How Castor Oil Packs Improve Your Hormones, Fertility, Detox & Gut Health

^{Empower yourself preconception, with Path To Conscious Conception}

Are you seeking safe detoxification practises that will support your hormones, gut and fertility health?

I remember the first few times I recommended detox practises (other than diet and natural medicine supplements) to my patients... going back over ten years ago now.

I would get side ways looks and I could see their thoughts of me being some kind of witch doctor were running through their heads. I also used to write blog posts back in the ‘notes’ section of Facebook, yep that’s showing my age. My friends named me 'Naturo Nerd' for some of the so called whacky practises I would write about.

But credit to most of my patients, they gave my recommendations a go and I got to witness improvements in hormone, gut, skin and reproductive health as they persisted alongside my supportive dietary guidelines and natural medicine supplementation.

After releasing the revamped version of my Preconception Guide last week, called Path To Conscious Conception, I wanted to share with you one powerful detox practise that can support your health in the lead up to bringing a baby into your world.

Introducing...

CASTOR OIL PACKS

Castor oil packs are an effective addition to your preconception plan. They work by nourishing all cells of your body, promoting blood and lymphatic circulation, reducing pain and inflammation, enhancing detoxification, and providing healing of the tissues and organs underneath your skin.

When a castor oil pack is applied topically, the oil is absorbed through the top layer of your skin and has a relaxing action on the smooth muscle beneath. The castor oil reaches the blood and lymphatic circulation and travels all around the body, where it helps to nourish, detox and heal the hollow organs in that area, plus your liver, blood and lymph vessels, uterus, fallopian tubes, bowels and gallbladder.

Benefits Of a Castor Oil Pack

Castor oil packs can be applied to support your digestive function by stimulating smooth muscle contraction (what your gut is composed of) and therefore promote proper pooing for efficient elimination of your toxins. Performing regular castor oil packs can help keep your bowels moving, so you can work towards a daily Bristol stool number 4.^1,2 

By performing castor oil packs, you are also promoting healthy microbiome and this practise may also assist breaking down biofilms on persistent gut pathogens, so your body can regain healthy microbiome balance.³

Extra virgin organic castor oil is also a potent antioxidant source of polyphenols, vitamin E and it also helps to recycle the body’s master antioxidant, Glutathione.⁴

Performing regular castor oil packs also stimulates nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator and helps to bring more blood flow to the area of application, such as the liver and reproductive organs. This helps your digestive system to produce healthy levels of digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, bile and immune factors, so you can get the most from your foods and natural medicine.⁵ When your gut is relaxed and well nourished, you regain your gut health and integrity,^6,7,8 further reducing inflammation. More reasons why castor oil packs are so nourishing for your preconception preparation.

Castor oil packs can also control pain and inflammation. This is due to the main active component of castor oil, ricinoleic acid. The structure of this is similar to prostaglandins in your body that help to reduce inflammation. Castor oil also reduces a chemical messenger that promotes the sensation of pain, called substance P.⁹

If you’re feeling stressed, reach for your castor oil pack. Doing a castor oil pack can help to create a relaxed state, through promoting the bliss hormone Oxytocin.

Along with the above benefits of a castor oil pack, specific conditions that may benefit from castor oil pack treatment, include:

• Uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts (non-cancerous), for both relieving ovarian pain and assisting the healing process after a cyst has ruptured
• Painful menstruation
• Headaches
• Liver disorders
• Gallbladder inflammation or stones
• Plus, your fella can also perform castor oil packs to support his detoxification

Instructions For Administering a Castor Oil Pack:

1. Source an extra virgin organic castor oil, stored in glass. As castor oil is an effective carrier oil, any toxins that are present from non- organic processing practises, such as hexane or toxins from plastic it is stored in, are carried into the body through the castor oil pack. eg. Wonderfoods Australia Organic, Cold Pressed Castor Oil. 

Hexane is a chemical that can alter how your body functions and is used to chemically extract the oil from the bean, so reaching for hexane free i also important.

2. Soak a piece of organic cotton or a wool flannel (the thinner, the better) in castor oil (around 2 tablespoons) and place it over your abdomen. Rotate between the liver area (right hand side, just under your rib cage) with your lower abdomen (around your hip bones). Your man can perform his castor oil pack over his liver for detox and digestive enhancing purposes.

3. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap (only if you are concerned about making a mess), followed by a hot heat pack. If using plastic, be careful to avoid plastic contact on your skin.

The alternative (quicker but less effective) way is to massage the castor oil straight into your skin around your liver area and then place the heat pack on top or if you’re happy sourcing from the US, the ‘Game Of Thrones’ or 'Langspirit' Castor oil (strap around) pack makes the process much more streamlined.

4. For best results, use a minimum of three times per week for 20- 60 minutes, if possible at night and alternate liver and uterus and ovaries area (lower pelvic area) to nourish yourself in the preconception phase. Or over your lower abdomen for healthy digestion. 

5. Once you are ready to start trying for a baby, begin your castor oil on day 1 of your cycle, and continue each night up until ovulation (for best results, also have a castor oil pack on while baby making). Stop your castor oil packs throughout pregnancy, otherwise start again at day 1 of your menstruation again.

You can also perform a castor oil pack over your thyroid gland if you have autoimmunity (inflammation) of the thyroid.

 Note: Some guidelines say not to use castor oil packs during menstruation (and previously I also recommended nit to) but according to expert Dr Marisol Teijeiro… 

Castor oil can be done during menstruation. People worry that because you are bleeding during your period that you may bleed out. But your menses is not a hemorrhage, it is a sloughing off of a layer of tissue of the endometrial lining that needs to leave the body.

Castor oil and castor oil packs affect your blood indirectly. Via nitric oxide release, it reduces platelet activating factor (Paf), keeping the blood less inflamed and with healthier clotting. Castor oil also stimulates the uterus smooth muscle contraction during your menses to move and eliminate. This results in less clumpy period blood and your bleeding time will be shorter but it is mainly because it’s cleaned out of the body faster.  

Get Your Pack On

If you’re striving for detoxification support, balanced hormones, lower pain & inflammation, improved gut health optimal fertility, you’ve got nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain by trying out regular castor oil packs. 

For further comprehensive guidance for setting you and your partner up for optimal preconception health, pick up your copy of my extensive Path To Conscious Conception guide here.