Coconut, the fruit coming from what has been known as the “tree of life”, comprises a solid white meat surrounding a water of a clear, sweet-tasting liquid protected in a hard nut and collectively enclosed in a hard fibrous husk. It may sound plain and uncomplicated but this austere creation is the home to the answers of the common troubles of many. There’s no wonder why many companies try to create formulations that would be better off than other competitors because it’s in their unique formulas that they make an edge over other brands. One brand that has been making name in the market is the Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.
Unlike other coconut products that has been dried for days before scooping out the meat (a product called copra), in which the oxidized coconut meat then goes to milling factories where they are bleached, deodorized, and further subjected to refinement processes to give it its white colour, Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is immediately cold-pressed after the meat has been scooped out of the nutshell waiting no less than 10 hours. It is unfermented, is free of pesticides and is not solvent-extracted. They reveal this as the secret to the freshness of their product, containing in the bottle all the natural aroma and colour of the coconut fruit and probably why they had been recognized as America’s number one selling coconut oil company.
The creamy consistency of this product makes it a perfect substitute for milk, yoghurt, butter and more. In fact, people have been employing it as a spread in breads and biscuits to achieve that coconut flavour they’ve always loved. More to that smooth, lovely feeling Nutiva Coconut oil brings to the palette, there are more health related benefits for its consumption.
It is free of cholesterol and trans-fat, components that effect to cardiovascular diseases and increased risk for hypertension and stroke. Being cold-pressed, it is devoid of the possibility of any alteration in the structure of the fatty acids naturally present in the meat. Hydrogenation, a process withstood by other products in the market, is simply the addition of a hydrogen molecule in the structure of the components in the oil. It breaks the double bonded molecules and turns it to single ones. Partial hydrogenation positions the added hydrogen atoms on either side of its structure, and thus it becomes labeled as “trans”. This kind of orientation is tightly packed, very difficult to break. At room temperature, they tend to be solid. This seems to be the goal of manufacturers, to achieve a mixture that would be solid at room temperature that melts upon exposure to heat. Furthermore it is kept from easy rancidity. It is accomplished only by partial hydrogenation. The problem we are faced now is the production of trans-fats which very much is the cause of all those coronary heart diseases and heart attacks. Coconut oil itself shelters fatty acids that are far from being deleterious to the health. One of which is lauric acid, a rare fatty acid that is said to be found in mother’s milk is 50-55% present in coconut oil. It is important that this acid remains its original structure if we truly want to make the most out of it.
Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil continues to pride themselves of the freshness of their product. Their processing procedures have been way different than other existing brands. While others have masked their products through bleaching, it still cannot disguise the texture and the taste it projects. Just looking at the fine, milky form of Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, would you still take your eyes off of it?
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