Ketogenic Diet and Coconut Oil

This post may be sponsored or contain affiliate links. All opinions remain our own.(Full disclosure)

If you’re struggling to get your healthy fats in on your ketogenic diet, then you shouldn’t look much further than coconut oil.

This natural superfood is great for your digestion, immune system, and can easily be used by the body to provide clean energy from ketones if following a keto diet.

What is the best coconut oil for a keto diet?

MCT Oil or Coconut Oil

Coconut oil containing MCT oil is one of the simplest types of fat for your body to process well and burn for energy.

Adding it to your high-fat diet is a no brainer.

With a lack of carbs, your body will convert fat into ketones, which are used as a fuel within the body instead of glucose.

Other than glucose, ketones are the only other source of energy your body can use.

Medium chain triglycerides found in natures coconut oil are efficiently converted into ketones by the body.

MCTs are also useful for those who have difficulty digesting fats.

They’re particularly useful for gallbladder issues since they don’t require bile salts for digestion.

Therefore, people who have had the gallbladder removed should be able to handle coconut oil just fine.

I generally prefer to eat coconut oil over MCT oil since the latter is produced in a lab.

With the coconut fats, you get all the other good stuff that is provided by nature. But there is no problem with consuming either.

The main MCT in coconut oil is lauric acid, where It has a ton of antimicrobial properties. Many people use it for medicinal purposes.

Lauric acid works naturally to fight off infections such as candida and thrush. (1)(2)

Human breast milk also contains high concentrations of lauric acid. Since breast milk is nature’s perfect food, it must be good for you then.

Enhance Ketosis

The addition of coconut oil to a low carb high-fat diet will enhance your state of ketosis.

To check whether you’re in ketosis or not you should use ketone testing strips or a blood ketone monitor.

If you have difficulty entering and maintaining ketosis, you should incorporate coconut oil daily into your low carb diet.

If you’re not using these products, see our post regarding the symptoms of ketosis without using strips to see if your burning ketones.

Coconut oil is a superfood, not a drug. Therefore there is no danger of overdosing.

People around the world consume coconut oil daily without side effects, but you may feel a bit odd after taking too much.

Coconut oil may also cause digestive problems in some people, particularly diarrhea.

If you start experiencing this, then obviously cut back then begin to consume again slowly and gradually work up to a higher level.

Your body will let you know your limit. Coconut oil, on its own, doesn’t provide essential micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals.

The saturated fat contained within coconuts can enhance the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

LowCarbAlpha

Weight Loss and Coconut Oil

For one of the best low carb diets to rapidly burn fat using the body’s natural metabolism, you should consider a ketogenic diet plan.

Nutrition has a powerful effect on the body’s production of essential hormones.

Not only will it help you in your quest for weight loss, it can contribute to reducing the fat in your abdominals area.

Using coconut oil as part of a weight loss program makes a lot of sense.

The body metabolizes the fats which produce energy instead of storing it as fat.

It can be used in cooking and baking, and you can even spread it on toast instead of butter.

You can eat it raw or take it as a supplement. One tablespoon of extra virgin coconut oil, when taken early in the morning, can boost your metabolism for the entire day.

As your body adjusts to having this saturated fat in your system, you can increase the dosage to 3-4 tablespoons daily.

Daily use of this natural fat will yield amazing results and aid you to lose weight.

Incorporating oil from coconuts into your diet works well since it is a medium-chain fatty acid.

This kind of fatty acid is easily used as energy by the body, so it is not stored.

It also does not contain any trans-fats in the unrefined or raw, virgin state, which is the type of you will need to use.

Adding the oil to your diet to lose weight can also help to reduce food cravings. This can be significant as cravings are a big reason why so many diets fail to succeed.

If you follow a low carb exercise or bodybuilding program then it’s super easy to add a tablespoon to protein or keto shakes to get your calories in. Even easier, just put some on a spoon and have it straight, it tastes great.

The bottom line, if you want to lose fat fast, then include coconut oil in your diet.

Using Coconut Oil in Low Carb Recipes

As coconut oil has a high smoke point, you can easily use it for baking or as a replacement for olive oil.

You can use it in homemade fat bombs recipes such as almond and coconut oil brownies or keto fudge.

If you’re one to skip breakfast, and prefer coffee, you could include a tbsp of coconut oil and 1 tbsp heavy cream in your beverage. Blend these ingredients up for a cup of bulletproof coffee.

Sometimes I practice intermittent fasting and don’t eat my first meal until 8+ hours after waking up. So if I fancy a cup of coffee, this gives me a few grams of fats to help me through that first part of the day.

All in all, it’s such an easy inclusion if you’re struggling to get all your fat calories in for the day.

Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

• Coconut oil can help your body fight diseases
• Boosts the immune system and regulates metabolism
• It’s regularly used in cosmetics and is great applied directly onto hair and skin (3)
• Lowers the risk of heart disease (4)
• Helps you to get into and stay in ketosis
• Raises the good HDL cholesterol
• Promotes thyroid health and reduces inflammation
• Help in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (5)
• Coconuts are a natural food that people have been eating for many many years

Coconuts are used as a primary food source around the world. They are rich in fiber, nutrition and contain essential vitamins and minerals.

The fatty acids from the coconut have long been used in medicine for its healing properties.

Many cultures believe it contains healing powers that can cure a multitude of ailments.

In the last few years, the popularity has surged and has been linked to losing weight, improved skin along with many other health benefits.

Individuals who add coconut oil to lose weight can actually lose more weight than people who don’t incorporate it into their low carb diet.

Some other foods to include on keto to hit your daily fat macros are healthy natural fats such as avocados, olives, and grass-fed and seed or nut butter.

You need to avoid processed carbs such as bread, pasta and cereal, and all junk food.

Check out our keto food list for a more detailed guide.

How Much Coconut Oil to Eat Per Day for Ketosis

To reach ketosis and maintain it, you will need to track your macronutrients daily to make sure you’re hitting your target.

On a keto diet, you need to aim for roughly 75% of daily calories to come from fats.

Personally, I do not count fat calories since after practicing high-fat dieting, you soon get accustomed to the amount of fat you’re eating per day.

There is no magic amount to eat per day, as it depends on where you’re getting the other healthy fats from.

Fats and oils are very satiating, so it can be quite difficult to overeat your fat percentage every day.

I tend to eat, on average, 1-2 tbsp of coconut oil a day, some days more depending on what meals are eaten.

1 tbsp contains roughly 117 calories with 13.6g total fat. Be sure to count your calories and macros if new to this type of diet.

Conclusion

Adding healthy saturated fatty acids to lose weight works by raising your body’s metabolism, thereby burning more calories and fat.

When first adding it to your low carb diet try starting with a small amount and gradually build it up, so to get used to the taste.

The oil also helps to cleanse your system, so adding too much too fast can cause discomfort. Overall, it is beneficial in many ways.

With the American Heart Association recently releasing a report saying it’s not healthy and advising against the use of coconut oil we feel the need to support the healthy fats.(6)

We hope we have been able to convince you of some of its amazing health benefits and is great to include in your keto lifestyle.

Look to buy organic varieties without preservatives. Always choose unrefined or extra virgin, cold-pressed over the refined variety. You can easily tell if it’s refined since it will be bland, without a strong coconut taste.

We like to use organic extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil by Viva Naturals.

Thanks for reading, please share with your friends to spread the benefits of coconut oil and high-fat dieting.

What’s your favorite kind of coconut oil for keto and preferred ways to consume or use it each day?