Coconut has been eaten for ages because of its abundance. But within the last few years, its popularity has exploded! Cooking with coconut oil, using it to moisturize and heal your skin, flavoring food and drink with coconut extracts, it looks like the uses are endless. Well, as you can see, we have hopped on the coconut bandwagon with our Toasted Coconut Almond flavor of SOCIAL, but it's for a good reason! Coconut has many different elements that benefit your health.

In the past, coconut was often passed off because of its high saturated fat content. However, research has shown that the saturated fats found in coconut are different than those found in processed cheese or a greasy hamburger. The triglycerides in coconut fat are shorter chains - medium chain triglycerides -  than the bad type of saturated fat - log chain triglycerides - which causes your body to process them in a more beneficial way.

One of the benefits that I know will make many of us happy is that coconut oil has the potential to help you burn more fat! Many people are trained to believe that calorie restriction is the only way to accomplish your fat loss goals. But sometimes we just need to eat smarter, not eat less. By adding coconut fat to your diet, you increase the amount of calories you expel while going through your normal daily activities. This is because when the oil is burned off through physical activity, this also raises that rate at which you burn calories, or your metabolic rate.

Another important and interesting benefit of using coconut oil for cooking is its ability to satisfy your appetite for longer. Because of those medium triglycerides we were talking about, research has shown that you won't get as many or as strong of cravings throughout the day. Feeling satisfied by the food you eat is an important part to eating a smart diet.

But how will can you incorporate coconut into your diet on a daily basis? Here are some ideas:

• Switch out your tub of "butter" spread for a jar of coconut oil - the special composition of coconut oil makes it solid at room temperature, which is super convenient for greasing pans and dishes.
• Add a tablespoon or two to your breakfast smoothie
• In most cases, coconut oil can replace margarine, canola, and vegetable oil in recipes.
• Instead of grabbing a bottle of wine at the store tonight, try out a 4 pack of Toasted Coconut Almond SOCIAL!