Sam Crawford 11/07/2017 Sam Crawford 11/07/2017

Coconut oil is a man's best friend. Here's why

Coconut oil is the Swiss army knife for the modern man’s health and wellbeing. You could probably replace every single thing you own with coconut oil and you’d have a better product on your hands.

Okay, maybe not everything…

But, I’m about to talk you through all the uses for coconut oil that can hugely benefit us men in particular.

COCONUT OIL FOR COOKING

Using coco oil instead of your usual 1-cal sprays or vegetable oil nonsense has been shown to increase your testosterone due to its high levels of saturated fat. It is one of the best fruit-based sources of this essential nutrient for perfecting your body’s big-T production.

TANNING

This is for the vainer gents out there. Whilst it’s probably not advisable to put coconut oil on before you head into the sun (unless you want to sizzle like the little pale sausage you are), applying it to your skin post-sun exposure can help your skin tan and turn brown – not the usual bright red.

HAIR WAX

This is one I discovered by accident a couple of years ago and haven’t used a conventional hair product since. Add a fingertip full of coconut oil to slightly wet hair and comb into the style you go for. Once that’s dried you’ll have a solid hold for about two days if you don’t wash it out. This will save you money on constantly buying hair wax as a tub of coconut oil will last you for months and costs about £3.

DEODORANT

This is another slightly unconventional use for coconut oil but an extremely useful one. I apply my stick deodorant and then use a thin layer of oil over the top. This is extremely effective as coconut oil has been shown to posses antibacterial properties and is excellent at neutralising underarm smells – perfect if you want to avoid smelling of 3 week old onions.

SHAVING CREAM & MOISTURISER

This one is quite novel and may not be the best for those with extremely sensitive skin. However, I have had great success when using coconut oil as my shaving cream AND as my post-shave moisturiser. It allowed me to get a great smooth shave and didn’t irritate my skin noticeably more than a conventional cream. This saved me lots of money and kept my skin in top condition.

I have now moved to a natural shaving gel from Cornerstone as my skin did start to feel the burn just using oil but if your skin isn’t sensitive then give this one a shot.

So there you have it. Using coconut oil as a replacement for your conventional items can save you mounds of money and can help you to shun all the chemicals we are now seeing in grooming and cooking products, which helps you to optimise key hormones in your body such as testosterone, DHT and SHGB.

Give your normal products a rest for 2 weeks and sub in coconut oil. I guarantee you’ll feel great and not miss your old stuff at all.

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Slow cooker stew recipe for boosting testosterone

Today I present to you the ultimate recipe for raising testosterone levels - the best god damn slow cooker stew you ever did see.

This recipe is incredibly tasty and easy to make. It contains less than 10 main ingredients plus spices so hopefully it won't blow your mind.

The recipe is as follows;

Slow cooker stew (serves 5)

1kg White Potatoes

Potatoes are a superior carbohydrate source than conventional man-made grains and provide a steady release of energy to fuel workouts. Not to mention their various testosterone boosting benefits.

500g Grass-fed red meat

Red meat is the go to protein source for those looking to increase testosterone as it contains many essential nutrients required to perfect one's endocrine system like Zinc, L-Carnitine, Iron & b12.

3 types of veg (I usually go for 400g mushrooms, 3 bell peppers and 3 carrots)

Veggies are chock-full of testosterone boosting nutrients like vitamins A, B & C along with magnesium, folic acid and potassium.

1 Tbsp of either Butter or Coconut Oil

Fat, especially saturated fat is crucial to optimal hormonal health. Cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone, meaning a lot of your staple foods should include some degree of this male-friendly nutrient. Just don't overdo your fat intake (Keep it around 30-40%) as you don't want cancer, hypertension or liver failure - do you.

Juice of a Lemon

Citrus fruits have been shown to be extremely testosterone friendly due to extremely high levels of vitamin C and rather high levels of Thiamine per serving.

4 cloves of Garlic

Garlic is an amazing T booster due to its high levels of quercetin. This gives garlic anti-inflammatory properties and is also a very potent nitric oxide booster.

1cm cube of Ginger

Studies have shown ginger to effectively raise serum testicular testosterone levels. It can also help to protect joints and lower bad cholesterol.

2 Tbsp of All spice

This adds flavour and as an added bonus, spices within allspice like cumin have been shown to have positive effects on testosterone - tasty.

Handful of Parsley

Due to its high levels of apigening, parsley can be classed as one of the best garnishes about when it comes to the big T.

250ml veg stock

Veg stock is used here to improve the taste and sauce of the entire meal. Veg stock is also very healthy due to its high concentration of vegetable nutrients like vitamins A, B & C and folic acid.

6 blended vine tomatoes

Tomatoes are actually a very healthy food which can aid in healthy hormonal function due to their high levels of vitamin A & B and fibre. By blending up natural loose tomatoes you avoid the BPA's in tinned tomatoes which is a huge bonus for optimising hormonal output.

Avocado (Optional)

These fat bombs are amazing for testosterone production. They contain lots of Vitamin E, which is great but they are also full of Saturated and Monounsaturated fats which have been correlated with higher testosterone production.

Cooking

Chop up the potatoes, meat and your chosen veg - set aside.
Finely chop the ginger, garlic and parsley - set aside.
Boil 250ml water and stir in veg stock.
Blend up your 6 vine tomatoes.
Line your slow cooker with your chosen fat source.
Make a base of flavour by placing in the all spice, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and parsley.
Add in potatoes, meat and veg.
Pour over the veg stock and blended tomatoes.
Set your slow cooker to cook for 8 hours on a low heat.
If you would like to bump up the fat and calorie content of this dish then add an avocado in.

Conclusion

As you can see, there's a bit of wiggle room for ingredients so you can change the tastes to your liking and keep it fresh so you don't get bored.By using the slow cooker you tenderise the meat and let all the flavours really come through - not to mention the fact that you can just throw everything in there and let it cook for 8 hours with no effort at all.Below is the macro-nutrient breakdown for a serving of slow cooker stew - feel free to play about with the amount of servings you break it in to.

    Nutrition Facts
    % Daily Value*
  
    Servings 5.0
    
    Amount Per Serving
    
    Calories 519
    
    Total Fat 22 g
    33 %
  
    Saturated Fat 10 g
    49 %
  
    Monounsaturated Fat 8 g
    
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
    
    Trans Fat 0 g
    
    Cholesterol 6 mg
    2 %
  
    Sodium 103 mg
    4 %
  
    Potassium 630 mg
    18 %
  
    Total Carbohydrate 51 g
     17 %
  
    Dietary Fiber 8 g
     31 %
  
    Sugars 11 g
    
    Protein 29 g
    58 %
  
    Vitamin A
    26 %
  
    Vitamin C
    94 %
  
    Calcium
    12 %
  
    Iron
    52 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.