How To Use Coconut Oil To Treat Psoriasis

How To Use Coconut Oil To Treat Psoriasis

Do you want to know how to use coconut oil to treat psoriasis? Good, then you have come to the right place!

When I started to get bad plaque psoriasis on my torso, there was only one thing that I could use that would make my day as painless as possible and that was extra virgin coconut oil.

Only for the sweet smelling and flavorsome extra virgin coconut oil, I would have shelled out tonnes of my hard earned cash on crappy moisturizers that made my skin feel worse.

When you have that much coverage of psoriasis it’s impossible to apply a light layer of steroid cream on the affected areas as you would be wrecked tired from running over and back to the ATM to keep funding the cream purchases!

I will describe further down this post why coconut oil for psoriasis works and how to use coconut oil to treat psoriasis successfully just as I did.

But first, we need to explore what is coconut oil and how exactly it can help your psoriasis get better.

Recommended: Smart Psoriasis Diet 30 Minute Meals Recipe eBook (The go-to psoriasis recipes for a busy lifestyle)

What is coconut oil?

Coconut oil is derived from cold pressed coconut meat or kernels of matured coconuts. It is mainly used in cooking but also in medicine and the cosmetic industry.

People also now are starting to understand the benefits derived from coconut oil by eating it raw or using it as a substitute for unhealthy cooking oil like vegetable and sunflower oil.

So not only is it the perfect skin moisturizer but it has lots of other health benefits.

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What are the benefits of coconut oil apart from treating your psoriasis?

  • Make the body resistant to bacteria and viruses (yeast infections, cold sores)
  • It can help control insulin in the body which is beneficial to diabetes and metabolism issues
  • Coconut oil can help reduce cholesterol due to the lauric acid contained in medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) that positively helps the ratio of good to bad cholesterol levels
  • Helps reduce levels of abdominal fat. You burn energy more efficiently when consuming medium chain triglycerides (MCTs)
  • Coconut oil can actually function as sunscreen blocking approx 20% of the sun’s UV rays
  • The fatty acids in coconut oil can aid brain function and are used to treat epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease.
book

FREE SMART PSORIASIS DIET PLAN EBOOK: How I Control My Psoriasis Through Diet & Supplements

The science behind coconut oil for psoriasis

The reason why oils are not used more as moisturizers by the cosmetic industry is because the oil causes not only shiny skin but can lead to bad bouts of acne. Oils will clog skin pores and also known to cause allergic reactions and side effects such as rashes.

However no one can argue with the soothing benefits of putting oil on your dry skin, but the other issue is the greasiness caused by the application.

This is where extra virgin coconut oil comes in. Studies have shown that this type of coconut oil does not block pores and does not cause allergic reactions to even the most sensitive skin.

Not only that but is has active compounds that can actually be of benefit to skin care.

So the following reasons explain why extra virgin coconut oil actually works with skin disorders and psoriasis symptoms in our case.

Extra Virgin Coconut oil is Absorbed efficiently unlike other oils

The outside layer of a human cell is made from fatty acids. Because extra virgin coconut oil contains the same fatty acid as your skin cells, the oil from extra virgin coconuts are absorbed extremely efficiently. It restores moisture levels better than any other oil which means fewer instances of a greasy skin.

Healing ability of the fatty acids

Because the fatty acids in virgin coconut oil that restore the skin’s own depleted levels of fatty acids are more durable, it ensures a better ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids, which leads to faster healing from environmental factors, such as too much sun and skin ageing.

Balancing your cell walls

The durability of the cell walls offered by the healthy saturated fatty acids in virgin coconut oil help balance the unsaturated oils that we consume in our diet on a regular basis. This helps communications between cells.

Anti-Inflammatory (this is what drew me to virgin coconut oil originally)

Virgin coconut oil offers a breathing ground for skin to produce anti-inflammatory cell hormones. These are produced by the saturated oils. This is vital to help reduce inflammation caused by psoriasis.It also helps keep the skin looking younger.

Fighting the free radicals!

Coconuts are rich in growth factors such as kinetin which is a plant hormone that promotes division in cells. Kinetin is a potent antioxidant which aids in the reduction of damage from free radical. It is also purported to be able to repair your DNA.

Fighting Infections

Another great reason why virgin coconut oil works well with psoriasis is the monoglyceride contained within it. This substance can help withstand bacterial, fungal and viral infections because monoglyceride is actually an antiseptic.

These infections can cause your cells in the underlying dermal skin layers to become inflamed and lead to psoriasis outbreaks or worsening of your skin condition.

Does Coconut Oil Work for Scalp Psoriasis?

