Coconut milk comes from the meat of mature coconuts. There are two types of coconut milk: thick and thin. Thick coconut milk is made by squeezing coconut meat through a cheese cloth. The coconut meat is then soaked in warm water and squeezed a second time to produce thin coconut milk. Thick coconut milk is mainly used for desserts and dry sauces, whereas thin coconut milk is more watery and is used in soups and in the preparation of wet sauces. For those people with access to fresh coconuts such as in Thailand the difference between thin and thick coconut milk is important for cooking. For those people in the West who buy canned coconut milk the difference is not so important.
Canned coconut milk normally contains a mixture of both thin and thick coconut milk. The relative benefits of thick and thin coconut milk are confined to the realm of cooking. In terms of health and nutrition they are equal.
The first benefit of coconut milk is that it contains lots of antioxidants. This prevents the coconut milk from going off. Coconut milk can be stored in a cupboard for up to a year and it doesn’t go rancid. Eating food with antioxidants is good for the health because the food doesn’t go rancid in the body.
Although coconut milk is high in fat, it should be remembered that there are different types of fat and different ways to classify fats. Coconut milk contains coconut oil that is high in saturated fat. This might seem bad until it is realized that the saturated fat is composed of medium chain fatty acids that are easily broken down by the body and converted into energy.
In contrast such polyunsaturated fats such as soy and sunflower contain long chain fatty acids that are hard for the body to break down. The long chain fatty acids that are not metabolized become bad blood cholesterol.
People in such places as South East Asia and Polynesia use coconut milk and coconut fat as staples in their diets. These people suffer from low rates of obesity and heart disease. In contrast people in North America who use mostly polyunsaturated fats suffer far more from obesity and heart disease.
Make your own mind up; don’t let the mainstream media make up your mind for you. And besides coconut milk (both thick and thin) tastes great in soups, curries and desserts. It has a rich, slightly sweet taste that is irresistible.