The BENEFITS Of Castor Oil For Beauty & Health

Castor oil packs sound like ancient medicine and it is.  2020, a NEW decade is right around the corner and there is no better time than the present to start a new way to be healthy!

Castor oil reminds me of apple cider vinegar.  Both are simple at-home remedies with a ton of health benefits.  I have used castor oil packs for the past five years and a great friend and colleague is the Queen of Castor Oil...

       

Dr. Marisol is a world leader in natural medicine and an expert on gut health. She has experienced feeling sh*tty and figured out the hierarchy on how to get healthy. She has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars experimenting with what works and what doesn’t, and she bestows this all to you. She has been coronated as the Queen of the Thrones by her patients, as one of her passions is to educate people on their stools.

Castor oil has numerous health benefits which will result in younger-looking, healthier skin.  When the inside is healthy, the skin will glow. 

Some of the benefits include:

• Better sleep and less stress
• A flatter tummy and reduced inflammation
• Less gas, bloating and a healthy microbiome
• Pooping better and more regular
• Anti-aging antioxidants like glutathione, vitamin E and nitric oxide

They work on the key foundational aspects of our health and healing and make everything else we are doing in terms of eating healthy, exercising or supplementation, work even better and faster. And all of these benefits are clinically practiced, time-honored and backed by science.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of castor oil packs is that they’re time-consuming to prepare, and castor oil is very messy, sticky and WILL STAIN fabrics. But then I discovered Dr. Marisol... and her system makes it SO MUCH EASIER so I want to share with all of you!

Below are the reasons you should consider adding castor oil to your beauty routine.

Castor Oil Packs Help to Balance Stress

Who isn’t stressed these days? We all know how stress negatively affects our health and it’s so important to make time for practices and techniques that reduce the stress in our lives. One of my favorite tools to balance stress in my life is the castor oil pack. 

I love it because it’s so simple - it only takes 2 minutes to prepare in the evening and it does the work while I sleep! The soft compression of the organic cotton pack is like a big hug for my body, helping it switch into the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state. My friend and colleague Dr. Marisol created a heat-less, less-mess 3 step castor oil pack that makes this sacred practice easier than ever!

Castor Oil Packs Preserve Glutathione

Why is glutathione so important?! Well, it helps to detox chemicals, pollutants, drugs and even heavy metals from our bodies - so in today’s brave new world with toxins everywhere you turn, our bodies use up glutathione like no tomorrow!

 

One of my favorite things about castor oil packs is that they help to preserve our body’s precious levels of glutathione, and provide vitamin E which improves the recirculation pathway of this amazing antioxidant. If you’ve ever done a pack you know how messy they can be but no more! See below for the heatless, messless castor oil pack I use by Dr. Marisol!!

Castor Oil Packs Break Down Biofilm

Have you ever heard of biofilm? It’s this sticky, slimy substance that bad bacteria can produce to protect themselves from being killed.

Think of the gross stuff that clogs the drain of your sink, the plaque that forms on your teeth or the slimy coating you find on stones in ponds. Now imagine this inside your gut - yikes! 

There aren’t many natural substances that have the ability to break down this gunk, but luckily castor oil is scientifically proven to be one of them! Castor oil packs help improve the microbiome of your gut by breaking down these biofilms - castor oil can also be used for oil pulling to improve oral health!

Castor Oil Packs for Inflammation

Inflammation - also known as the silent killer - is a HUGE issue for many of us. Core inflammation is quite often the cause of bloating (the kind where you look like you’re 6 months pregnant), and maybe attributed to:

• Stress
• Eating a poor diet 
• Consuming foods that you’re sensitive to (without even knowing it!)
• Alcohol and drugs
• Chemical exposure

And more!

Castor oil packs have been shown to effectively reduce inflammation, making them an excellent tool for getting a flat tummy! For this reason, they’re also great for sore joints, bumps, bruises, aches, and pains! Have you ever made a DIY castor oil pack before? I have and it's messy and not a fun experience!!  Dr. Marislo's system makes the practice super easy and way less messy! 

Castor Oil Packs strengthen the Immune System

Looking for super simple and easy ways to support a strong immune system? Nobody likes getting sick! The castor oil pack has shown to have a beneficial effect by increasing the number of T cells in the blood. T cells are lymphocytes (immune system cells) that are responsible for fighting off bacteria, viruses, and cancer in the body. The little soldiers that help to keep us safe and healthy!

