Why is coconut milk useful and what to make from it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Five Reasons This Product Should Take Place in Your Fridge and Three Easy Coconut Milk Recipes.

Coconut milk is an undervalued product in our latitudes. He is known mainly as an element of exotic Thai cuisine and a number of diets that involve the rejection of one or another food of animal origin. In this case, coconut milk acts as an alternative to the usual cow or goat milk, cream or sour cream.

However, a delicate creamy drink with a light sweetish taste has much more useful properties than just the ability to replace fermented milk products. Life hacker found out all about the health benefits of coconut milk.

Why is coconut milk good for you?

First, let's define the concepts. Coconut milk is not at all the kind of water that splashes inside a whole tropical nut. This liquid is called coconut water, it consists of almost 95% water itself and contains practically no fat or other nutrients.

Milk is a mixture of coconut pulp and water, carefully processed to a homogeneous mass. Lifehacker has already written how you can make coconut milk yourself.

The output is a high-calorie product with a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and microelements. So, by drinking one cup (240 ml), you get Coconut Milk Health Benefits and Uses:

• 552 kilocalories;
• 57 g fat;
• 5 g protein;
• 11% Daily Value Vitamin C
• 22% of the daily value for iron and magnesium;
• 18% of the daily value of potassium;
• 21% of the daily value for selenium.

In addition, you will completely block the daily requirement of the body for manganese. And here's what this fat-vitamin-mineral cocktail does to your health.

1. You are losing weight

Many people associate the word "fat" with being overweight, but in this case, fat, on the contrary, contributes to weight loss. Sounds absurd? No.

Coconut milk contains mainly polyunsaturated fats (including the famous essential omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9), which are very beneficial for metabolism. But that's not all. Lauric acid accounts for about half of all fatty acids. This substance belongs to the category of so-called fatty acids with an average chain size, which have one unique feature: from the digestive tract, they go straight to the liver, where they are immediately used to produce energy or ketones (these substances are the main "fuel" for the brain).

Therefore, coconut fat has much less chance of turning into fat reserves - the body consumes it almost instantly.

In addition, lauric acid has another bonus: it works in the brain receptors that control appetite and helps reduce hunger. For example, here is a small study on Impact of medium and long chain triglycerides consumption on appetite and food intake in overweight men, which showed that overweight people who ate medium chain fatty acids at breakfast ate 272 fewer calories during lunch. than those who ate different types of fats at breakfast.

2. You get smarter and more productive

This is how the already mentioned polyunsaturated fats omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 work, as well as lauric acid - the energy supplier for the brain.

3. You increase immunity

Lauric Acid is also a powerful antimicrobial Fatty Acids and Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents and an antiviral that reduces bacteria and viruses in the mouth and the body as a whole. There is confirmed evidence that lauric acid is able to resist A Review of Monolaurin and Lauric Acid even such active and dangerous viruses as HIV, measles and a number of herpes, including cytomegalovirus.

4. You Promote Heart and Cardiovascular Health

Coconut milk reduces the risk of plaque buildup on the walls of blood vessels. Moreover, this effect is so noticeable that scientists talk about good prospects for using coconut milk in the diet of cardiac patients.

For example, in this 8-week study Impact of a traditional dietary supplement with coconut milk and soya milk on the lipid profile in normal free living subjects, conducted with the participation of 60 men, it was found that eating oatmeal with coconut milk reduced the amount of “bad "Blood cholesterol and increased the level of" good ".

5. You improve the condition of your skin and hair

Coconut milk has a beneficial effect on our body not only internally, but also externally: for example, Lifehacker has already written about how omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids supplied with food affect the level of skin moisture.

The antimicrobial and antiviral activity of lauric acid also extends to the treatment and prevention of all kinds of skin diseases: from eczema to herpes. Milk can be used as a mask for hair and skin, or added to your usual cosmetics, such as a nourishing body cream.

Here is a video in which the famous American nutritionist Bruce Fife, president of the Coconut Research Center in Colorado Springs (USA), tells all about how the fats contained in coconut milk affect the appearance.

What to make with coconut milk

Below are three incredibly quick, easy and budget recipes.

1. Carrot and coconut soup

Even a child can cook this simple and at the same time original dish. This soup is a good solution if you are fasting or on a vegetarian diet.

Ingredients:

• 3 carrots;
• 200 ml coconut milk;
• 400 ml of water;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• salt and black pepper to taste;
• parsley or basil for garnish.

Preparation

Peel the carrots, rinse in running water, cut into slices. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil. Then simmer over low heat until the carrots are tender.

Without turning off the heat, add turmeric, coconut milk, salt and pepper. Stir, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove the soup from heat, add the lemon juice and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour into bowls, garnish with coarsely chopped herbs. To add flavor to the soup, add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce to each bowl.

2. Chicken in coconut milk with spices and mango

This is one of the most popular Thai dishes and is easy to prepare yourself.

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless chicken breasts;
• 250 ml coconut milk;
• 1 peeled mango;
• 1 small carrot, peeled;
• 1 medium onion, peeled;
• 1 fresh chili
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 1 cm fresh ginger root
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
• salt to taste.

Preparation

Cut the onion into rings and fry in oil in a large skillet until soft. Place the coarsely diced chicken there and fry over high heat until the pieces are browned on all sides.

Cut the mango and carrot into large cubes and add to the chicken. Reduce heat to medium, cover skillet and let ingredients simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Chop the garlic, ginger, chili pepper with a knife and send to the pan with the chicken and mango. Add curry, season with salt, mix well, cover with coconut milk, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover skillet with lid and let cool.

Serve in deep bowls with soy sauce to taste. The ideal side dish for spiced chicken is boiled rice.

3. Coconut cocktail with strawberries

Thanks to the addition of coconut milk, the taste of a traditional milkshake becomes deeper and more interesting, acquiring an exotic note. If for some reason you do not consume traditional dairy products (say, due to lactose intolerance), cow's milk in this cocktail can be completely replaced with coconut or water.

Ingredients:

• 400 ml coconut milk;
• 200 ml of cow's milk;
• 80 g brown sugar;
• 200 g fresh strawberries;
• 20 g coconut flakes;
• ice cubes optional.

Preparation

Wash the strawberries, peel off the tails, setting aside 3-4 berries (by the number of glasses) for decoration. Place the peeled berries in a blender. Add ice based on the desired temperature of the future cocktail.

Pour coconut and regular milk there, beat until smooth. Add sugar and beat again.

Pour into tall glasses, sprinkle with coconut. Decorate the glasses with whole strawberries or sliced strawberries with preserved tails.