Nature's Way Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Pure and Unrefined, 62% MCTs, 16 OzUSDA Organic

For my dog:I have been using this oil for a couple weeks now on & off. I have just started giving it to my dog (who has been limping & having trouble rising from a sitting & laying position)for about a week now. HE LOVES IT! He can't wait to get his dog treat in the morning with it smeared on one side and in the afternoon it is the first thing he eats out of his food (I put about a tablespoon sized dollop on top of his dry dog food). I have definitely noticed an improvement in his mobility & his coat seems to be much softer. I had also done some research & found out that it will eliminate stinky dog breath! I can't wait for that to happen. It is safe for cats too... If you want to know more about giving it to your pets, just do a Google search using the words "coconut oil for my pets" and plenty of info will be at your fingertips! :)For my kids:I have done extensive research on Coconut oil & the benefits it has on our bodies. I can tell you that the antiviral benefit it has definitely works. My son (recently turned 12)just recently had a virus that included coughing, a sore throat and had caused him to break out in a rash that only spread onto one side of his body... Doctor said it had to run it's course. I started giving him some of this oil on toast with the normal butter & cinnamon sugar & within a couple days he started getting better. We stopped giving him the oil & he got sick again... So we started the oil again, but this time HE was putting it on things, himself, to eat--he realized that it was making him better the first time. I think that maybe we didn't give it enough time to work the first time. For my daughter: After a couple of days of sleeping a ton, being very sick & calling me at work crying because she couldn't stay awake, I took my daughter (13 y.o. then, 17 y.o. now) to the doctor & she was diagnosed with Mono. The doctor explained to me that it is part of the Epstein Barr family (cold sores, herpes, etc.) and that there isn't any kind of medicine that can "cure" the illness. He explained that she would sleep a lot, that I needed to call her school & tell them what she had & that she would only be there half days for a few months. I was deflated, stressed & couldn't believe there was nothing I could do for her. I had recently read a book that included coconut oil as a way to detox, lose weight, boost metabolism and so many others and had bought some oil to cook with & take daily. I had done a search & read as much as I could about the coconut & remembered reading that it killed the Epstein Barr virus. I went straight to my computer when I got home & did another search & found the article I had read. I decided to give my daughter the oil twice a day to see if it helped her. I called her down & melted the oil in a spoon & had her take it that afternoon & then again later that evening. The next morning before I left for work I gave her another dose. She called me around lunch time very happy and excited and said she wasn't tired and could stay awake. I remember thinking that the oil was working and was very relieved, but still a bit hesitant. When I got home to my surprise, she was very excited, wide awake & for the first time since she was sick, was chipper and I could tell she was getting back to her old self. I gave her another dose of the oil that evening & for a few days after and she was all better. The oil had killed the virus and restored her health.This stuff is amazing... it cooks food well & is fabulous for your skin. If you burn in the sun, this will help prevent that as well. If you are a coconut user this stuff is great... If you're not, this is worth a try.

