Sesame oil can helps strengthen bones, manage depression, and more! Read about the 10 benefits of sesame oil…
Sesame oil, a yellow vegetable cooking oil derived from sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum), a tall annual herb from the Pedaliaceae family, has a lot to offer regarding health benefits, which includes helping in reducing blood pressure, bone growth, managing depression and anxiety, preventing cancer, maintaining optimum heart health, lowering inflammation, and improving the digestive process.
In addition to health, it also has cosmetic benefits, especially in skincare. The anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties of the oil effectively prevent rashes from appearing on the skin, reduce pimples and heal wounds. It is enriched with key vitamins, such as B complex, E, D and minerals like phosphorus, calcium and some proteins that also promote hair strengthening.
Here are the 10 benefits of sesame oil:
Enhances Quality of Bones
Sesame oil has a high content of the three minerals essential to bone growth – Zinc, calcium, and copper. With a handful of sesame seeds having a higher calcium content than a glass of milk, increasing your sesame oil consumption speeds up your regrowth or healing of bones while boosting bone mineral density, hence preventing osteoporosis.
Helps Prevent Diabetes
Owing to the high content of magnesium and other nutrients in sesame oil, using sesame oil as an edible oil in cooking, not only improves the effectiveness of the oral antidiabetic drugs in type 2 diabetic patients but also improves plasma glucose in hypersensitive diabetics, hence helping combat diabetes.
Reduces Blood Pressure
A study showed that “replacement of sesame oil as the only edible oil has a stabilizing effect in further reducing blood pressure”. Another study conducted in India showed that subjects with high BP had their blood pressure returned to its normal readings when they added sesame oil in their routines for 45 days.
Relieves Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain
The high copper content in sesame oil helps fight swelling and reduces pain associated with arthritis, while offering strength to joints, bones, and blood vessels. Its anti-inflammatory properties also help reduce the inflammation in joints in arthritis and hence reduce the pain, and your visits to the pain doctors.
Skin Care
Massaging Sesame oil into your skin prevents the skin cells from oxidation and promotes skin rejuvenation and increases skin elasticity, hence preventing aging. It also acts as a moisturizer and softener, skin detoxifier and a sunscreen, hence boosting your overall skin health. It is also used as a curative measure for skin issues like psoriasis and eczema. It can also be used as topical, and an effective remedy for lower back pains.
Hair Care
Being full of nutrients necessary for a healthy scalp and hair, a good hair and scalp massage with sesame oil deeply nourishes your hair and scalp right from the roots and increases blood circulation to prevent dandruff, reduce hairfall and even help retain your natural hair color. Further, the antibacterial effects of sesame oil can eliminate any pathogens or foreign bodies from your scalp and hair.
Helps Lessen Anxiety
Containing the stress-relieving minerals-magnesium and calcium and the calming vitamins-thiamin and tryptophan that help produce serotonin, which reduces pain, sesame oil can help boost a person’s mood by flooding the body with those enzymes and hormones that make a person feel happy and giving you a positive boost when you are suffering from anxiety or depression.
Helps Improve Baby’s Health
A sesame oil massage in infants improves growth and quality of sleep. It also prevents baby rashes, especially due to diapers, helps hydrate dry skin and also acts as an effective moisturizer, thus helping reverse dry skin in babies.
Dental Care
Sesame oil improves dental health through a highly recommended process known as oil pulling, in which you swish oil around in your mouth for a good 10 minutes before spitting it out, which leaves your teeth whiter, reduces dental plaque, and its powerful antibacterial properties protect against certain streptococcus mutans that can make you very sick.
Helps With Constipation
Sesame oil can easily make up for the lack of fiber and water consumption which causes constipation. Consuming a spoon or two of sesame oil provides you with ample fiber to lubricate your intestines and help ease constipation.
Now that you know of these amazing benefits and uses of consumption and topical application of sesame oil, apply these in your daily life for a healthy living and wellness of yourself and your family!
Author
Jessica, a registered dietitian, a wellness guru that loves to read, research and write. A fitness freak who believes in healthy living and doesn’t like to miss her yoga. When not reading she can be found relishing her favorite foods transforming leftovers into makeovers.
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom
