Your Metabolism With Coconut

Wouldn't it be nice to crank up the dial on your metabolism a notch?

Well, you can! Certain foods ratchet your metabolism into high gear, helping to burn more calories and give you more energy.

The best known of these thermogenic (fat-burning) foods is protein. That's the reason high-protein diets promote weight loss. But there's another food that has even more calorie-torching power than protein: coconut oil.

Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), the unique fats found in coconut, are easily absorbed and rapidly burned as energy, stoking your metabolism. What's more, coconut fats blaze through slower-burning long-chain triglyerides.

In a recent study, the thermogenic effect of a high-calorie diet containing 40 percent fat as MCFA was compared to one containing 40 percent fat as long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Researchers found the thermogenic effect of the MCFA was almost twice as high as the LCFA: 120 calories versus 66 calories. The researchers were so astounded, they conducted a follow-up study. This time, they found that MCFA given over a six-day period can increase diet-induced thermogenesis by 50 percent!

You can use coconut oil just like you would any other oil. Try whisking with raspberry vinegar for a luscious summer dressing, or lightly pan-frying wild fish and organic veggies for a metabolism-boosting treat.