The coconut oil is famous worldwide first as edible oil or cooking oil, then as a hair oil, then as a massaging oil for skin and the body and finally, as a medicine. Here we shall try to know what makes coconut oil for skin a wise choice.

For this, we need a study into its constituents and their respective properties.

• Saturated Fats: Predominantly, these are Medium Chain Fatty Acids or Triglycerides. When applied on skin, they keep the skin smooth to touch and also retain the moisture content of the skin, as they check escaping of the moisture through the pores on skin. When ingested, these fats deposit under the skin, thus keeping it healthy.
• Capric Acid/Caprylic Acid/Lauric Acid: Although they are nothing but the saturated fats I mentioned above and not different from the medium chain fatty acids, still it was important to mention them separately here since they have their own contributions. These three fatty acids have strong disinfectant and anti microbial properties. When applied on skin, it protects skin from microbial infections. This microbial action can be experienced even if coconut oil is taken internally, as they boost up the immunity when converted to monocaprins and monolaurins. Coconut oil, for skin, does the same thing what mother’s milk does for the body.
• Vitamin-E: The contributions of vitamin-E towards skin are well known. It is essential for a healthy skin growth, repair of wear & tear in the skin, keeping skin smooth and protection against cracking and above all, it prevents ageing and wrinkling of skin, as it has good anti oxidant properties.

• Proteins: Like coconut, coconut oil is rich in many proteins. These proteins keep skin healthy and rejuvenated, both internally and externally.
• Stability: Due to its high stability, coconut oil does not go rancid for long. This property can be very beneficial when it is applied on skin externally, since the longer it does not become rancid, the longer any infection due rancidity are avoided (a rancid oil is certainly not a good thing to apply on skin, isn’t it?).

So, what do you conclude from that? I don’t think that your opinion is any different from mine. Coconut Oil certainly has an edge over other oils, when it comes to skin. Let’s switch over to coconut oil for skin. Bye.

This article is contributed by Aparup Mukherjee.

Sources of Information:

• Reports of Coconut Development Board of India,
• Reports of KERAFED.
• Text books of various courses of agriculture.
• Various other reports on internet.