Learn about the unique benefits of a coconut oil detox – a short term cleanse that harnesses the power of coconut oil to jump-start weight loss and give the body energy to heal.
What in the world is a coconut oil detox?
This cleanse seems a little crazy at first. I’m right there with you.
I’m not big on fad cleanses personally. I’ve never been good at subjecting myself to an insanely restricted diet (aside from my milk diet, but what can I say? I love milk), especially one that required heavy duty fasting.
I know now this is probably because my stress levels have been too high for a few years, and fasting can generally stress even further (can we say mood swings, anyone?).
So it’s with some reserve that I talk about a coconut oil detox as a way to cleanse without using complicated formulas or living off nothing but water for days on end.
Coconut oil is a powerful cleansing food. I know this from personal experience.
When I first added a couple tablespoons of coconut oil to my diet, I went through some noticeable die-off symptoms like headaches and chills for about 2-3 days. Considering I hadn’t changed much else in my diet I was pretty impressed.
Coconut oil is also a great source of energy.
It’s largely comprised of medium-chain fatty acids, which are sent directly to the liver for energy rather than storage. This type of fat is ideal for a cleanse, since it can provide the energy needed at a time when less food is being consumed.
It’s also supposed to give digestion somewhat of a break during this time, which is an important benefit of fasting because this allows the body to process and eliminate general toxic buildup.
These same medium-chain fatty acids play a crucial role in cleansing the body from toxins. Coconut oil is heralded as a natural healing food, and a coconut oil detox simply speeds up healing results by thoroughly flushing the entire body of toxins in a short time.
Four Benefits of a Coconut Oil Cleanse
(1) Candida. In modern society, candida overgrowth is considered by some to be almost epidemic. More people are experiencing systemic candida (when the problem spreads throughout the body and causes a myriad of unpleasant side effects).
A coconut oil detox is completely void of sugar and other carbohydrates, which effectively starves off all candida in the system.
People who suffer from candida will notice many conditions improve or disappear after a coconut oil detox, including sugar cravings, fatigue, eczema, acne, repeat sinus infections and poor concentration.
(2) Fungal infections. Often connected with candida, repeat fungal infections like ringworm and jock itch are linked to an imbalance of bacteria and fungal organisms in the body.
The lauric acid and caprylic acid in coconut oil are antifungal, so a coconut oil detox is an effective way to cleanse the entire system of fungal growth. Many people with fungal conditions report a complete recovery within the cleansing period.
(3) Digestive conditions. A coconut oil detox can help banish digestive conditions like irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) and leaky gut syndrome by restoring health and balance to the digestive system.
(4) Viruses. Lauric acid, which is found in abundance in coconut oil, is converted into monolaurin in the body, which has strong antiviral properties that can protect against and even destroy lipid-coated viruses like herpes and influenza.
This is my favorite coconut oil to use.
How to Do a Coconut Oil Detox
A coconut oil cleanse is a very simple detoxification method that replaces regular food with coconut oil, usually for about 3-7 days. Start your day with two tablespoons of coconut oil and take 1-2 tablespoons throughout the day as needed for up to 14 tablespoons total each day.
Take the coconut oil plain if you enjoy it that way, but those who can’t tolerate swallowing the oil straight can mix it with warm lemon water or plain organic yogurt if necessary.
You can use small amounts of stevia if you’d like to sweeten the lemon water or yogurt, but no sugar should be consumed during the cleanse.
In his book Coconut Cures, Dr. Bruce Fife adds that you can eat up to four ounces of fresh coconut meat daily while on the detox if needed.
The best kind of coconut oil to use to detoxify is organic, raw extra virgin coconut oil.
This type of oil should be completely unrefined, expeller- or cold-pressed, unbleached and not deodorized. This ensures you are getting the maximum natural benefits from your coconut oil.
But I wouldn’t say that refined coconut oil has no benefits, so if that is what you have on hand or if it’s easier for you to take, then it will probably work for the cleanse.
You can read my thoughts on refined vs unrefined coconut oil HERE.
*Warning: Work Up Slowly if You’re New to Coconut Oil*
- If you have never taken coconut oil before, then you’ll want to let your body adjust by slowly incorporating it into your diet before trying a coconut oil detox. Start with 1/2-1 teaspoon three times per day.
- Gradually work your way up to 1-2 tablespoons three times daily. It may take two weeks to work up to the full amount.
