
Sea buckthorn oil has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy against various ailments.
It is extracted from the berries, leaves and seeds of the sea buckthorn plant (Hippophae rhamnoides), which is a small shrub that grows at high altitudes in the northwest Himalayan region (1).
Sometimes referred to as the holy fruit of the Himalayas, sea buckthorn can be applied to the skin or ingested.
A popular remedy in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines, it may provide health benefits ranging from supporting your heart to protecting against diabetes, stomach ulcers and skin damage.
Here are 12 science-backed benefits of sea buckthorn oil.
1. Rich in Many Nutrients
Sea buckthorn oil is rich in various vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant compounds (2, 3).
For instance, it is naturally full of antioxidants, which help protect your body against aging and illnesses like cancer and heart disease (4).
The seeds and leaves are also particularly rich in quercetin, a flavonoid linked to lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease (5, 6, 7, 8).
What's more, its berries boast potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus. They also contain good amounts of folate, biotin and vitamins B1, B2, B6, C and E (9, 10, 11).
More than half of the fat found in sea buckthorn oil is mono- and polyunsaturated fat, which are two types of healthy fats (12).
Interestingly, sea buckthorn oil may also be one of the only plant foods known to provide all four omega fatty acids—omega-3, omega-6, omega-7 and omega-9 (13).
Summary
Sea buckthorn oil is rich in various vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants and other plant compounds potentially beneficial to your health.
2. Promotes Heart Health
Sea buckthorn oil may benefit heart health in several different ways.
For starters, its antioxidants may help reduce risk factors of heart disease, including blood clots, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.
In one small study, 12 healthy men were given either 5 grams of sea buckthorn oil or coconut oil per day. After four weeks, the men in the sea buckthorn group had significantly lower markers of blood clots (14).
In another study, taking 0.75 ml of sea buckthorn oil daily for 30 days helped reduce blood pressure levels in people with high blood pressure. Levels of triglycerides, as well as total and "bad" LDL cholesterol, also dropped in those who had high cholesterol.
However, the effects on people with normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels were less pronounced (15).
A recent review also determined that sea buckthorn extracts may reduce cholesterol levels in people with poor heart health—but not in healthy participants (16).
Summary
Sea buckthorn oil may aid your heart by reducing blood pressure, improving blood cholesterol levels and protecting against blood clots. That said, effects may be strongest in people with poor heart health.
3. May Protect Against Diabetes
Sea buckthorn oil may also help prevent diabetes.
Animal studies show that it may help reduce blood sugar levels by increasing insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity (17, 18).
One small human study notes that sea buckthorn oil may help minimize blood sugar spikes after a carb-rich meal (19).
Because frequent, long-term blood sugar spikes can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, preventing them is expected to reduce your risk.
However, more studies are needed before strong conclusions can be made.
Summary
Sea buckthorn may help improve insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, both of which could protect against type 2 diabetes—though more research is needed.
4. Protects Your Skin
Compounds in sea buckthorn oil may boost your skin health when applied directly.
For instance, test-tube and animal studies show that the oil may help stimulate skin regeneration, helping wounds heal more quickly (20, 21).
Similarly, animal studies reveal that sea buckthorn oil may also help reduce inflammation following UV exposure, protecting skin against sun damage (22).
Researchers believe that both of these effects may stem from sea buckthorn's omega-7 and omega-3 fat content (23).
In a seven-week study in 11 young men, a mix of sea buckthorn oil and water applied directly to the skin promoted skin elasticity better than a placebo (24).
There's also some evidence that sea buckthorn oil may prevent skin dryness and help your skin heal from burns, frostbite and bedsores (23, 25, 26).
Keep in mind that more human studies are needed.
Summary
Sea buckthorn oil may help your skin heal from wounds, sunburns, frostbite and bedsores. It may also promote elasticity and protect against dryness.
5. May Boost Your Immune System
Sea buckthorn oil may help protect your body against infections.
Experts attribute this effect, in large part, to the high flavonoid content of the oil.
Flavonoids are beneficial plant compounds which may strengthen your immune system by increasing resistance to illnesses (4, 27).
In one test-tube study, sea buckthorn oil prevented the growth of bacteria such as E. coli (12).
In others, sea buckthorn oil offered protection against influenza, herpes and HIV viruses (4).
Sea buckthorn oil contains a good amount of antioxidants, beneficial plant compounds that may also help defend your body against microbes (28).
That said, research in humans is lacking.
Summary
Sea buckthorn oil is rich in beneficial plant compounds such as flavonoids and antioxidants, which may help your body fight infections.
6. May Support a Healthy Liver
Sea buckthorn oil may also contribute to a healthy liver.
That's because it contains healthy fats, vitamin E and carotenoids, all of which may safeguard liver cells from damage (29).
In one study, sea buckthorn oil significantly improved markers of liver function in rats with liver damage (30).
In another study, people with cirrhosis—an advanced form of liver disease—were given 15 grams of sea buckthorn extract or a placebo three times per day for six months.
Those in the sea buckthorn group increased their blood markers of liver function significantly more than those given a placebo (31).
In two other studies, people with non-alcoholic liver disease given either 0.5 or 1.5 grams of sea buckthorn 1–3 times daily saw blood cholesterol, triglyceride and liver enzyme levels improve significantly more than those given a placebo (32, 33).
Although these effects seem promising, more studies are necessary to make firm conclusions.
Summary
Compounds in sea buckthorn may aid liver function, though more studies are needed.
7. May Help Fight Cancer Cells
Compounds present in sea buckthorn oil may help fight cancer. These protective effects may be caused by the flavonoids and antioxidants in the oil.
For instance, sea buckthorn is rich in quercetin, a flavonoid which appears to help kill cancer cells (8).
Sea buckthorn's various antioxidants, including carotenoids and vitamin E, may also protect against this notorious disease (34, 35).
A few test-tube and animal studies suggest that sea buckthorn extracts may be effective at preventing the spread of cancer cells (36, 37).
However, the reported cancer-fighting effects of sea buckthorn oil are much milder than those of chemotherapy drugs (38).
Keep in mind that these effects have not yet been tested in humans, so more studies are needed.
Summary
Sea buckthorn oil provides certain beneficial plant compounds which may offer some protection against cancer. However, its effects are likely mild—and human research is lacking.
8–12. Other Potential Benefits
Sea buckthorn oil is said to give additional health benefits. However, not all claims are supported by sound science. Those with the most evidence include:
8. May improve digestion: Animal studies indicate that sea buckthorn oil may help prevent and treat stomach ulcers (39, 40).
9. May reduce symptoms of menopause: Sea buckthorn may reduce vaginal drying and act as an effective alternative treatment for postmenopausal women who cannot take estrogen (41).
10. May treat dry eyes: In one study, daily sea buckthorn intake was linked to reduced eye redness and burning (42).
11. May lower inflammation: Research in animals indicates that sea buckthorn leaf extracts helped reduce joint inflammation (43).
12. May reduce symptoms of depression: Animal studies report that sea buckthorn may have antidepressant effects. However, this hasn't been studied in humans (44).
It's important to note that most of these studies are small and very few involve humans. Therefore, more research is needed before strong conclusions can be made.
Summary
Sea buckthorn may offer an array of additional health benefits, ranging from reduced inflammation to menopause treatment. However, more studies—especially in humans—are needed.
The Bottom Line
Sea buckthorn oil is a popular alternative remedy for a variety of ailments.
It is rich in many nutrients and may improve the health of your skin, liver and heart. It may also help protect against diabetes and aid your immune system.
As this plant product has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, it may be worth trying to give your body a boost.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Healthline.
‘Existential Threat to Our Survival’: See the 19 Australian Ecosystems Already Collapsing
By Dana M Bergstrom, Euan Ritchie, Lesley Hughes and Michael Depledge
In 1992, 1,700 scientists warned that human beings and the natural world were "on a collision course." Seventeen years later, scientists described planetary boundaries within which humans and other life could have a "safe space to operate." These are environmental thresholds, such as the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and changes in land use.
The Good and Bad News
<p><span>Ecosystems consist of living and non-living components, and their interactions. They work like a super-complex engine: when some components are removed or stop working, knock-on consequences can lead to system failure.</span></p><p>Our study is based on measured data and observations, not modeling or predictions for the future. Encouragingly, not all ecosystems we examined have collapsed across their entire range. We still have, for instance, some intact reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, especially in deeper waters. And northern Australia has some of the most intact and least-modified stretches of savanna woodlands on Earth.</p><p><span>Still, collapses are happening, including in regions critical for growing food. This includes the </span><a href="https://www.mdba.gov.au/importance-murray-darling-basin/where-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Murray-Darling Basin</a><span>, which covers around 14% of Australia's landmass. Its rivers and other freshwater systems support more than </span><a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/latestproducts/94F2007584736094CA2574A50014B1B6?opendocument" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30% of Australia's food</a><span> production.</span></p><p><span></span><span>The effects of floods, fires, heatwaves and storms do not stop at farm gates; they're felt equally in agricultural areas and natural ecosystems. We shouldn't forget how towns ran out of </span><a href="https://www.mdba.gov.au/issues-murray-darling-basin/drought#effects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drinking water</a><span> during the recent drought.</span></p><p><span></span><span>Drinking water is also at risk when ecosystems collapse in our water catchments. In Victoria, for example, the degradation of giant </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/logging-must-stop-in-melbournes-biggest-water-supply-catchment-106922" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain Ash forests</a><span> greatly reduces the amount of water flowing through the Thompson catchment, threatening nearly five million people's drinking water in Melbourne.</span></p><p>This is a dire <em data-redactor-tag="em">wake-up</em> call — not just a <em data-redactor-tag="em">warning</em>. Put bluntly, current changes across the continent, and their potential outcomes, pose an existential threat to our survival, and other life we share environments with.</p><p><span>In investigating patterns of collapse, we found most ecosystems experience multiple, concurrent pressures from both global climate change and regional human impacts (such as land clearing). Pressures are often </span><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13427" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">additive and extreme</a><span>.</span></p><p>Take the last 11 years in Western Australia as an example.</p><p>In the summer of 2010 and 2011, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">heatwave</a> spanning more than 300,000 square kilometers ravaged both marine and land ecosystems. The extreme heat devastated forests and woodlands, kelp forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. This catastrophe was followed by two cyclones.</p><p>A record-breaking, marine heatwave in late 2019 dealt a further blow. And another marine heatwave is predicted for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/24/wa-coastline-facing-marine-heatwave-in-early-2021-csiro-predicts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this April</a>.</p>What to Do About It?
