Benefits of Castor Oil Packs for Better Gut Health and Hormone Balance
Castor oil packs are one of my favorite things to recommend to someone who is dealing with digestive issues and hormonal issues. I also regularly do castor oil packs just to support my liver, digestion, and overall health.
In this blog post we’ll cover:
What is castor oil?
What is a castor oil pack?
Who should do castor oil pack?
How to do you make a castor oil pack?
What is castor oil?
Castor oil is derived from the castor bean (Ricinus communis). When used topically, castor oil has been shown to have many benefits including pain, inflammation, swelling, constipation, gas, bloating, and hair growth.
We’ll get into how castor oil can be helpful for all of these things below!
What are castor oil packs?
To make a castor oil pack, you use castor oil added to an organic flannel cloth and place it on specific areas of your body, most commonly on your liver. You can add a heat source for this castor oil pack to help drive in the benefits of castor oil.
Who should do castor oil packs?
Almost anyone can do a castor oil pack! Doing a castor oil pack can be a great way to support conditions like the ones listed below.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Constipation
Bloating, gas
Period pain
PMS
PCOS
Menopause
Endometriosis
Uterine fibroids
Insomnia
Arthritis and joint pain
Castor oil packs are not recommended in pregnancy.
The Liver
In today’s world, we are all exposed to thousands of toxins daily. Glutathione, your body’s major antioxidant, helps your liver process these toxins and can become depleted fast, causing a back up in your liver. Studies have shown that castor oil packs help support glutathione levels, which is why castor oil packs are a great way to help in the overall detoxification processes. Pro tip - you can apply a castor oil pack to the liver to help prevent a hang over after a night out drinking with friends!
Your liver processes your hormones like estrogen and when the liver is constantly bombarded with toxins from the environment, this can cause a back up of estrogen in the body, commonly called estrogen dominance. High estrogen can bring on symptoms like period pain, heavy periods, PMS, fibrocystic breasts (breast pain). Wearing a castor oil pack during the luteal phase (the second phase of your cycle) can help support your liver in processing estrogen.
Your Digestion
There are many reasons to use a castor oil pack if you’re struggling with digestion. A castor oil pack can help to coordinate the movements of the smooth muscles in your digestive system. These muscles help get everything moving through. Studies have shown that castor oil packs help make bowel movements smoother, limiting the straining in a bowel movement, and people also express that they feel like they had a complete bowel movement.
To help support constipation, you can apply your castor oil pack to your liver, keep it on overnight and in the morning, expect a smooth bowel movement.
If you’re someone who feels as though you’re always bloated at the end of the day, you will definitely want to figure out what’s going on in your digestive tract (check out my blog post on SIBO). But using a castor oil pack can help to reduce bloating and gas, making you feel a little less uncomfortable at night.
Another amazing thing about castor oil packs is that studies have shown absorption of nutrients from the digestive tract is enhanced when using a castor oil pack. I love to take my night-time supplements while I have my castor oil pack on to increase their effectiveness!
How do you do a castor oil pack?
Doing a castor oil pack is as simple as getting a flannel and applying the castor oil to the flannel, then placing on your liver for at least 60 minutes. Make sure to add a heat source to your pack to help work the castor oil. You can keep the pack on overnight!
Another option is to use the Queen of Thrones Castor oil pack! I personally use their castor oil pack for the liver and I love it. It’s has less mess and is easy to use.
The Queen of Thrones castor oil also comes in a dark glass bottle. This is important in the castor oil world! Since castor oil is an excellent carrier oil, the potential of plastic chemicals being absorbed into it is high. Even BPA-free plastics contain chemicals that can be detrimental to the hormonal, nervous, and immune systems. Exactly what you don’t want when you’re trying to support your hormones and liver!
Castor oil packs can be a great tool when you are working towards better gut + hormone health, grab your Queen of Thrones castor oil pack today and start to enjoy the benefits of all that castor oil has to offer!
Talk soon!
