Coconut: Benefits, Uses & Dosage

Few plants give you as much from a single tree as the coconut palm. In coastal India, where it is grown everywhere, the classical texts point out that every part has a use: the nut, the water, the dried kernel (copra), the oil, the shell, the husk, the trunk and the leaves.

Coconut (Narikela) is the fruit of Cocos nucifera Linn., also called the Coconut Palm. Ayurveda treats it as both food and medicine, and it values the different stages of the nut for different jobs.

The tender water of a young green coconut is light, sweet and strongly cooling, and the Bhavaprakasha calls it one of the best drinks for dehydration and for burning sensations. The mature kernel is heavier and more nourishing, and it yields the oil used in cooking, hair care, skin care and as a base for medicated oils.

That cooling, sweet, unctuous character is the thread that runs through every use. It calms Pitta (the dosha of heat) and Vata (the dosha of dryness and movement), and can add weight to Kapha when taken in excess.

Coconut's benefits follow from its profile: sweet taste (Madhura Rasa), cold potency (Sheeta Virya), and heavy, unctuous qualities (Guru, Snigdha). Cold counters heat, oiliness counters dryness, and the sweet taste nourishes depleted tissue.

Cooling and Hydration

Tender coconut water is the classic Ayurvedic answer to thirst and heat. The Ashtanga Hridaya describes it as unctuous, sweet, cooling and easy to digest, and says it relieves thirst and balances Pitta and Vata.

Tender coconut water is unctuous, sweet, aphrodisiac, coolant and easy to digest. It relieves thirst and balances Pitta and Vata.

Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutrasthana, Drava Vigyaniya (Drinkables)

This is why it is used for dehydration, hangover, and Pitta-type nausea and morning sickness. The Sharangadhara Samhita also lists coconut among the foods recommended for burning sensation (Daha).

Urinary Comfort

The Sushruta Samhita sums up coconut as "sweet, cool, unctuous, nourishing, bladder-purifying," and the Bhavaprakasha names tender coconut water for painful, burning urination (Mutrakrichhra). Its listed actions include clearing the urine (Mutravirajaniya).

The traditional home remedy for painful urination is simple: drink one cup of coconut water.

Skin

Coconut oil is the cooling oil for hot, dry or inflamed skin. Traditional home practice applies it to sunburn and burning skin, to dry skin, and to Pitta-type rashes and hives.

For itchy eczema, the traditional remedy is burned, powdered coconut applied to the skin. Coconut water is used during chickenpox, measles and other rashes, and coconut milk is applied locally for vitiligo.

Coconut oil is also applied to fungal infections and nail fungus, most often as the carrier for stronger antifungal herbs.

Hair and Scalp

For hair thinning and falling out, traditional practice is to apply coconut oil to the scalp. It is a common first step for hair loss with a warm, Pitta-type scalp.

For dandruff and an itchy scalp, coconut milk is applied locally.

Gums and Mouth

Coconut oil is used as a cooling oil for holding in the mouth (Gandusha) for Pitta-type inflamed gums, in place of warming sesame oil. For receding and bleeding gums, a traditional tooth powder is made from finely ground coconut shell with a pinch of edible camphor.

Strength and Nourishment

The Bhavaprakasha lists coconut's actions as aphrodisiac (Vrishya), nourishing (Brinhana), strengthening (Balya) and heart-supporting (Hridya). The cream and milk are described as nutritive, and the mature kernel as heavy and nourishing.

This is the reasoning behind its place in weakness and debility. Traditional home practice also lists coconut among foods for osteoporosis, and a cup of coconut water with half a teaspoon of rock candy is the traditional remedy for heavy menstrual bleeding.

Coconut comes in several forms, and each one does a different job. The Bhavaprakasha's guidance on dose is relaxed: coconut water freely, oil as needed.

Choosing the Right Form

Fresh water from a young green coconut is the classical choice. Bottled and canned versions often have added sugar or preservatives, so pick unsweetened ones if fresh is not available.

For the skin and scalp, use plain cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, not refined or fragranced cooking oil.

What to Take It With

The vehicle you take a remedy with (anupana) changes what it does. Rock candy makes coconut water more cooling for heat and bleeding. A small pinch of rock salt and a little lime juice suit dry, Vata-type nausea.