If you want the benefits of coconut oil (or any oil) then ideally choose an unrefined product, usually labeled as virgin or sometimes as extra virgin. Virgin oils are extracted by a mechanical method such as expeller pressing and if it's pressed under temperature-controlled conditions (not exceeding 120°F) is referred to a "cold-pressed". As you can imagine, this is considerably better than extraction with a petrochemical solvent such as hexane. Ideally, it should also be organic, unbleached, and free of any added ingredients. The Nature's way product achieves all of these criteria. They have updated their product labels (for 32 oz and Prime Pantry versions) but switched from using the correct term "pure virgin" to the incorrect term "extra virgin" (extra virgin is specific to olive oil), and also don't state "cold pressed" any more (but their website does) - their marketing dept. needs to work on that.I tried Nutiva's Refined Coconut Oil recently - they take dried coconut (copra) and extract the oil using only steam (avoiding chemicals and maintaining organic status). The main benefit from this is a 50°F increase in the smoke point (to 400°F) compared to unrefined coconut oil. It loses the coconut flavor in the process, which I miss, but it's more suitable for stir fries (if you like to crank up the heat) or for baking.Cooking with the Nature's Way coconut oil is nice - it adds a slightly sweet, faintly coconutty flavor to the food but it won't dominate other flavors. Popcorn popped in the oil is especially good! The smoke point is about 25°F lower than that of extra virgin olive oil so don't use super-high heat. It's also a very good moisturizer and a tiny bit goes a long way.The Coconut Oil Miracle book is worth a read (or at least a skim; it's very repetitive) - it may be responsible for a good part of the resurgence in coconut oil sales. I think everyone would agree by now that not all fats are equal, and the medium chain saturated fatty acids in coconut oil are definitely a world apart from the longer unsaturated fats found in conventional vegetable oil. One of the most interesting aspects for me is that unsaturated fat in vegetable oil can generate free radicals when exposed to high heat during extraction (i.e. those oils not labeled as "cold-pressed" or "expeller-pressed") or high-temperature cooking or even just prolonged storage. These free radicals can cause aging and cancer. If you use regular vegetable oil (or seed oils like sunflower, canola, etc.) it's best to store it in the fridge to avoid oxidation, or at least in a cool place away from light - their shelf life is actually less than a year once opened. Because coconut oil is high in saturated fat it's actually slow to oxidize and therefore stable for longer than vegetable oils.Sustainability: Organic coconut oil has a significantly lower environmental impact than soy or corn oil grown in the US. In the 80's the American Soybean Association tried to kill coconut oil imports, falsely suggesting that it was a leading cause of heart disease. Coconut oil has been making a comeback however - good news for Pacific nations like the Philippines where coconut farming supports a large part of the economy. Like many of the major brands, the Nature's Way oil comes in a plastic container; it's #2 plastic so it's recyclable in most areas, but that's not as sustainable as glass. Glass may be a little heavier to ship but it can be recycled over and over, while plastic has a limited lifespan and is also dirtier to manufacture. Nature's Way has nothing to say on their website about sustainability (energy use, waste, impact on communities, etc.), so either they don't do a lot on these fronts or they're just not good at marketing, or a little of both.One of the popular alternatives to Nature's way is Nutiva, which donates 1% of sales to sustainable agriculture and has a lot more to say about their social and environmental responsibility. Just comparing the labeling on the two products, there's not a huge difference. However, Nutiva makes a good effort to support local communities, reduce waste, use renewable energy and offset the remainder by planting trees.So, overall I'll give the Nature's Way Coconut Oil 5/5 gold stars for quality of the product and 4/5 "green" stars based on the social-ethical-environmental aspects of producing it. It's organically grown and manufactured by cold-pressing, plus coconut oil is more sustainable than corn or soybean oil. But it would be nice to know more about the company from a social and environmental responsibility point of view; the product would get a fifth star if it was packaged in glass and was fair trade certified or if Nature's Way provided evidence that they make a commitment to the farming communities.

Okay, so I've ordered this product twice. The first jar I used purely as a nutritional supplement when I was on a diet, I'd add a tablespoon to my coffee every morning and I felt like it actually deterred me from craving high-fat foods during the day. I stopped drinking coffee earlier this year and subsequently dropped this from my diet as well, and I miss it so I'll be reordering. The other jar I keep I've used for everything else, from a hair mask (excellent for my dry curly hair!), body moisturizer, massage oil, and personal lubricant with my partner. We never had any issues while using it for *that* and honestly I felt so much better having this in/on my body than some other chemical-filled lube concoction from a big namebrand at the drugstore. Also I think it smells absolutely delicious so that helps! Since it's edible you can use it for foreplay too if you're into that. I suggest putting some of it into a squeezable bottle for all purposes so you don't contaminate the whole jar with your hands. Warm it up (you can place the whole jar in a sinkful of hot water and it'll become liquid) then pour into a smaller bottle or little jar and keep that in your nightstand or medicine cabinet! Otherwise it's a bit gross scooping this stuff out of the big jar, you know? Alternatively you could also just keep a bunch of popsicle sticks or something nearby to sanitarily scoop some out of the jar without introducing bacteria from your fingers to the container. I've also used this stuff on my face to moisturize and remove stubborn makeup. I like to use a little around my eyes and on my eyelashes to loosen up waterproof mascara/eyeliner and then wash face as usual, and then use a little more as my nighttime moisturizer. So many uses for this great product! :)