Coo-Coo for Coconut Oil {Giveaway}

So way back when I started my gluten (and so much more) free journey one of the things that Dr. Heather told me was that I needed to eat more fat. Wait, what? That’s right, more fat but not just any fat, good fat. Still confused, so was I.

It turns out that not all fat is created equal and not all of it is bad for you. In fact, fat should be an important part of everyone’s diet. Dr. Heather recommended that I start adding coconut oil to my diet because she thought it was the least likely to cause a negative reaction for me.

Seeing as eating fat isn’t something you get told to do every day I decided to google coconut oil and see what I could find.

While coconut oil does contain saturated fat it also has a super high concentration of medium chain fatty acids, which are extremely good for you. Because of the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil some considered it healthier than many unsaturated fats. Medium chain fatty acids have been found to help absorb and retain calcium as well as enhance the immune system.

About 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil are from lauric acid, that’s the highest concentration of any food source. Lauric acid is extremely important in keeping our immune systems healthy.

It also turns out that coconut oil is just as good for the outside of your body as well as the inside. It makes a great conditioning treatment for your hair as well as an excellent moisturizer. I haven’t tried either of those myself, but I have heard other bloggers rave about it.



So needless to say I added coconut oil into my diet. I use it when I sauté vegetables, I add a tablespoon full into my smoothies and I use it when I make coconut oil chocolate bars and chocolate coconut snowballs.

I’ve been using coconut oil for a little more than a year now and like with every other food, not all coconut oils are the same. Some are really good with just a mild coconut flavor while others have kind of an odd, bitter taste to them. And just like any health food, they cost a little bit more than their not so healthy alternatives. Because of this, experimenting with coconut oils can be a little daunting.

So when I got the chance to try out a free jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil I was pretty pleased. This way if it wasn’t too great I wasn’t out anything. Ok, I would’ve used it anyways because I just can’t waste anything. ;)

When I got my huge 32 oz jar in the mail I was ready to start testing. First I tried it in a big veggie stir-fry. It as great; no heavy coconut flavor, no weird after taste, just perfect. The next place was my smoothie. I’ve had problems with coconut oil here before with odd flavors and not quite mixing in well. If they don’t mix well I notice the oiliness and I really don’t like a heavy oil texture, bad experience with fish oil. *shiver*

The Tropical Tradition coconut oil mixed great and didn’t affect the smoothie texture or taste at all. I’ve actually been able to add more coconut oil into the smoothie than I was ever able to previously.

So at any rate, I really like it and so you can find out if you'll really like it too Tropical Traditions is giving away a 32 oz jar to one lucky Easy Eco To Go reader. For the main enrty go to Tropical Traditions and tell me one other product you'd like to try. This one must be done for all other entries to count.

As always there are additional ways you can enter:

• Suscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter (2 entries)
  
• Leave a comment telling my what recipe from the Tropical Traditions site you'd like to make with the coconut oil. (1 entry)
  
• Follow @easyecotogo on Twitter and leave your @name (1 entry)
  
• Follow @troptradtions on Twitter and leave your @name (1 entry)
  
• Write a blog about the contest or email 3 friends & cc me on the email easyecotogo at gmail.com (3 entries, please leave 3 comments)
  
• Tweet about the contest (I'm CooCoo for @Troptraditions coconut oil! Win a quart from @easyecotogo http://bit.ly/9g7QmK #giveaway) (1 entry, can be done once a day. Please leave a comment for each tweet)
  
• Follow my blog in Google Friend (1 entry)
  
• Subscribe by email or RSS to Easy Eco To Go (2 entries, leave 2 comments)
  
• Add my button to your blog (leave your site with your comment so I can stop by and say hi!) (2 entries, please leave 2 comments)
  
• Add my blog to your blogroll (1 entry)

Separate comments must be left here for each additional entry!

Also, please include your email with comments or if you’d rather, after you leave your main entry comment, email me at easyecotogo(at)gmail(dot)com so I will have a way of contacting you if you win. You will have 48 hours after I contact you to send me your info or else I will choose another winner.

This contest is only open to US residents.

The contest will run from Monday May 3rd, 2010 thru Monday May 10th, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST.

And as always the boys will help me pick a winner which will be announced Tuesday the 11th.


These statements have not been approved by the FDA and are just facts I found online. This information is simply what I believe and what worked for me. This may not be right for you so you should talk to your doctor before making any decisions.