7 Little-Known Medicinal Uses Of Black Pepper Essential Oil
Many Health Benefits
Black pepper is mostly known and used as a spice around the world. In cooking, black pepper is a flavoring agent and a preservative; it is also used for other purposes, such as in perfumery and medicinal use. Research on the benefits of black pepper over the past decades unveiled that it contains piperine, its principal active component that offers numerous advantages.
When processed to extract its essential oil, it can be used to protect the body from oxidative damages, improve the digestive system, and other health benefits. Other notable benefits of using black pepper essential oil include giving pain relief, detoxifying the body, improving circulation, and lowering cholesterol, among others. The oil can be found in some local food and health stores, with a ten ml bottle of black pepper essential oil going for around $10-$15.
1Helps Improve Digestion
The oil can be used to help with digestion problems since it has properties that stimulate the entire digestive system, from the salivary glands in the mouth to the juices in the stomach and the large intestine, promoting the production of digestive juices, such as bile and acids, for proper digestion. People who are allergic to chilies or are on a bland diet can enjoy foods spiced up with black pepper. Chili peppers are often not advisable for people with jaundice, extreme acidity, or ulcer in the mouth or their digestive system. As such, they can switch to black pepper if they desire to add a bit of zing to their meals.
We live in a fast-paced generation that makes it more complicated and harder to take care of your health. Dieting is the first thing to suffer when we are overrun by our stressful, busy schedules or become too lazy due to fatigue. The outcome of this is a dysfunctional digestive system and ultimately affects your health, making you susceptible to various symptoms and diseases.
2Reduces Craving For Nicotine
If you are thinking of quitting smoking or overcoming the urge to smoke, then you should consider using black pepper essential oil. Research done in 1994 showed that the oil had properties that suppress specific symptoms of smoking withdrawal, lowering the craving for the nicotine. The study has 48 smokers that took part in a session that was done after not smoking for the whole night; the sitting lasted three hours.
Divided into three groups, the participants in one of the groups puffed a device that delivered vaporized black pepper essential oil, and another puffed a similar device with a menthol cartridge, and the last group puffed on a comparable device with an empty cartridge. The groups would puff on the devices throughout the three-hour session. Those who used the black pepper reported having very weak urges for cigarettes compared to the other two groups.
3Helps Stimulate The Appetite
Research on olfactory stimulation using black pepper oil showed that the oil acted as a potent appetite stimulant that could also encourage people with neurological disorders to swallow the food they chew. Eating or inhaling black pepper oil was also found to activate the orbitofrontal cortex. The stimulation of the cortex increases swallowing reflexes.
Pediatric patients (who eat through tubes or liquid supplements) with long-term enteral nutrition due to some form of neurological complications were studied in 2008; they used black pepper for olfactory stimulation. Eight patients continued with the black pepper essential oil regimen for three months. Five out of the eight showed significant improvements in the quantity of their oral intake. The study showed that black pepper oil helped to improved their swallowing reflexes.
4Rich Supply Of Vitamins And Minerals
Black pepper is a spice containing lots of vitamins and minerals, such as beta-carotene or vitamin A. The vitamin is essential for your ocular health and acts as an antioxidant. The oil also has vitamin K, which you need to have properly functioning metabolism, bones, muscles, and circulatory system.
Black pepper essential oil also contains selenium, calcium, and potassium. Selenium is needed for the bone, teeth, nail, and hair formation and supports brain function. Calcium promotes strong, healthy bones, while potassium aids blood pressure regulation.
5Reduces Arthritis Pain
Black pepper oil has a warm and stimulating action. It can aid in improving circulation. As such, the oil can be used to offer rapid relief for arthritis and rheumatic conditions.
Rheumatism and arthritis tend to worsen during winter, and this is when black pepper essential oil becomes a much-needed remedy. The oil can rid the body of toxins, such as uric acid in the blood. Black pepper oil is a highly beneficial remedy for people who are dealing with gout, rheumatism, and arthritis.
6Increases Urination And Sweating
We would not think highly of frequent urination; however, this is a good thing for your health, and black pepper oil can help you in that regard as well as sweating. You get to expel toxins from your body when you sweat and urinate. And these activities aid in disinfecting your body and clearing your skin's pores.
You will eliminate excess water, fats, and acids through sweating and urination. Lower blood pressure, body weight regulation, and relaxing sensation are also other positive effects of frequent urination and perspiration. The same activities can also help reduce swelling.
7Used As A Detoxifier
Black pepper oil is used as a detoxifier. The oil can help shield the body from the adverse effects of free radicals. It can also improve the body's capacity to repair and rejuvenate.
Black pepper essential oil delays the effects attributed to aging. Macular degeneration, loose muscles and skin, wrinkles, and loss of vision are some of the issues that the oil can improve. The oil can also be used to help deal with mobility issues in the joints, memory loss, and nervous disorders.
Black pepper oil can be taken in various ways: by inhaling directly from the bottle, taking small oral doses, applying on the body topically, or diffusing at home to create a warming and relaxing aroma. If you are purchasing the oil to take it orally, then ensure that you buy high-quality, 100% pure grade black pepper essential oil that's made and distributed by a reputable company. Black pepper oil is a very effective remedy with very potent medicinal properties, hence the need to ensure that you are using a genuine product.
Black pepper essential oil will create a warm sensation on the skin when applied topically. It should be used in small amounts diluted with a carrier oil, such as almond oil, coconut oil, or jojoba oil. Blend the oils in equal portions (ratio of 1:1) if you have sensitive skin.