Healing Benefits of Emu Oil for Skin, Hair & Body Health

With its impressive range of health uses, it's surprising that emu oil isn't more popular as it should be! Perhaps because it is endemic to just one country - more particularly, to just one bird - the flightless emu bird, that resembles the ostrich. Many highly effective cosmetic and beauty products that are popping up have one secret ingredient to their success - emu oil. Of course, the rising number of vegans in the world also contributes to emu oil not being as popular as it should be.

To the dismay of many vegans, emu oil actually entails the killing of the bird. Luckily, the bird isn't just harvested for its oil - it was a key food source for Australian aboriginals, and still is a widely consumed red meat, that tastes like beef. In fact, all parts of the bird are useful to man, including the skin used as hides, feathers for decorative purposes, the meat and the egg. More than 95% of the bird are utilized so there is little waste.

The Discovery of Emu Oil

Australian aboriginals were an advanced society that had knowledge of many healing herbs and practices. The discovered that emu oil, when rubbed on skin, acted as natural sun screen protecting from harmful rays of the sun. It acted as the most ideal oil for skin care too. Take internally, it healed a plethora of diseases and conditions. Emu oil was used as a key healer in their medicine chests. Today, there are many emu farms in Australia, where emus are grown commercially. This is why emu oil and emu meat are more expensive in other parts of the world. Only recently are emu farms propping up in the US. Many predict that emu oil will become all the rage in the beauty & cosmetics world, as well as the next 'super food' everyone's going to rave about. What makes emu oil so sensational? Is it worth the hype? Just how healing are the benefits to be gained from emu oil? Let's find out if emu oil is a true miracle oil.

Learn more about the valuable emu bird where emu oil comes from.

• Emu birds are endemic to Australia
• Emus are flightless birds, belonging to the same family as ostriches, caraways and kiwi.
• They are large birds, reaching 5 to 6 feet in height!
• They have long powerful legs and can run at speeds of 50km/hr!
• A large, mature bird can weigh up to 150 pounds!
• Emu eggs have a dark green colour and are 10 times the size of a chicken egg!
• The young ones of an emu are called calves, not hatchlings!

1. Anti-inflammatory Properties

Emu oil has remarkable anti-inflammatory properties, which have been documented as being used historically. In many clinical studies, what emerged as obvious was the powerful anti-inflammatory abilities of emu oil. While many anti-inflammatory medications have side effects, emu oil has been used with no side effects. Applied topically onto the affected area, emu oil gives pain relief and reduces swelling.

2. Muscle aches, pain and joint stiffness

It's no wonder that emu oil works incredibly well for all types of back pain - it has healing property for muscle pains and lubricates joints from the outside in. Studies are documenting the miraculous effect of emu oil on injured tissues and joints, and all these benefits with only topical application. It is recommended for lower back pain and sciatica.

3. Healing burns and cuts

The fat lipids in emu oil are almost a perfect match to those found in the epidermis, the topmost layer of our skin. It is rich in oleic acid, which when locally applied provides relief on dermal tissues and hastens healing.

Emu oil is highly anti-bacterial and anti-viral and prevents burn wounds as well as cuts from getting infected. Applied consistently on burned skin, emu oil has been shown to considerable diminish scarring. Further more emu oil has been proven to improve flexibility of skin after surgery.

4. Natural Sunscreen

Emu Oil acts as a natural sunscreen and can be used as a safe sun protector in place of conventional sunscreens, which contain harsh chemicals. Most research shows emu oil to contain an SPF of 8 (coconut oil has an SPF of 10), and although this is a low SPF, there are many properties of emu oil that work together to form a great protector against sun damage.

5. Natural Cold Cream

Can something be a natural sunscreen as well as a cold cream all at the same time? Seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Well, emu oil has just these properties and can be used as both a natural sunscreen as well as a natural cold cream. In fact emu oil is great for all types of skin issues and conditions that it has been dubbed as "the oil that can be used anywhere you have skin."

6. Internal consumption

Believe it or not, emu oil can be taken internally as a food and medicine, for added health benefits. Emu oil is hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, tested to be highly pure, and safe for human consumption.