- When you feel comfortable taking this much coconut oil, then you should be ready to start a coconut oil detox.
- Some people will experience “die-off” symptoms when they begin a coconut oil detox.
- These symptoms are often flu-like, including headaches, joint stiffness, dizziness and foggy-thinking.
- It may not feel so good, but it’s a sign that your body is ridding itself of harmful toxins like fungal organisms.
- Die-off symptoms usually only last for 3-5 days, but you can ease them by gradually introducing coconut oil to your diet before doing a detox.
Coconut Oil Cleanse Tips: Drink Your Water!
During a coconut oil detox, it’s important to drink plenty of filtered water to nourish the body and facilitate cleansing benefits. Here is a recipe for a delicious drink that can replenish you during a cleanse:
The lemon juice has cleansing properties, and the sea salt replaces minerals that may be lost during a cleanse.
You can also add some liquid trace minerals for additional minerals if you’d like.
Add stevia for a sweeter taste, but do not sweeten with any kind of sugar.
Question: Is it safe to detox while breastfeeding?
I hear this question a lot, and I found a great post that addresses whether or not it’s recommended to detox while breastfeeding here.
*Remember, if you have medical conditions or if you are on prescription medications, it’s important to talk with your physician before trying a coconut oil cleanse or any other kind of cleanse.
More of our best posts:
- 40+ Coconut Oil Skincare Recipes
- Refined vs Unrefined Coconut Oil: Does it really matter?
- Coconut oil vs Acne
- Homemade Potato Chip Recipe with Coconut Oil
- Craving Peanut Butter? Here’s Why
- Homemade Mouthwash
- DIY 1-Ingredient Cough “Syrup”
Tiffany @ The Coconut Mama says
Great Info! My husband and I started oil pulling with coconut oil this week. My husband was amazed at how clean his mouth felt after the oil pulling. We use a lot of coconut oil (E.V. cold pressed) for most of our cooking, and we also use it as a moisturizer.
Rachel says
Just a word of caution. I have seen warnings and heard of negative health outcomes in regards to killing off candida for people who have high levels of mercury in their systems. If a person has reason to believe they may have high levels of mercury (exposure to broken thermometers as a child, four or more “silver” fillings, other exposures, or any symptoms) it might be wise to proceed slowly with killing off candida. The candida actually binds with the mercury in the body, and when that candida dies off it causes the mercury to redistribute into organs and tissues (such as the brain). Mercury is much more damaging to and harder to remove from the brain than it is from the gut.
Elizabeth Walling says
That’s a good point. It might be wise to do some heavy metal cleansing first, which I’m going to talk about later this month.
Marilyn Konstanty says
With this in mind, it would be advisable to take Spirulina or other green algae to bind with the mercury or other metals and move them out of the body. I had such fillings and when healing I took Spirulina for 6 months. My labs on blood showed no metals. My objective was to eliminate any causes like lead in my son for his AdHD. We had used the Spirulina (he and Ik0 for ADHD for it’s balance of amino acids. As a sideline learned of how Spirulina rids the body of metals through research on blue green algae. My research was focused on the amini-acids that are well alanced and digestible for ADHD.
Landon Bass says
You can use cilantro for heavy metal detox along with a chelating agent like sea weed. These release heavy metal from tissue then the seaweed helps it pass through your system and be elemenated.
Stephanie says
Thanks! This is great info. I’m trying to cleanse out the toxins in my body through eating whole foods, but this might help the process along. I think I’ll start introducing coconut oil into my diet slowly and then cleanse eventually.
Stephanie says
Hi, Stephanie again, quick question, are you not supposed to eat anything while you do this or just nothing with sugar and carbs? Thanks again!
Elizabeth Walling says
This is more like a coconut oil fast, nothing but what I mentioned in the post. That’s why it’s such a temporary measure. A few days would most likely be more than enough.
Kayla Rose says
Can you do coconut butter or “manna” along with coconut oil or does it have to be strictly coconut oil? You said you can eat the meat too so since the coconut butter is only oil and the meat blended together it should be fine correct?
Also, none of the coconut water shouled be consumed since it has sugars?
thank you 🙂
Elizabeth Walling says
You can definitely be flexible with this, it’s very strict and I don’t necessarily endorse it. I’m just leaving the post up for informational purposes. Coconut water is pretty awesome, so I won’t argue with you using it. 😉
Paula says
I am still confused, do you eat anything during this cleanse? I saw no foods listed in the article so for how many days do you do this with no food?
