Today, many people have decided to go vegan. Naturally, the most important reason for this decision is the medical reason. For instance, we can see numerous benefits for those who want to substitute meat with other foods that provide them with the same nutrients. Thankfully, many of them can do exactly that. Manufacturers started producing countless products since the need for meat-free foods has grown enormously in the last two decades.
Probably the best example of vegan food is finding cheese produced solely by plants. While this may sound impossible just a few decades ago, it is a reality today. Therefore, nobody should be surprised why the market is flooded with these products today. Furthermore, the market is also flooded with countless oils made from plants. One of the best examples is coconut oil.
Many asked the question, is coconut oil vegan? There were many debates about this subject. The debate on this subject is concluded a couple of years ago. Naturally, the products were put under many tests to see whether this was true. We can see that this has been proven as a fact. However, we want to discuss this subject in greater detail and provide a detailed answer to this question. Let us begin.
What Does it Mean to be a Vegan?
Before we dive deep into this subject, we want to explain the concept of veganism. To be a vegan, an individual must base his diet solely on plants. We are talking about nuts, fruits, grains, and vegetables. Therefore, consuming foods like dairy, eggs, and meat is out of the question. While adjusting your habits to this standard takes some time, it is surely a diet program many feel comfortable with today.
However, veganism is a concept that means the individual will not consume any products based on animals. For example, using cosmetics based on animal milk or even fur is something vegans avoid completely. There are several reasons why individuals decide to follow this concept. The most prevalent reasons are health reasons. We usually talk about people with health conditions that prevent them from eating meat.
Other reasons, while not as dominant as this one, are still quite common. Many decide to be vegans because of ethics. We know that taking care of animals on farms is not always the best. Furthermore, the elimination of animals can hurt the environment. Some decide not to consume meat for religious reasons. But the second most prevalent reason for this decision is that some people do not enjoy eating animal products.
How Vegan is Coconut Oil?
When you look at the production process of coconut oil, you will see that it is a completely vegan product. All the ingredients needed for the production are completely vegan. The process follows: the coconut meat is exposed to high temperatures and under high pressure. By doing that, the manufacturers are extracting the oil from the plant. Plus, the refining process doesn’t involve any products you wouldn’t call vegan.
While this is a standard for most products, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. With that in mind, we advise you to check the ingredient list before purchasing a certain product. Thankfully, manufacturers are transparent about the ingredients; you can find the list on every package. Why is this important? Well, it is a massive market, and there is always the possibility that some manufacturers are not completely truthful.
Naturally, coconut oil is not only a product that is used for preparing food. You will see that coconut oil is an ingredient in many other products, mainly cosmetics. So, if you are an individual who likes to focus solely on vegan products. The benefits of consuming coconut oil as a part of cosmetics are numerous, and naming all of them now would take too long. That’s why we will focus solely on it as a part of a diet.
The Benefits of Consuming Coconut Oil
The benefits of consuming coconut oil are quite numerous. We will stick only to the most important ones. For example, this oil contains numerous healthy fats. Furthermore, it can serve as a much healthier alternative to many other oils you can find on the market. We all know just how problematic some oils are. Above all, coconut oil is almost unrivaled when it comes to adding specific flavor to the dish.
Sure, it would not be the best decision for every dish. However, you can use many of them to add that nice touch of coconut flavor. Fortunately, there are countless recipes you can find online where this ingredient is a great addition. The best decision you can make is to add this ingredient to your sweets. Sure, it cannot substitute sugar completely, but it is a good substitute for many other ingredients that are not as healthy.
Is the Production Cruelty-Free?
Lastly, we want to touch upon one question that is still controversial when it comes to this topic. We are talking about animal cruelty associated with the production process. The reason is rather simple. While there are many farms where humans pick the coconuts on their own, there are many of them where trained monkeys do this job. So, it is widely debated whether this is an animal cruelty or not.
If we are to consult the experts, they would say it depends. Most of them say that it depends on how the monkey is treated while they work. Truly, many farms used methods that their governments did not approve of within the production process. So, it would be harsh to label every farm that uses monkeys are a workforce with this label. Still, we have to bear in mind that there is somewhere this happens.
In Conclusion
As we have said, the debate on whether coconut oil is vegan was long. It lasted for almost a decade. Today, we have all the evidence to prove this fact. Here, you can find insight into this topic, which will help you understand the concept as a whole.
