PH: Virgin Coconut Oil in Mercury Drugstores!

[Guest guest]

Some interesting info for Philippine-based listers (if you haven't found

this out already)

While browsing at our friendly neighborhood Mercury Drug (the biggest

drugstore chain in the Philippines), I found bottles of " extra virgin "

coconut oil in the Health Care section. The brand is Prosource (from

Prosource International of San , Metro Manila). It comes in plastic 250

ml bottles - the package that looks like it was designed for lotions or

shampoo. Very handy, looks like you can put it in a gym bag!

Best of all the price is only PHP 120 per 250 ml. At the current exchange

rate this is about US$ 2.13 per bottle. This was the best surprise of all!

Now I have a ready supply right at the drugstore and don't have to hunt for

VCO in exotic nooks and crannies. VCO is still more expensive in relation

to other oils (like imported extra virgin olive oil) but this is quite

affordable.

The bottle was filled with a white goo in the air conditioned drugstore.

When I bought one (I later bought two) and put in the back seat of my car,

the white stuff it quickly melted into a clear colorless liquid. It has a

light taste and aroma and tried it on some dishes - tastes great! Very good

quality as far as my experience with other VCO oils is concerned.

I keep one bottle at the kitchen table where I use it as a condiment, salad

dressing, or cooking oil. The other bottle I put in the bathroom where I

will be experimenting with using as a lotion or scalp conditioner. When I

go to the beach in a couple of weeks (beach weather already!) I will bring

it and try it out as a suntan lotion instead of Coppertone :-)

The label has as an interesting sticker and I've taken the liberty of

posting the text here as it illustrates the multi-functionality of this

stuff - you can eat it or you can apply it as a lotion:

" Low-Fat Fat that Keeps You Fit "

" Rub it - For healthy scalp and skin "

" Sip It - Recommended 2 tablespoons a day " (hmm, this should be 4)

" Cook It - For stir fry, salad dressings "

" Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial! "

The nutrition label at the back breaks down the MCFA into lauric acid,

caprilyc acid, etc.

Also interesting is it lists 105 calories per teaspoon (15 ml). All other

oils are 120 calories per teaspoon.

I'll try to take some digital photos of the bottle and will post them in

the file area.

It's good that there is some progress in the awareness of VCO health

benefits being made in the Philippines at least - I am beginning to read

occasional articles about it in the papers. I hope that Prosource is joined

on the drugstore (or ever supermarket) shelves by other brands, in the same

way that ampalaya and banaba preparations became popular.

Of course there is still a long way to go for education about VCO, not just

in the Philippines but internationally as well.

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jim ayson / jim@... / www.philmusic.com