Elizabeth Walling says
You can eat some plain yogurt in addition to the coconut oil. It’s a (kind of ridiculously) strict cleanse, so I wouldn’t recommend following this for a more than a few days at maximum.
Jessie says
I would be interested in any thoughts you have about the following.
After having smoothies w/coconut oil (1 T) in them (either dairy or coconut milk) – my husband has diarrhea. But he doesn’t seem to have the problem other times – this AM we had coconut pancakes & he had 1.5 T of coconut oil in the pancakes – but no reaction. I have tried smoothies w/o coconut oil & he is OK.
This is so odd – any thoughts?
Mary says
I had a similar experience a little over a week ago, only for me it’s constipation. I had smoothies 3 days in a row with 1 Tbsp. coconut oil…I did not feel good. I wonder if it was too much at once or if it’s something about how coconut oil reacts with another ingrdient…maybe the yogurt? I haven’t tried another smoothie since then. But I’m sure I will at some point. I wonder if it would happen again.
Rachel says
Candida die off can cause constipation (or diarrhea). You might want to start off with less, or spread it out throughout the day, like a tsp. with breakfast, one with lunch, and if you still feel okay, one with dinner. It’s best to detox gently and not further stress your body more by overdoing it.
carrielee says
Interesting, because coconut oil keeps me regular… I would suggest sticking with it, it’s probably a temporary reaction.
christie says
RE: your constipation. That is interesting because I went ot the ER last holiday after being super constipated for two weeks after being on coconut oil that my ayurvedic doctor prescribed. When I went back to her, she said that basically my liver couldn’t keep up with the detox of it which is why I was constipated. Even the triphala which normally works didn’t. She makes me keep drinking the cumin, coriander, fennel tea and it seems to work along with enemas.
Elizabeth Walling says
Hmm, that is interesting. Hard to tell what the cause is if he doesn’t have the same reaction when coconut oil is with ither foods. It may have to do with the rate of digestion. Smoothies are digested very quickly. But it’s hard to know for sure–though if that’s his reaction I would definitely use less coconut oil in the smoothies and just use it somewhere else instead.
Terry says
When I first started my anti candida diet, I used a lot of coconut oil. I made a fudge out of it that was really pretty good.
I love this blog and am going to become a follower.
I am having an APRON GIVEAWAY.. stop over and check it out.
http://myjourneywithcandida.blogspot.com/
Melissa @CI says
Hey, Jessie. It’s common to have problems digesting saturated fat if you aren’t used to having it in your diet. It has to do with the gallbladder losing it’s ability to produce bile as needed. Coconut oil is supposed to be easiest to digest because it is mostly medium chain fatty acids, but I know of some people who still have problems with it in the beginning. There are several steps you can take to build up digestion of saturated fats. The sidebar at the bottom of this article from the Weston Price website has detailed info for a few ways to do that. Hope it helps!
http://www.westonaprice.org/component/content/article/15-making-it-practical/260-taking-the-fear-out-of-eating-fat.html
Nancy says
Could I drink it unsweetened herbal tea (no caffeine)? That’s how I take my coconut oil a lot of times, and I think it would be a lot easier for me to get it in with tea.
Elizabeth Walling says
I’m sure that would be fine, especially if it helps you get all that coconut oil down! 🙂
CieAura says
So far I tried virgin coconut oil to detoxify my body.
Salt Water Cleanse says
I wanna find more info about this, anybody could?
Elizabeth Walling says
More information about this cleanse can be found in Bruce Fife’s book Coconut Cures.
Salt Water Cleanse says
Thanks for information, I’ll always keep updated here!
Mairzie says
Do you know if the coconut oil detox can be done using coconut oil capsules? I know a lot of capsules would have to be swallowed, but that might work better for me. Thanks.
Elizabeth Walling says
I suppose technically this could be done, but as you said it would take a whole lot of capsules (I’m talking in the realm of 200+/day). Plus I would have some concerns about sending all of those capsules through the digestive system. The body really wasn’t made to break down that sort of thing.
Mairzie says
Thank you for this answer. This helps a lot.
Pat Robinson says
I want to caution people about “die-off” which is often due to mercury recirculating in the blood stream. Candida binds with mercury to sequester it out of circulation. When we kill off candida faster than the body can effectively excrete the excess circulating mercury, it redeposits into brain, organs, gut, fetus and breastmilk. (headaches, insomnia, irritability, nausea, malaise, weakness, dizziness are symptoms of excess circulating toxins)
Detox shouldn’t hurt.