From my personal experience, you can rely on extra virgin coconut oil to moisturize and in fact fasten the reduction in redness of your psoriasis on your scalp and body. HOWEVER, it only works if you are sticking to a mostly anti-inflammatory diet plan like I detail in my free ebook.

book

FREE SMART PSORIASIS DIET PLAN EBOOK: How I Control My Psoriasis Through Diet & Supplements

If you think about it, how can extra coconut oil help heal your skin if you continue to eat food that causes inflammation and overloads your body with toxins that need to get expelled through your skin as your normal expulsion organs are overloaded or operating well below your best?

Instructions on how to use coconut oil to treat psoriasis

It is pretty simple really.

  1. Buy a good quality extra virgin coconut oil brand. It usually comes in a glass jar but it’s also OK to buy it in a strong plastic jar. I like the glass jar more as you will find out in point 2.
  2. I prefer to heat the coconut oil a small bit by placing the glass jar in a bathroom sink filled with hot water for 1 minute or so. You will see part of the solid coconut oil starting to melt.
  3. Some people say a small bit goes a long way, but I will apply liberal amounts on my skin or scalp especially in the really bad plaque psoriasis patches.
  4. I proceed to throw on an old t-shirt for 10 minutes in the morning time ( by the way this is all after my morning shower) and dab off any excess with the old t-shirt. I will remove the old t-shirt and then change into my work clothes.

I aim to apply the extra virgin coconut oil at least 3 times a day but if I can I will apply 4 times a day or if I feel my skin tightening.

However, the best thing about coconut oil compared to any other moisturizer on the market is the amount of time you can go without the skin getting very tight and dry. Even on my worse plaque psoriasis days on my torso, the coconut oil would keep my skin nice and supple for 8 hours while at work. It really was a godsend.

As I mentioned earlier for best results

  1. Follow a psoriasis-friendly diet such as the smart psoriasis diet plan I created (link below)
  2. Take the essential psoriasis supplements
  3. Keep the stress levels to an absolute minimum
  4. Try and get some sun on the skin

The last time I had an outbreak of psoriasis, I started to see a change from red to pink skin within 3 weeks but please note that I was putting coconut oil on 4 times a day and I was following the 4 steps above.

book

FREE SMART PSORIASIS DIET PLAN EBOOK: How I Control My Psoriasis Through Diet & Supplements

Where to buy extra virgin coconut oil locally?

It is widely available in

  • Health food stores
  • Asian food stores
  • Some mainstream supermarkets

Beware that pure coconut oil is different to extra virgin coconut oil. If your budget can afford stick to using extra virgin coconut oil as it is cold presses and retains all the natural goodness.

If you run out of the good coconut oil, then use pure coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil as a substitute until you can buy some more of the good stuff.

What is the best extra virgin coconut brand to buy

#1

TIANA Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

#2

Nutiva Organic, Virgin Coconut Oil

#3

Carrington Farms Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

#4

Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

#5

Anjou Coconut Oil, Organic Extra Virgin

Best place to buy online

I buy nearly all my nutritional supplements in bulk these days as it makes sense financially. I usually do one big shop every 3 months to avail of free shipping.

I also noticed that I am getting ripped off in my local brick and mortar health food store when it comes to by extra virgin coconut oil so I always add 3 jars of this to my quarterly shop from Amazon.com.

I cannot really fault Amazon.com as they make my buying process so simple and stress-free. God Bless them, anytime I can shop from the comfort of my own home, I rejoice!

Other uses of extra virgin coconut oil bar topical uses

I forgot to mention that you can use coconut oil for the following benefits along with using coconut oil as treatment for psoriasis:

  • It can supposedly make your teeth whiter by using a technique called oil pulling. This is where you swish around coconut oil or olive oil in your mouth for 15 minutes each day for a few weeks and it kills all the bacteria and infections in your mouth and gums. I haven’t tried this but maybe someday soon as my teeth are in a bad state.

I have also added a video below if you want to learn more about the benefits of extra virgin coconut oil.

 

If you have found that you have reduced the redness of your psoriasis from using coconut oil please press one of the social share buttons below. I think it would be useful to see how many people actually have seen results like me using coconut oil. I now longer use those strong steroid creams on my torso, only my trusted extra virgin coconut oil!

If you are serious about getting your psoriasis under control and would like to cook psoriasis-friendly meals but lacking ideas, check out my Smart Psoriasis Diet 30 Minute Meals recipe book.

book

FREE SMART PSORIASIS DIET PLAN EBOOK: How I Control My Psoriasis Through Diet & Supplements

Benefits Of coconut oil for psoriasis
John Redfern