Refined Coconut Oil: The Healthiest Oil for Non-Coconut Lovers
Refined coconut oil is the scentless and tasteless version of The Healthiest and Greatest Oil on the Planet.
Don’t like the aroma and flavor of coconuts, but also don’t want to miss out on its countless health benefits? Then this type of oil is for you.
Refined or RBD Oil
Refined, Bleached and Deodorized (RBD) coconut oil is one of the two main types of coconut oil. The other is Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO). All the other types are just versions or sub-types of these two.
RBD coconut oil is typically made from copra or dried whole coconut. The copra can be dried in furnaces and other means. But a great deal are still dried by laying them out in the sun for several weeks (sun-dried).
Sun-drying exposes the coconuts to contaminants such as mold and bacteria. To get rid of such impurities and to make it suitable for human consumption, the copra must be refined.
The refining, bleaching and deodorizing process renders the oil odorless and tasteless, just like cooking oil. In fact, RBD coconut oil IS coconut cooking oil.
Watch Out for Inferior Oils
Beware of refined coconut oil made from low quality copra. These oils undergo less processing but that doesn’t mean they are more natural or better than completely processed RBD oils. They actually suck.
These inferior oils are slightly discolored, usually yellowish or grayish. More importantly, they have a strong odor and taste. This is what happens when the dried coconuts, especially poor quality copra, fail to undergo the complete process of refining to remove all the impurities.
Same MCFA-content
The high temperatures and chemical solvents used in the production process destroy all the phytonutrients naturally found in the unrefined coconut oil. But this does not significantly affect the overall health impact of RBD coconut oil.
Coconut oil is not called The Drugstore in a Bottle or The King of Oils because of its phytonutrient-content such as antioxidants, etc. It is considered by many as Nature’s Medicine Chest because of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA).
Saturated MCFAs, the primary fatty acids in coconut oil, are highly stable and can remain “undamaged” even in high heat. As a result, RBD oil essentially has the same amount of health-promoting MCFAs as that of VCO.
Yes, refined or RBD coconut oil is still considered a healthy oil!
So if for some reason you don’t like the smell and taste of coconut oil, that’s okay. There’s always refined coconut oil to supply you all the MCFAs you’ll ever need. Oh, did I ever mention that it’s also cheaper….
Coconut Oil › RBD Coconut Oil