I have been experimenting with ground coconut for about 6 months now to see if I can make it work in my diet, because its various products are all low-carb, and are a key feature of the low-carb and Ketogenic diet systems. The Ketogenic diet system especially focuses on recipes that include coconut oil, because there are triglycerides in coconut that are easily processed by the liver into non-carbohydrate nutrients that the body can use.
The other advantage of coconut in the diet is, while it has a sweet taste, it does not have high carbohydrates.
coconut palm sugar
So, I recently bought coconut palm sugar and use it as a sweetener. I have found 2 heaping tea spoons of coconut palm sugar sweetens my morning 1.5qt (L) hot drink adequately. I also recently made a low-carb brownie, which I sweetened with coconut palm sugar. The brownies came out remarkably good, and was the first desert that I had in 4 years on a low-carb diet.
Palm oil
I have begun using palm oil for frying, and have found it works just fine, and adds some flavor to my stir-fries, and quiches.
Shredded coconut
Shredded coconut is not just low-carb, and mildly sweet, but it has high fiber content. Considering that a low-carb diet tends to lead to constipation, I started blending shredded coconut with peanut butter to make a simple low-carb confection, which I found tasted quite good, and I hoped that it would resolve the issue of constipation. However, I also found that raw shredded coconut is too much of a laxative for my GI tract.
It occurred to me that cooking shredded coconut might just reduce its laxative property. So, I added shredded coconut as a base for my brownie experiment. I found it worked fabulously as a low-carb base for brownie, and as a mild bulk laxative. I then tried cooking it into my stir fries to function as a replacement for rice. I found it worked great. So, I plan to keep shredded coconut in my daily diet.
coconut water
I have found one of the most thirst quenching drinks I have ever had is coconut water, and coconut water is a low-carb beverage.
Other discussions here on coconut
Sam's health blogcoconut water nutritional facts
240gm serving
Carbohydrates
Amounts Per Selected Serving %DV
Total Carbohydrate 8.9 g 3%
Dietary Fiber 2.6g 11%
Starch 0.0g
Sugars 6.3g
Ounce per ounce, most unflavored coconut water contains 5.45 calories, 1.3 grams sugar, 61 milligrams (mg) of potassium, and 5.45 mg of sodium compared to Gatorade, which has 6.25 calories, 1.75 grams of sugar, 3.75 mg of potassium, and 13.75 mg of sodium.
low-carbohydrate dietsFoods that lower blood sugar
