People pouring castor oil into their belly buttons on TikTok say the practice has cured their endometriosis, helped them lose weight, improved their complexion and given them luscious flowing locks.
But you’re right to question whether there’s any science behind the viral navel-oiling trend. Castor oil does have known impacts on the body. Due to its stimulating and laxative effects, drinking it can help treat constipation or even induce labour, though there are better and more commonly used drugs available for both of these things.
The oil is also used in the manufacture of cosmetics, namely lip balms and moisturisers, thanks to its hydrating and anti-bacterial properties. As for the claims that putting castor oil in your belly button is good for you, however, there’s not a single study that supports or, admittedly, rejects them.
But that’s probably because the theory behind the idea makes no sense. It’d be like investigating whether people could meet their daily fibre needs by wearing a straw hat. Your belly button once connected your growing body to another human being, via the umbilical cord.
It connected to a placenta that supplied you with oxygenated blood and got rid of your waste. But that connection was severed in the minutes after your birth. Oil can’t get into your body via that route.
Filling your belly button with castor oil might make the area softer for a time, but that’s about all. The oil – taken orally or topically – can’t help with weight loss or provide pain relief.
The act of massaging the castor oil into your skin may help to alleviate some of the pain associated with periods, though aromatherapy research suggests that massage with essential oils is more effective than with an unscented oil, such as castor.
Abdominal massage may also help to ease the symptoms of constipation if you’d rather not drink the laxative (and you probably wouldn’t want to, given that being forced to drink castor oil was used as a punishment during the Spanish Civil War)
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