly told her, "I already know and love the product and will continue to buy it as long as you continue to make it". It's Goshen Extra Virgin, First Cold-Press Coconut Oil.
What I love about this coconut oil is that distinct aroma of the times when my grandmother boiled coconut oil over a wood fire in Smithville, Clarendon. I can taste the custard that formed ... but that's another story.The 'Buy Jamaica' campaign is alive and well, so consumers, support this one.
The label, as you can see, is attractive. Goshen Distributors Limited is located at 4-6 Norman Road, Unit 1, Kingston, Jamaica and you can also check them out at goshendistributors@yahoo.com. The instructions on a bottle you buy tell you that it is best if used by December 2009.
Virgin cold pressed coconut oil
Virgin cold pressed coconut oil has miraculous health benefits. The most commonly available coconut oil and the oil you are most likely to find is RBD oil. Refined, bleached and deodorised. This coconut is produced from copra (dried coconut meat). Due to the drying process, the resulting oil must be refined, bleached and deodorised in order to make it suitable for use. The final product is yellowish-white in colour with a thick texture and no taste or odour.
Cold pressed virgin oil
This process produces oil with the least amount of processing so that the natural vitamin E, antioxidants and fresh coconut essence are retained. Coconut oil should be cold pressed and not treated with chemical solvents, bleach or heat. It should not be hydrogenated. For daily use, a virgin cold-press oil will give you the greatest amount of lauric acid for your money. Lauric acid is so disease fighting that it is present in breast milk.
Antiviral, Antimicrobial and Antifungal Properties
As mentioned in the above, coconut oil contains lauric acid and its derivative monolaurin. Both are considered to have properties that destroy viruses, such as HIV, herpes, influenza (the 'flu') and cytomegalovirus bacteria, such as H. pylori, and protozoa, such as giardia.
Increase Metabolic Rate
Coconut oil can be integrated into a healthy weight-loss plan. It stimulates metabolism.
Other Possible Benefits of Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is also believed to help with cholesterol regulation by raising "good" HDL cholesterol. It also shows promise in tumor prevention.
Benefits to the skin
Survey shows that coconut oil supported healthy skin, including:
Smoothing and moisturising effects
Promoting skin elasticity
Convenient eye make-up remove
Use in shaving applications
Protecting your skin from the ageing effects of free radicals and can help improve the appearance of skin with its anti-ageing benefits.
Anti-ageing effects of Coconut Oil
The cholesterol-lowering properties of coconut oil are a direct result of its ability to stimulate thyroid function. In the presence of adequate thyroid hormone, cholesterol (specially LDL-cholesterol) is converted by enzymatic processes to the vitally necessary anti-ageing steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA. These substances are required to help prevent heart disease, senility, obesity, cancer and other diseases associated with ageing and chronic degenerative diseases.
Anti-cancer effects of coconut oil
In 1987, Lim-Sylianco published a 50-year literature review showing the anti-cancer effects of coconut oil. In chemically induced cancers of the colon and breast, coconut oil was by far more protective than unsaturated oils. For example, 32 per cent of corn oil eaters got colon cancer whereas only 3 per cent of coconut oil eaters got the cancer. Animals fed unsaturated oils had more tumours. This shows the thyroid-suppressive and hence, immuno-suppressive effect of unsaturated oils (Cohen et al. 1986).
