I Love Coconuts!

Aside from chocolate and chia, there’s another food-love in my life: coconut. From low-glycemic coconut sugar to healthy cold-pressed/extra-virgin coconut oil to soysauce alternative coconut aminos, coconut is truly the [Southeast Asian] tree of life.

Back in the Philippines where I grew up, extra virgin coconut oil, or EVCO for short, was already quite popular for weight loss and glowing skin, and heart health, among other things. Heck, there were even flavored varieties! So imagine my surprise and delight when I saw coconut oil gaining a following here in the United States. Now there are a lot of brands out there, but I must say my top choice is Tropical Traditions.

I first heard of them from a classmate at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, when we were talking about healthy fats. Then my assigned mentor talked about Tropical Traditions having expeller-pressed coconut oil which doesn’t have the “coconutty” taste. So I look online and imagine my surprise and pride at discovering that their coconut products are from the Philippines: represent! I got all nostalgic when I saw that they even have atchara (the Filipino kimchi: so good on roast suckling pig, or lechon in Filipino). I am further impressed with their top-of-the line Gold Label, which undergoes the traditional style of cold-pressing, at the same time, providing a livelihood for Filipinos in that community where Tropical Traditions started.

Another classmate told me they were doing a blog review of the Gold Label line, and I’ve always wanted to try it, but just never got around to it, so I took this chance to try the stuff. Let me say wow: the Gold Label extra virgin coconut oil is super silky and almost sweet, plus it doesn’t have a cloying coconut/”pina-colada” taste. And it has this soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture: even better now that the weather is warm enough for the oil to be liquid! Yum!

I love extra virgin coconut oil: we use it to cook with and bake with, we also put it in our morning oatmeal, and smoothies; I even give some to our poodle for its anti-bacterial and energy-giving properties!

I love coconuts, and even better, I love supporting businesses that have a good ethic, and even better, source from the Philippines, from home. Thank you, Tropical Traditions!