<p><span>Our brains trust comprises 38 experts from 21 universities, CSIRO and the federal Department of Agriculture Water and Environment. Beyond quantifying and reporting more doom and gloom, we asked the question: what can be done?</span></p><p>We devised a simple but tractable scheme called the 3As:</p><ul><li>Awareness of what is important</li><li>Anticipation of what is coming down the line</li><li>Action to stop the pressures or deal with impacts.</li></ul><p>In our paper, we identify positive actions to help protect or restore ecosystems. Many are already happening. In some cases, ecosystems might be better left to recover by themselves, such as coral after a cyclone.</p><p>In other cases, active human intervention will be required – for example, placing artificial nesting boxes for Carnaby's black cockatoos in areas where old trees have been <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/factsheet-carnabys-black-cockatoo-calyptorhynchus-latirostris" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">removed</a>.</p><p><span>"Future-ready" actions are also vital. This includes reinstating </span><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/a-burning-question-fire/12395700" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cultural burning practices</a><span>, which have </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-you-have-unfinished-business-its-time-to-let-our-fire-people-care-for-this-land-135196" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">multiple values and benefits for Aboriginal communities</a><span> and can help minimize the risk and strength of bushfires.</span></p><p>It might also include replanting banks along the Murray River with species better suited to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/my-garden-path---matt-hansen/12322978" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">warmer conditions</a>.</p><p>Some actions may be small and localized, but have substantial positive benefits.</p><p>For example, billions of migrating Bogong moths, the main summer food for critically endangered mountain pygmy possums, have not arrived in their typical numbers in Australian alpine regions in recent years. This was further exacerbated by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-million-hectares-of-threatened-species-habitat-up-in-smoke-129438" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019-20</a> fires. Brilliantly, <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zoos Victoria</a> anticipated this pressure and developed supplementary food — <a href="https://theconversation.com/looks-like-an-anzac-biscuit-tastes-like-a-protein-bar-bogong-bikkies-help-mountain-pygmy-possums-after-fire-131045" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bogong bikkies</a>.</p><p><span>Other more challenging, global or large-scale actions must address the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iICpI9H0GkU&t=34s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">root cause of environmental threats</a><span>, such as </span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0504-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human population growth and per-capita consumption</a><span> of environmental resources.</span><br></p><p>We must rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero, remove or suppress invasive species such as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mam.12080" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feral cats</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-buffel-kerfuffle-how-one-species-quietly-destroys-native-wildlife-and-cultural-sites-in-arid-australia-149456" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">buffel grass</a>, and stop widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-fire-risk-and-meet-climate-targets-over-300-scientists-call-for-stronger-land-clearing-laws-113172" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">land clearing</a> and other forms of habitat destruction.</p>Our Lives Depend On It
<p>The multiple ecosystem collapses we have documented in Australia are a harbinger for <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/protected-areas/202102/natures-future-our-future-world-speaks" target="_blank">environments globally</a>.</p><p>The simplicity of the 3As is to show people <em>can</em> do something positive, either at the local level of a landcare group, or at the level of government departments and conservation agencies.</p><p>Our lives and those of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-are-our-future-and-the-planets-heres-how-you-can-teach-them-to-take-care-of-it-113759" target="_blank">children</a>, as well as our <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-care-of-business-the-private-sector-is-waking-up-to-natures-value-153786" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economies</a>, societies and <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-address-the-ecological-crisis-aboriginal-peoples-must-be-restored-as-custodians-of-country-108594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cultures</a>, depend on it.</p><p>We simply cannot afford any further delay.</p><p><em><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dana-m-bergstrom-1008495" target="_blank" style="">Dana M Bergstrom</a> is a principal research scientist at the University of Wollongong. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/euan-ritchie-735" target="_blank" style="">Euan Ritchie</a> is a professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences at Deakin University. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lesley-hughes-5823" target="_blank">Lesley Hughes</a> is a professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-depledge-114659" target="_blank">Michael Depledge</a> is a professor and chair, Environment and Human Health, at the University of Exeter. </em></p><p><em>Disclosure statements: Dana Bergstrom works for the Australian Antarctic Division and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Wollongong. Her research including fieldwork on Macquarie Island and in Antarctica was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division.</em></p><p><em>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, Australian Geographic, Parks Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Euan Ritchie is a Director (Media Working Group) of the Ecological Society of Australia, and a member of the Australian Mammal Society.</em></p><p><em>Lesley Hughes receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a Councillor with the Climate Council of Australia, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and a Director of WWF-Australia.</em></p><p><em>Michael Depledge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077" target="_blank" style="">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>- Coral Reef Tipping Point: 'Near-Annual' Bleaching May Occur ... ›
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