Not many people know the real benefits of castor oil. It does not feature among the traditional medicinal oils such as eucalyptus or almond but is just as beneficial and even more so. It has great medicinal properties, great conditioning properties and even therapeutic ones. And because of this castor oil can be called an all-rounder!
Castor oil is extracted from the castor plant and hence is classified as a vegetable oil. Even if you are not very familiar with it, you can immediately identify it because of its distinct odour and taste.
Let’s take a look at the advantages of consuming castor oil. (Read:Benefits of coconut oil)
1. Castor oil boosts our immune systems and helps fight the growth of fungus, bacteria and viruses in our bodies.
By just applying castor oil we can increase the T11 cell count in our blood. T11 cells are a type of white blood cells that help fight infections. Application of castor oil can also increase the number of lymphocytes, another group of cells that fight infection. Thus, we can see that castor oil boosts immunity, keeping diseases at bay.
2. Castor oil actively fights the symptoms of aging on the skin and keeps you looking healthy and young.
By just applying castor oil, it is absorbed into the deep layers of your skin. There it stimulates the production of elastin and collagen – two compounds that are vital in keeping our skin smooth and elastic.
When skin loses its ability to stretch, wrinkles appear. By keeping the skin elastic, castor oil keeps your skin looking supple and young! (Read: Remedies for Wrinkles)
3. It is an excellent remedy for acne because of its unique ingredient.
Castor oil contains ricin oleic acid, an active compound that is anti-bacterial. Hence it kills the bacteria which cause acne on the face. (Read: Remedies for acne)
And also, because the oil is easily absorbed into the skin, it moisturises effectively too!
4. It takes good care of your scalp, keeping dandruff away and making your hair long and shiny.
Castor oil has omega-6 fatty acids – which keeps your hair thick and shiny. It conditions your scalp and improves the blood circulation right below it. Applying warm castor oil and massaging your scalp with it will improve the results even better.(Read: Remedies for Dandruff)
Castor oil has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, which makes it ideal to fight dandruff too!
5. Because castor oil has laxative properties, it is useful in solving constipation and also in inducing labour.
If you have had grandparents, their go to remedy for constipation has always been one teaspoon of castor oil! Just as with constipation, castor oil has been used throughout history to induce labour in pregnant women. This is because the ricin oleic acid in the oil activates the prostanoid receptors in the uterus. (Read: Remedies for constipation)
A minor side-effect of consuming castor oil is that it makes you nauseous.
6. It can actively get rid of moles, cysts and feet corn too!
Massaging the affected area daily with castor oil and a pinch of baking soda can effectively dissolve the mole and cysts too. And because it is absorbed well, it has a deep effect on the moles, removing them completely.
7. It is used to treat skin infections like ringworm.
Castor oil also contains undecylenic acid, an active compound that acts against ringworm. That’s why castor oil can be used as a first defence against ringworm infections.
Just apply and massage over the affected area until the lesion disappears.
8. It prevents stretch marks left after pregnancy and also is effective in managing scars.
Castor oil contains linoleic acid, which helps keep the skin supple. This is why the compound is an active ingredient in many topical creams sold to prevent pregnancy stretch marks. You can just use castor oil to massage after delivery to make the skin firm and supple yet again.
In the same way, it is also very effective in eliminating scars because it stimulates the growth of new skin cells.
9. Castor oil also has anti-inflammatory properties and is hence very effective in managing joint pain because of arthritis.
10.Because it is easily absorbed, it can go into the deep parts of the joints normal oils cannot reach. And because of this, castor oil can relieve pain because of arthritis.
And because it has analgesic properties, it can also be used to combat headache and other pain related to tissue injury.
Legend says that castor oil was used by ancient Egyptians and queen Cleopatra herself to make their skin beautiful. And the beauty of Cleopatra is indeed legendary. She used the oil as eye-drops to keep the whites of her eyes healthy. Egyptians also used it to light their lamps.
Hence castor oil has multiple benefits and uses. Due to the advent of modern drugs and easy of acquire ointments, people tend to forget that a wondrous natural product such as this oil exists!
Make sure you use it and spread the word about its uses to your friends too.