 

 

 

 

I found the Queen of the Thrones™ castor oil pack which only takes 2 minutes to prepare before bed, and I let it do it’s awesome immune-supporting magic while I sleep! 

Castor Oil Packs for Anti-Aging

Ahh, getting older… It seems that everywhere you turn in our society there’s another anti-wrinkle cream or plastic surgery treatment to help in the pursuit of staying young. But are they natural, or health-promoting? My favorite totally natural anti-aging treatment is castor oil packs! 

They provide these 5 amazing anti-aging nutrients: 

• Dopamine (our feel-good neurotransmitter)
• Oxytocin (the love and connection hormone)
• Glutathione (our master antioxidant) 
• Nitric oxide (anti-inflammatory and circulation supporter)
• Prostaglandin E3 (anti-inflammatory)

Not to mention castor oil on its own applied topically is awesome for dry skin, wrinkles, puffiness and age spots! Try it with our new Aura Gemstone & Hemp Face Serum and Jade Face Roller and your skin will be glowing by morning!

Castor Oil Packs reduce Constipation

Uncomfortable… sluggish… toxic… ugh! If you’ve ever been constipated you know how awful it feels. Being able to eliminate waste from our bodies is crucial to feeling good and healthy. We have to be able to get rid of the junk we don’t need or else it gets reabsorbed and recirculated through our systems! 

Sometimes it seems like no matter how much water you drink or fiber you eat, nothing helps. And yikes… laxatives aren’t fun! I want to share with you a legendary practice that’s shown to be as effective as laxatives, but without the harsh urgency to run to the toilet! It’s a health practice I couldn’t live without… castor oil packs. The packs Dr. Marisol created only takes 2 minutes to prepare and you simply wear it over your liver for at least 1 hour a day or overnight. They’ll have you poopin’ like a champ in no time! 

Castor Oil Packs help diminish Period Cramps

You may have heard that you shouldn’t practice castor oil packs while on your period - but this is nothing more than an old wives’ tale. In fact, castor oil packs support smooth muscle function of the uterus, which can provide relief from menstrual cramps. 

They may actually help to speed up the elimination of the uterine lining, leading to a shorter duration of bleeding, and who wouldn’t love that?! I found the Queen of the Thrones™ organic cotton castor oil pack makes the practice super easy, and excellent to wear throughout your entire cycle to help with balancing hormones! 

Castor Oil Packs for Candida

Have you ever heard of Candida overgrowth? It’s when yeast grows out of control in our system and causes symptoms like:

• Bloating
• Gas
• Constipation
• Foggy brain
• Skin problems
• White coating on the tongue
• Yeast infections
• Urinary tract infections 

Just to name a few! 

In addition to being one of the only natural substances with the ability to break down biofilm (the gross, slimy protective layer bad bacteria can produce) castor oil packs also stimulate nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide is a natural anti-aging molecule that inhibits yeast overgrowth. Plus it improves circulation, too!

Castor Oil Packs Improve Sleep

If you have trouble falling asleep, you’ve gotta give castor oil packs a try! This sacred health practice helps the body switch from a stressed-out state to the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state in a matter of minutes. 

It’s one of my favorite tools for reducing stress and improving sleep because it’s so easy! With my organic Queen of the Thrones™ pack, I simply apply castor oil, tie the pack onto my body, then crawl into bed and drift off into Dreamland. In addition to helping me sleep better, it also reduces inflammation, helps balance my microbiome, improves detoxification and regulates bowel movements - all while I dream blissfully. 

F.A.I.T.H. - Foundations of Feeling Great

When we don’t feel good, we can sometimes lose faith in our body’s natural ability to heal itself. Castor oil packs are one of the only treatments that support the 5 foundational functions of health and healing.

These foundational functions that castor oil packs improve are:

• The function of Digestion, Absorption, and Elimination
• Antioxidant Status
• Inflammation Regulation
• Tension And Stress Reduction
• Host Microbial Balance

Notice how the first letter of each of these 5 foundational functions spells out the acronym F.A.I.T.H.? Castor oil packs help us to restore faith in our bodies, by supporting these 5 fundamental pillars of feeling great. They are an easy, at-home treatment, done in 3 simple steps, that create massive improvement in your health.

 If you are ready to improve your health... and skin, Dr. Marisol created the  3-step heat-less, less-mess castor oil pack that I can’t get enough of!  Click HERE to learn more!! 

