Is castor oil nutritious or just cathartic and otherwise medicinal. Someone just told me they take it by the spoon like a vitamin, (especially for the vitamin e), and I can’t find any written souce of such discussion.
I don’t know, that’s why I ask.
http://daphne.palomar.edu/Wayne/plmar99.htm
A good (or fun anyway) all around site for strange botanicals. From shrooms to castor beans to mexican jumping beans to hitchiking seeds, I found this site fascinating.
A point in every direction is like no point at all
That WAS an interesting site, but they left out my favorite part. As they mentioned, castor oil makes a great motor oil. It was used extensively in WWI in biplane engines. So much leaked out and was vaporized by hot surfaces and the slipstream that every pilot’s first task upon landing was to find the nearest latrine.
Sure, I’m all for moderation – as long as it’s not excessive.
Replying to OBLIO: Thanks for the website address. It’s great. It specifies “cure-all” usage but, still, (just as the general literature does) it’s not clearly specifiying and explaining nutritional (or dietary supplementation value and usage). Since it’s so cathartic at 1/2 an ounce or two tablespoonfuls, I’m not assuming (without reference to dosage and properties valued) that it has been used as a stable nutritional supplement. Any comments?
Um, are you sure your acquaintance was talking about castor oil and not cod-liver oil?
“And thanks agin fur the plague, Porpentine.”
– mr. john
I did a little search and came up with Castor Oil history and Castor Oil packs.
And suddenly one piece of obvious observation popped up: internal use.
Castor Oil is so dramatic as a purgative that the injestion of it for other purposes is moot.
But thanks for causing the search, ASPA. You gave me a private “Duh” moment…for the first time I realized why Castrol Motor Oil is called that!
Thanx, yah. The inquiry into nutritive value, properties and dosage levels is my own concern. I originally wrote that a friend suggests castor oil is used by spoonful as a nutritional supplement (like any vitamin, I guess). All the replies about the general history and medicinal uses and toxic parts of the bean I am fully abreast of. Indeed, it’s clear that the general literature or information doesn’t refer to nutritive usage, but rather cathartic and limited, cautious, and/or external reliance for some curative AND NOT NUTRITIVE purposes. Still, there may be some written referencxe somewhere to case notions supporting nutritive use. Everybody: Let’s end all this stuff about castor oil, unless specific to nutrition: that’s the information challenge. Anyone interested in the general topic can review the existing body replies—which are replete with overall discussion and which hold some cool website addresses dealing with the subjuct. Time for a new topic.
Thanx, yah. The inquiry into nutritive value, properties and dosage levels is my own concern. I originally wrote that a friend suggests castor oil is used by spoonful as a
nutritional supplement (like any vitamin, I guess). All the replies about the general history and medicinal uses and toxic parts of the bean I am fully abreast of. Indeed, it’s
clear that the general literature or information doesn’t refer to nutritive usage, but rather cathartic and limited, cautious, and/or external reliance for some curative AND NOT NUTRITIVE purposes. Still, there may be some written referencxe somewhere to
case notions supporting nutritive use. Everybody: Let’s end all this stuff about castor oil, UNLESS specific to nutrition: that’s the information challenge. Anyone interested in the general topic can review the existing body replies—which are replete with overall discussion and which hold some cool website addresses dealing with the subject. Time for a new topic.