Why buy a premium priced product when a product is highly processed and compromises the health benefits promised in the first place?

Here is some information about OrganicLives own coconut oil which we produce, process and package directly.

Simplicity: Minimally Processed for Maximum Benefits

The demand and interest in Pure Virgin Coconut Oil is growing as a health giving food. These health benefits are briefly summarized below , but the purpose is to highlight how we produce PVCO and why it is unique and exceptional among a sea of oil suppliers, with a new supplier entering the market every week, it seems.

Standard commercial grade coconut oil is made from copra (coconut meat). Copra is dried (eg smoke-drying, sun-drying, kiln drying) and often it is unsanitary for consumption so it needs to be purified, which is known industrially as RBD – refined, bleached and deodorized.

In the case of producing PVCO, there are two methods for extracting oil.

• Dry-method (most common / mass-produced): Copra is dried and then pressed using mechanical means. Solvent such as sodium hydroxide and hexane can be used to increase yields. Heat and boiling water/coconut emulsion can be employed to eliminate moisture and aid separation of oil. Too high a moisture content will cause oil to go rancid.
• Wet-method: Oil is extracted from cracked coconuts by first removing water by an expeller press and then by centrifuge. This process is more costly but the resulting end-product is as clear as water with fragrance and taste of fresh coconut.

OrganicLives works hand-in-hand with growers to obtain the best raw materials possible and from the most pristine eco-systems in Thailand.

The coconut is husked, de-shelled, and washed by hand. The time between breaking the seal on the shell and the oil extraction is no more than 15 minutes. Unlike many other coconut oils, the flesh of the coconut is pressed wet rather than dried, which is why our oil has such fresh and creamy qualities, rich with uncompromised nutrients.

The process for extracting the oil is called “wet milling extraction”, which involves expeller pressing the flesh of freshly-cracked, mature, organically certified coconuts into a pulp, forming an oily, coconut milk emulsion. The ambient processing temperature is kept below 25 degrees Celsius to maintain the nutritive quality. The coconut milk emulsion is then chilled to approximately 13-15 degrees Celsius. Cooling the emulsion weakens the protein bonds allowing the oil and water to separate during centrifugation. No heat at all is generated, which splits the bond and separates the oil.

This is all done quite quickly, so from the time when the coconuts are cracked to the time when oil is collected in the run-off, it is between two to three hours.

Many suppliers import barrels of coconut oil and re-heat barrels using heat-bands to repackage oils locally. Our PVCO is jarred in glass at source in Thailand and is free of chemical solvents during production.

Further, no heat, only cold temperature-processing is used during the processing of our PVCO, which ensures antioxidants, vitamins, fatty acids can provide the healthy benefits sought after.

Benefits:

• Nutritional: provides a source of quick energy, boosts energy, endurance and athletic performance. Improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients including calcium, magnesium, other minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Improves insulin secretion and blood glucose utilization. Acts as a protective anti-oxidant. Improves utilization of essential fatty acids. Reduces the body's need for vitamin E.
• Supports bodily organs and systems: supports thyroid function, immune system, helps prevent liver and kidney disease and bladder infections. Helps dissolve kidney stones. Improves bowel function. Improves cholesterol ratio, reducing risk of heart disease, protects arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis.
• Helps protect body against: cancers including breast and colon, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, tooth decay and free radicals (which contribute to premature ageing).
• Reduces or relieves symptoms of: pancreatitis, diabetes, gallbladder disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, stomach ulcers, hemorrhoids, epileptic seizures, prostate enlargement, chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammation, malabsorption syndrome, cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer's disease.
• Coconut oil is lower in calories than other fats and does not deplete the body's reserves of antioxidants as some other oils do.
• Weight loss: coconut oil is used by the body as an immediate energy source and is not stored as body fat. Promotes loss of excess weight by increasing thyroid function and metabolic rate. Helps prevent obesity.
• Skin and hair: supports the natural chemical balance of the skin, reduces symptoms of psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis, softens and moisturizes the skin, reduces wrinkles, sagging skin and age spots. Nourishing for the hair and reduces dandruff.