Can Coconut Milk Help With Weight Gain?

With half of the world struggling to lose weight, the Internet, naturally, is filled with tons of information to shed pounds. In the midst of it all, those of us who are fighting the exact opposite battle – weight gain – are slightly ignored and forgotten.

Gaining weight is as tricky or more than losing because most foods just make you gain fat and not muscles. And some foods lead to stomach and digestion-related issues and make things worse than before. You devour anything you can put your hands on, be it junk, fatty foods, desserts, name it all… but none of it helps. So, why not go the natural way with a little bit of coconut milk?

Coconut Milk And Weight Gain

Coconut milk has a balanced amount of the right kind of nutrients, fats, and calories. One cup of raw coconut milk contains about 552 kcal, 5.5 g of proteins, 57 g of fat, and 13 g of carbs.¹ Ideally, such a combination of nutrients should help you gain a pound in as little as a week. But drinking just coconut milk might not do you much good.

Coconut Milk And Associated Health Issues

Too much of coconut in your diet can give just the opposite results. Coconut products such as coconut milk contain saturated fats called medium-chain triglycerides. This type of fat has actually been seen to induce weight loss rather than gain. And since losing weight is also about eating more calories, coconut products might not contribute that significantly to your weight gain plan.²

Some also associate coconut milk usage with an increased risk of heart disease and cholesterol issues because of the saturated fats. But these are just claims with no basis. Medium-chain triglycerides are mostly harmless as they do not affect blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol in any way.³ Whether you gain weight or not, using a little coconut milk every day will not make your health go for a toss.

How To Use Coconut Milk Every Day

No matter how healthy a food is, excessively eating just that one thing is a really stupid idea. And this applies to coconut milk as well. The best way to gain weight in a healthy way is to choose foods that contain a good amount of calories and nutrients and diligently plan and follow a diet.

Include an assortment of healthy fruits, veggies, proteins, grains and millets, and dairy in your daily diet. Create a schedule in such a way that you can use at least a little bit of coconut milk in most of the dishes. You can do this in multiple ways:

1. Use it as an alternative to dairy, but it might be too watery.
2. Use thick canned coconut milk for optimum effects.
3. Make whipped cream out of coconut milk to add to dishes.
4. Use it to increase the calories in curries, smoothies, or desserts.

However you use it, just don’t overdo it. On an average, your body needs at least 3500 more calories than what you burn to maintain a good, steady weight. And coconut milk is a good way to spike those numbers without messing up your digestive system along the way.