Not only is sea buckthorn oil wonderful for your body and skin, there’s good science to back up the claims. We sometimes have to really dig to find valid evidence to substantiate claims on the benefits of beauty and health oils, herbs, essences and so on. Let’s face it, there’s no money for research in something that can’t be patented with eyes on future profit. Not so with sea buckthorn oil for reasons you will soon discover.
Sea Buckthorn – Nature’s Awesome Plant
In case you don’t know what sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is, I will enlighten you. It’s a thorny shrub (also known as sandthorn and seaberry) and it’s really cool because it will grow in soils where other trees and shrubs won’t. Plus it fixes nitrogen in the soil and that ultimately makes the soil friendly for growing other crops. Plus, all parts of the plant and the oils derived from them are really good for us humans.
Sea buckthorn grows wild in many parts of the world and its uses go back as far as ancient Greece. Today, in China, there are serious soil erosion problems due to the decimation of forests. Coming to the rescue is the sea buckthorn. It offers real hope for the future and not just to prevent erosion. The many health benefits of sea buckthorn have made it a major resource for the country.
What’s in Sea Buckthorn Oil?
The oils derived from sea buckthorn come from the seeds, pulp and fruit residue. Oil from the seeds is richest in Vitamin K, total sterols and unsaturated fatty acids. However, it lacks flavonoids as does the pulp oil. Pulp oil has a higher concentration of carotenoids than the seed oil, but that nowhere compares to the fruit residue oil which contains somewhere between 1280 – 1960 milligrams per 100 grams of fruit residue oil. In addition, the fruit residue oil is the only one of the three that contains flavonoids (550 milligrams per 100 grams of oil). Just in case you forgot, 100 grams equals about 3.53 ounces.
Health Benefits of Sea Buckthorn oil
Today we’re going to talk about the benefits of sea buckthorn oil. We’re not going to discuss that a tea made from the leaves provides fatty acids, beta carotene, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, flavonoids and polyphenols (powerful antioxidants). We’re not going to talk about the berries rich with the same benefits as the tea plus a high concentration of vitamin C. Nope, we’re not going to say a word about those things. We’re going to limit our discussion to the oil.
- Benefits to cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy (animal studies only). Russian cosmonauts used sea buckthorn in their diets and as a cream to protect them from cosmic radiation.
- Benefits to cardiovascular patients. In one study, 128 patients were given flavonoids from sea buckthorn. They had reduced cholesterol levels, improved heart function, and less angina than those in the control group.
- Benefits to people with gastric ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders. Sea buckthorn seed oil is beneficial possibly by normalizing gastric acids.
- Benefits to patients with liver cirrhosis. Also helps protect the liver from toxic chemicals.
- Benefits to patients with acne, acne rosacea, eczema and other skin disorders. Palmitoleic acid is a component of the skin and sea buckthorn is only one of two major plant sources containing this acid. The other is macadamia nuts. Palmitoleic acid is extremely nourishing and healing to the skin when used either internally or externally. Oh, and one other thing, oil from the fruit acts as a sunblock. If you are making your own creams and lotions, keep in mind that sea buckthorn is quite orange due to the carotenoids and this may turn you a wee bit orange if it’s used in too high a concentration.
If you’ve used sea buckthorn to make products, share your experience. We’re very interested.
The more we learn about the totally marvelous gifts that Mother Nature has to offer, the more in awe of her we are. Every day something else is learned and yet we’ve only begun. Think what she holds in the future for us whether it is a cure for disease or something to keep us healthy, vibrant and youthful on into advancing years.
P.S. If you would like a list of scientific references so you can read the studies yourself, let me know.
Now go have fun and relax.
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How to Make Essential Oils [1]
How to Choose the Right Essential Oils [2]
How to Blend Essential Oils [3]
Essential Oils Fit for a Goddess