Local food #3 - Coconut and its benefits.

Local Food #3 - Coconut­ and its benefit

Why it is important to discuss coconut as local food?

Well everyone knows the importance of this superfood. There is nothing to explain! But it is very important to protect and pass the “value of importance” to our next generation and support farmers. Do you know! The use of coconut oil is being replaced by olive oil and coconut water is being replaced by many sports drink and soft drink in markets. We all know the value of coconut oil and coconut water. The problem lies in spreading knowledge to our young generation. The marketing campaigns are so strong that the young generation gets attracted to those marketing products and neglect the local foods. It is very disappointing to see people buying 23 rupees of sprite for two or three times at a time but not 35 rupees of coconut water­ once to tackle the heat of summer. It is true that soft drinks are chilled and it gives instant coldness to our thirsty throat but that pleasure is not long-lasting. Those drinks lower down your satiety because of what you demand more of that but in case of coconut water, it satisfied the requirement of your body. It is okay to drink soft drinks when there is no availability of coconut water or sugarcane juice but if you have options then please choose the later options. Let’s protect our local food and prevent the next generations from the unhealthy marketing campaign.

Remember - “Vocal power is more powerful than unhealthy marketing campaigns”

Now, let’s talk about coconut.

Coconut –

We all know the basic structure of this fruit. It is hard outside and soft inside. Coconut tree belongs to the palm tree family. This tree is very local to tropical and sub-tropical areas in simple language coastal areas and its nearby regions. It is the only type of tree who absorbs salts from the ground and offers us in the form of water. This is one of the oldest crops in India. India is placed in the third position in the production of coconut. The life span of the coconut tree is about 60-80 years. It takes time to mature and bear coconut fruits for 6 to 10 years. A common mature coconut tree is of height 100 feet and the trunk size is about 18 inches. This tree is also called “three-generation tree” because it can support a farmer, his children and his grandchildren. 

The tree has been used in many aspects especially its leaves and fruits. Leaves can be used for providing shelter, strong brooms for house cleaning, and many decorative products. Coconut fruits add extra taste to Indian curries and sweets and its water is very beneficial for stomach related problems such as diarrhoea, typhoid etc. The Coconut water provides energy to our intestinal microbes.

Coconut in Indian culture -  

In Indian culture before starting any auspicious event breakdown of coconut takes place. In Sanskrit, it is called “sriphala” which means “God’s fruit”. This fruit is clean, sacred, and health-giving. It is believed that breaking of hard shell is the breaking of devotees’ ego so that the rituals become egoless and pure. It is also believed that breaking of coconut means breaking all the problems and removing bad powers from the surrounding. This is some explanations behind the use of coconut during festivals. Here I will write some beneficial effects of coconut fruits and coconut water on our health.

Availability of coconut in India –

It is available everywhere. The only difference is cost. The price is less in coastal areas and other than that area the price is a bit high. It is highly cultivated in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. The other coconut production regions are Odisha, Maharastra, Puducherry, West Bengal, Gujarat, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar.

Benefits of drinking coconut water –

The coconut water is carefully protected by the hard shell. 

The coconut tree absorbs all the salt from ground and reserves those salts inside its hard covering. This natural water has many medicinal effects and positive health benefits. The water is rich in electrolytes. Electrolytes are the chemical ions, which are required by our body. Electrolytes regulate our muscle function, nerve function, balance blood acidity, pressure and hydrate our body. Natural coconut water contains five key electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, phosphorous, magnesium and calcium. These ions are on high demand during exercises, nerve impulses conduction and brain functionality. Recent research studies say that sports drinks can be replaced by coconut water.

These ions are required in a specific amount.

•  Potassium helps in regulating nerve signals, fluid balance and muscle contraction.
• Sodium helps in maintaining water balance inside and outside your cells. It maintains stable blood pressure. High or low sodium can cause hypernatremia and hyponatremia respectively.
• Phosphorous plays an important role in carbohydrate and fat utilization. It helps in the formation of teeth and bone.
• Magnesium is required in biochemical reactions inside our body. It maintains normal muscle and nerve functions and most importantly our immune system.
• Calcium enables in blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of muscles and our heart. The most important point is it helps in building bones.

These electrolytes are available inside our body. Our body requires those electrolytes during our illness or after exercise or after any physical activity. That time we should remind our mind of drinking coconut water rather than a sports drink or carbonated soft drinks.

Benefits of eating coconut fruit –

It can be divided into two forms such as immature and mature. In the immature state, it has green outer covering hard shell with water and sometimes soft white jelly fibrous meat is present. In the mature state, the husk develops, water content becomes less and inner fibrous meat gets thicker (This white fibrous meat is called copra). If you want to drink water then choose immature or green coconut and if you want to eat the flesh of coconut then choose mature or brown coconut. Coconut flesh for Indian curry, coconut milk, coconut oil can be extracted from this fruit.  Coconut shell is used as a utensil.

The uses -

•  Coconut flesh- It is used to add extra taste in curry and in case of preparing sweets also. Coconut flesh has a unique taste of salty-sweet taste.

• Coconut milk- It is the replacement of cow milk for most of the vegan diet follower. It is low in calorie and low in fat.

• Coconut oil- It is the most demanding topic in modern science. Ayurveda has already said about the health benefits of using coconut oil but modern science is proving by comparing and analysing it with other oils.
•  Coconut shell- It is used as utensils. After scraping the flesh part, it can be dried under the sun and use for different kitchen purposes.

• The husk of coconut can be burned in winter for getting heat.

Properties-

These days the main property is lying in medium-chain triglyceride. It is one type of fat. It is available in coconut flesh and coconut oil. Our body needs a proper quantity of fat. The fat requirement varies from person to person. Some benefits of consumption of a particular amount of fat are proper heart and function, the absorption of nutrients to get energy and produce hormones. There are different varieties of fat available in foods. Some fats are good and some are bad. Medium-chain triglyceride is a type of good fat for our body. It absorbs easily in our body. Research says it helps some people to lose weight and protect from diseases. The other special property is the formation of the myelin sheath in our nervous system. Our nerves are surrounded by a myelin sheath. It helps in better conduction of information to our brain. The details of these properties will be explained in the next blog.

These are some benefits and properties of our local superfood coconut.

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