We Maharashtrians love coconut. We put khobra ( dry grated coconut ) in our curries and chutneys.The coconut barfis and ladoos are just awesome !! In many parts of south India esp Kerala, entire cooking in done in coconut oil. As a child, for any cuts, burns, rashes etc my grandmother only applied coconut oil. And it worked like magic.
Coconut has a special significance in Indian culture and traditions.The coconut tree is called a ' Kalpavrush'. Which means, the wishing tree in Sanskrit. Every inch of the coconut tree is useful to us and hence the name. Coconut has a significant place in all the Indian festivals & rituals. It is considered as a complete fruit (all parts of coconut as a fruit are very useful).Anything offered to god should be complete (Purna) & the best, that’s why we use coconut in almost every ritual. Coconut is so beneficial that it is called SHRIPHAL, which means god's fruit. It is considered as a symbol of prosperity and happiness. In fact ,we honor elderly people by giving coconut and there is a reason behind it – Coconut tree gives “Niswarth-seva” which means selfless service, helping/providing everything to others without expecting anything in return.
Coconut has always been used in traditional Indian medicine to treat a wide variety of health problems including the following: abscesses, asthma, baldness, bronchitis,bruises, burns, colds, constipation, cough, dropsy, dysentery, earache, fever, flu, gingivitis, gonorrhea, irregular or painful menstruation, jaundice, kidney stones, lice, malnutrition, nausea, rash, scabies, scurvy, skin infections, sore throat, swelling, syphilis, toothache, tuberculosis, tumors, typhoid, ulcers, upset stomach, weakness, and wounds. However, modern medical science is now confirming the use of coconut in treating many of the above conditions. Published studies in medical
journals show that coconut, in one form or another, may provide a wide range of health benefits.
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So if coconut oil is all that great, why are more people not using it ? Well, most of the coconut of the world is grown in 'poor third world' countries like India, Indonesia and Philippines, who do not really have the resources to promote it worldwide. The western world has been largely undermining coconut oil and its health benefits.India’s overall edible oil import is likely to stand at 11.8 million tonnes (mt) this year, against 10.7 mt in the previous year. The edible oil import bill may exceed the benchmark Rs 60,000-crore mark; last year, it stood at Rs 57,500 crore. These figures should be enough for us to understand how big a market India is and why olive/soy/canola oils are promoted so aggressively in India by the western countries.
So what is really good for us, is something we all should think about.
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