Externally, coconut oil works well as the base for other herbs, such as a pinch of turmeric for inflamed skin or neem oil for fungal problems.

Seasonal Use

Coconut fits hot months and Pitta flares. In damp, cold weather, or when you feel heavy and congested, cut back, because it can aggravate Kapha.

Rasa (Taste): Sweet. Virya: Cooling. Vipak: Sweet. The flesh is hard, heavy and oily, and the center is liquid. Dosha: Pacifies vata and pitta; may aggravate kapha in excess. Coconut oil is useful for external application.

Note: Coconut water is the juice inside the coconut; coconut milk is made from grating the white flesh and mixing it with a cup or so of water, letting it sit a few minutes and squeezing out the coconut milk.

• Itchy eczema: Apply burned, powdered coconut to the skin.
• Burning skin or sunburn: Apply coconut oil.
• Burning urination: Drink 1 cup of coconut water.
• Measles, chicken pox or other rash: Coconut water will help.
• Hair thinning and falling out: Apply coconut oil to the scalp.
• Dandruff, itching scalp or vitiligo: Apply coconut milk locally.
• Fungal infections of the nails: Apply coconut oil.
• Profuse menstrual bleeding: Take 1 cup coconut water with ½ teaspoon rock candy powder (or organic sugar).
• Ulcers from colitis: An enema with 1 pint coconut milk can bring some relief.
• Receding and bleeding gums: A tooth powder made from finely ground coconut shell with a pinch of edible camphor.

Coconut is a food first, and for most people it is very safe. The cautions come from its own qualities: it is heavy, oily and cold.

Kapha Imbalance

Coconut can aggravate Kapha in excess. If you tend toward heaviness, congestion, mucus or sluggish digestion, keep to small amounts of coconut water and go easy on the rich forms like coconut milk, cream and flesh.

The same rule applies on the skin and scalp. On wet, oozing, swollen skin patches, or an oily scalp with sticky dandruff, the heavy oil can make things worse.

Too Cooling for Some

If your skin or body runs cold and pale rather than warm and dry, coconut may be too cooling. Sesame oil is the usual warming alternative.

Kidney Disease and Medications

Coconut water carries a natural potassium load. Avoid large quantities (more than about 1 liter a day) if you have kidney disease or take potassium-sparing diuretics, ACE inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers, because blood potassium can rise too high.

Blood Sugar

Coconut water contains natural sugars. If you have diabetes, count it in your daily carbohydrates and keep to about one cup a day.

When to See a Doctor

Coconut supports care; it does not replace it. Burning urination with fever, kidney pain or blood in the urine needs medical evaluation, and so does any severe allergic reaction, deep burn or spreading infection.

Coconut is most often weighed against the other common oils and cooling remedies in the Ayurvedic kitchen. The Charaka Samhita names sesame, mustard and coconut as the main plant sources of oil for oleation therapy (Sneha), the practice of using fats internally and externally.

Pregnancy and Nursing

Tender coconut water is one of the few drinks classical Ayurveda recommends across the whole of pregnancy, and it is a traditional remedy for morning sickness. It is taken as a food, not a medicine.

Half a glass to one glass (about 100 to 200 ml) once or twice a day is the usual amount. Avoid iced or very chilled coconut water, which Ayurveda treats as Vata-aggravating and slow to digest. If you have gestational diabetes, kidney problems, or take diuretics or blood-pressure medication, check your daily intake with your obstetrician.

Children

Healthy children over one year can have tender coconut water, around 50 to 150 ml several times a day during illnesses like chickenpox. Children who refuse food during a fever will often still sip it. Plain coconut oil is fine on intact skin.

Newborns and children who are seriously ill need a doctor, not home remedies.

Elderly

The nourishing, strengthening actions of the kernel and milk suit older people with weakness or dry skin. Older adults are also more likely to have kidney disease or take medicines that raise potassium, so keep coconut water moderate and check with your doctor if either applies.

Athletes

The water contains natural electrolytes and minerals, which is why the Bhavaprakasha names it among the best drinks for dehydration. Choose plain coconut water over sports-drink versions with added sugar.