COCONUT LOVE: Nutritional Benefits & Why You Shouldn’t Live Without Them

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If it wasn’t too nutty, I think I would seriously consider composing a love song with a lot of bass about coconuts, and how I can’t live without them. I LOVE COCONUTS, and coconut water. I am very often seen with a giant cleaver in hand hacking open coconuts and then sipping the fresh water through a straw with a contented smirk on my face. It really makes my day. And then the next best thing is scooping out the meat from the insides. Yum. On days when I want to get fancier with my coconut love, I put it all in a blender and add in some tropical fruits of choice, and maybe some spirulina. Double Yum.

In the past when I’ve been caught in the middle of my coconut bliss, people frequently ask me, what the benefits are of drinking coconut water and eating coconuts in general. When I bring up facts, sometimes people find them hard to believe, so I am writing this post to defend my coconut love, and also to hopefully inspire you to get down with a coconut sometime soon.  When you drink fresh coconut water, it’s important to consume it immediately or as soon as possible because some nutrients begin to dissipate when exposed to the open air. What I am working on now, because I am so in love with coconuts is finding somewhere that I can buy them wholesale by the crate. Yep, I’m not kidding. If anybody knows a source holler at your girl. If all else fails, I’m gonna have to use my coconut fetish as an excuse to pop over to Jamaica each year. -XoXo Raw Girl

Little Known Facts About My Coconut Love:

• Coconut water is a naturally isotonic beverage and has the same electrolyte balance as your blood! I say this all the time, that drinking coconut water is like giving yourself a blood transfusion and people literally roll their eyes and laugh. Well people, it’s true. Coconut water is identical to liquid plasma. In fact, coconut water, direct from the nut was used to give emergency blood transfusions to wounded soldiers in the Pacific War of 1941-1945 and Coconut IV’s have been used to save lives in third world countries. Dig that!
• It takes up to a year for coconuts to mature, but coconut trees bloom up to thirteen times a year, meaning they are available year round!
• Coconut palm in sanskrit is kalpa vriksha, meaning: “Tree that gives everything necessary for living.” This is definitely appropriate because all parts of a coconut tree can be put to use.
• It’s the best energy drink around! Coconut water contains more potassium than energy and sports drinks, less sugars (and of course the sugars are natural), less sodium, and hydrates the body better.
• Coconut water is more nutritious than whole milk, with less fat and no cholesterol.
• Contains glucose–natural sugars that give the body energy, vitamin B’s which replace tissue and worn out cells, vitamin C,  lauric acid (found in mother’s milk), iron, chloride, and electrolytes: potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and phosphorous.
• Coconut water is a strong detoxifying agent and actually neutralizes poisons in the body. It has literally been administered to poison victims and used to neutralize and completely flush the poisons out of the body!

Health Benefits of Drinking Coconut Water Regularly

Choosing Your Coconut

I regularly get down with Thai coconuts which can be found at health food stores like Whole Foods, or if I’m in Brooklyn near all the Caribbean transplants in the Crown Heights area I’ll drink the water from green coconuts. If you choose to get a green coconut, see if you can find one with brown spots, apparently that signifies higher water content. The water from Bangladeshi and Indian coconuts is sweeter than Thai and Brazilian, so you can choose by your taste buds or if your like me you’ll love them all.

**Warning: If you are a coconut virgin, perhaps you need to get someone to assist you in opening one for the first time. Take care when hacking it open. We don’t want any finger-less coconut lovers!