Although it is a relatively recent trend in clean eating and beauty, people have been in a long-term relationship with coconuts for thousands of years. The warmer temperatures where these nuts, drupes, or fleshy fruit-covered seeds grow atop those lovely coconut palm trees were more attractive to our ancestors (and, well, me). Originally from Southeast Asia, coconut palm palms are now grown throughout the Americas and all across Africa. And it’s simple to see why they are so cherished if you’ve cracked one open directly from the tree.