It is necessary to have adequate nutrients to effectively excrete toxins from the body. I strongly recommend against a coconut oil only diet or “cleanse” as magnesium, zinc, folate, vit c, selenium, B3, B6, B12, molybdenum, sulfate are all necessary to open the detoxification pathways. These are all available in whole foods: bone broths, nettle infusions, beans, greens, legumes, liver, Brazil nuts, green smoothies, etc. And Epsom salt baths help with detox reactions.
Pat Robinson
MANUEL E JURADO says
This diet will surely throw one into a state of ketosis. Those die off symptoms as described are from ypur body switching from glucose as a major source of energy to the fat from Coconut Oil. A diet like this will hurt unless you incorporate some potassium, magnesium, and sodium. Lots of water and rest too. Those flu like symptoms is nothing but dehydration.
City Share says
I definitely want to get more coconut oil in our diet. We do coconut oil pulling every once in a while, but we can do more. Thanks for the great informative post.
Kiterrr says
I stopped taking coconut oil because someone told me it was just like intaking another toxin unless the coconut oil was raw.
Elizabeth Walling says
I personally think this is a myth. The benefits of coconut oil are still available even if it’s not raw. The fatty acids in coconut oil are the most beneficial part, and those are extremely heat stable and resistant to oxidation.
Namara says
I love coconut oil and I use it for cooking everything. I am from Mexico and I am used to it. I feel it’s good for my body. I have been fighting candida for about 2 years, of course using different herbs like pau d’arc and a change in diet and it’s working fine. I’ve lost weight especially in the belly and waist. The results have been very good and I have gained a lot of energy, the osteoarthritis symptoms are almost gone. I would like to try de coconut detox as eating coconut meat is satisfying and it helps you feel good while detoxifying. Yes, I have had bad days with symptoms I think have to do with the detox, sometimes very bad but I help myself with energy healing and I continue with the cleansing. I think coconut is an incredible addition to our health. Good site, thank you
Studio150music says
This is an older article, but I was curious…is this a good cleanse for losing weight? Coconut oil is so high in calories that I wasn’t sure if it’d be good for weight loss.
Elizabeth Walling says
If you’re only eating the coconut oil, it is very likely you will lose weight because at the most you’ll be consuming about 1400 calories.
Kathy Lee says
I am learning so much about coconut oil I, have read all your comments, and I’m wondering if those of you that have constipation and/or diarrhea, have considered food allergies, like cow milk. I ask this because I made myself a smoothie everyday for a year using skim milk and yogurt, and 7 other non-dairy ingredients. I was constipated for the entire time, then I started throwing up the smoothies every time I drank one, I knew I’d had problems with milk but I discovered I had become extremely allergic to milk. I switched to almond milk, I’ve had great success, I only have it with cereal so far, I haven’t made a smoothie yet but I’m going to start making them again and use a Tbl spoon of virgin coconut oil.
Sarah says
Thanks for this post! I will have to work on increasing my coconut oil consumption first, but I hope to try this. I’m already up to about 1 tbsp a day on average. Great stuff!
Elizabeth Walling says
Glad you enjoyed the post! Definitely a good idea to get used to eating coconut oil first.
NC says
Hey any thoughts on plain goats milk yogurt instead of cows milk?
Elizabeth Walling says
I don’t see why not, sounds like a good substitution.
Janet says
I clicked on a post that directed me to instructions for making coconut body-scrub…when I found more information on the uses of coconut oil. I really enjoyed reading and learning all the amazing ways to use coconut oil. I’m now a follower! Thanks for sharing such valuable information.
NC says
Also would this be a good idea in combination with coconut oil and organic coffee? (Bulletproof without the butter?)
Elizabeth Walling says
Sure, not a bad combo at all!
Tina says
I just had 3 spoonfuls in tea and I’ve been passed out for 3 hrs!!
Is this good or bad?
Elizabeth Walling says
Not sure, it really depends. If you’re over-exhausted and your body starts to heal, it could just be your body getting the rest it needs. It could also be a sign that this doesn’t agree with your body!
Jenny says
I did that when I first started taking coconut oil.. To get my body used to it.. The second day I just slept off and on all day.. and felt very sick to my stomach..
christie says
That’s the only way I can get it into my diet. I do coconut oil, coffee, buttermilk and a little coconut sugar or stevia.