References

Stress Reduction & Sleep (via compression of the pack):

Oxytocin:

Walker SC1, Trotter PD2, Swaney WT2, Marshall A3, Mcglone FP4. C-tactile afferents: Cutaneous mediators of oxytocin release during affiliative tactile interactions? Neuropeptides. 2017 Aug;64:27-38. doi: 10.1016/j.npep.2017.01.001. Epub 2017 Jan 19.

Dopamine:

 Rolls ET et all. Representations of pleasant and painful touch in the human orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices. Cereb Cortex. 2003 Mar;13(3):308-17. 

Löken LS, Wessberg J, Morrison I, McGlone F, Olausson H. Coding of pleasant touch by unmyelinated afferents in humans. Nat Neurosci. 2009 May;12(5):547-8. Epub 2009 Apr 12.

Glutathione Preservation:

Holm T, Brøgger-Jensen MR, Johnson L, Kessel L.Glutathione preservation during storage of rat lenses in optisol-GS and castor oil. PLoS One. 2013 Nov 19;8(11):e79620. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079620. eCollection 2013.

Biofilm Breakdown:

Andrade IM1, Andrade KM2, Pisani MX1, Silva-Lovato CH1, de Souza RF1, Paranhos Hde F1.Trial of an experimental castor oil solution for cleaning dentures. Braz Dent J. 2014 Jan-Feb;25(1):43-7.

 Badaró MM, Salles MM, Leite VMF, Arruda CNF, Oliveira VC, Nascimento CD, Souza RF, Paranhos HFO, Silva-Lovato CH. Clinical trial for evaluation of Ricinus communis and sodium hypochlorite as denture cleanser.J Appl Oral Sci. 2017 May-Jun; 25(3):324-334.

 Salles MM, Badaró MM, Arruda CN, Leite VM, Silva CH, Watanabe E, Oliveira Vde C, Paranhos Hde F. Antimicrobial activity of complete denture cleanser solutions based on sodium hypochlorite and Ricinus communis – a randomized clinical study.J Appl Oral Sci. 2015 Nov-Dec; 23(6):637-42.

Inflammation:

Vieira C et al. .Effect of ricinoleic acid in acute and subchronic experimental models of inflammation. Mediators Inflamm. 2000;9(5):223-8

Immune Support:

Grady H. Immunomodulation through castor oil packs. The Journal of Naturopathic Medicine. Volume 7 Jan 1 1998; 7(1): 84-9

Nitric Oxide:

Mascolo N1, Izzo AA, Autore G, Barbato F, Capasso F.Nitric oxide and castor oil-induced diarrhea.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1994 Jan;268(1):291-5.

Izzo, Angelo. (1996). Castor oil: An update on mechanism of action. Phytotherapy Research. 10. S109-S111. 

Prostaglandin E3 / Smooth Muscle Function: 

Sorin Tunaru,a Till F. Althoff,a Rolf M. Nüsing,b Martin Diener,c and Stefan Offermannsa,d,1 Castor oil induces laxation and uterus contraction via ricinoleic acid activating prostaglandin EP3 receptorsProc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jun 5; 109(23): 9179–9184.Published online 2012 May 21. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1201627109PMID: 22615395

Constipation:

Arslan GG, Eşer I. An examination of the effect of castor oil packs on constipation in the elderly. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2011 Feb;17(1):58-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2010.04.004. Epub 2010 May 18.

Candida:

Valera MC1, Maekawa LE, de Oliveira LD, Jorge AO, Shygei É, Carvalho CA. In vitro antimicrobial activity of auxiliary chemical substances and natural extracts on Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis in root canals. J Appl Oral Sci. 2013 Mar-Apr;21(2):118-23. doi: 10.1590/1678-7757201302135.

Stasko N1, McHale K2, Hollenbach SJ2, Martin M2, Doxey R2. Nitric Oxide-Releasing Macromolecule Exhibits Broad-Spectrum Antifungal Activity and Utility as a Topical Treatment for Superficial Fungal Infections. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2018 Jun 26;62(7). pii: e01026-17. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01026-17. Print 2018 Jul.

Vitamin E:

Marwat SK, Rehman F, Khan EA, Baloch MS, Sadiq M, Ullah I, Javaria S, Shaheen S. Review - Ricinus cmmunis - Ethnomedicinal uses and pharmacological activities.Pak J Pharm Sci. 2017 Sep;30(5):1815-1827.