Moving on to more “exotic” techniques to increase immune system efficiency, we come to castor oil. I can remember my dad telling me time after time about his mother’s devotion to castor oil when he was growing up. At the first sign of any illness in one child, she would immediately give all the children a quick oral dose of castor oil.
There’s no doubt it provided a quick solution for constipation, and from what I can tell, it must have a positive effect on memory too.
In many ways, castor oil is a very unique substance. While most of us are familiar with its use as a remedy for constipation, folk healers in this country and around the world have used castor oil to treat a ide variety of conditions. Its effectiveness is probably due in part to its peculiar chemical composition.
Castor oil is a triglyceride of fatty acids. Almost 90 percent of its fatty acid content consists of ricinoleic acid. Such a high concentration of this unusual, unsaturated fatty acid is thought to be responsible for castor oil’s remarkable healing abilities.
Castor oil’s antimicrobial activity, while very impressive, comprises only a small part of the story concerning this mysterious oil. While castor oil has been thoroughly investigated for its industrial uses, only a minimal amount of research effort has been directed toward its medicinal benefits. |
