Can i eat shea butter

Lowers Cholesterol The oil from shea butter is monounsaturated fat, similar to that of coconut and avocado oil. These vitamins are vital to keeping your body and its various functions working: Vitamin A - This vitamin A is crucial for your vision and immune system. It can also help in cancer prevention, bone health, reduces the risk of acne, and aids in reproduction health. Vitamin E - Vitamin E is a vitamin that will dissolve in fat. This is why nuts and oils can be a great source of the vitamin.

It can help keep your heart, bones, eyes, and organ tissues healthy. Vitamin F - Vitamin F is needed to reduce inflammation, improve heart health, support mental health, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Promotes Healthy Skin As most already know, shea butter is excellent for your skin. These same nutrients also help protect the skin from developing cancer. Contributes to Healthier Hair Just like how it helps your skin, shea butter can also make your hair healthier and more robust when eaten.

Medicinal Applications Many counties in Western Africa have been using shea butter to treat cold and flu symptoms for many years. Here are a few things to keep in mind when consuming shea butter: Nut Allergies Many studies have been done on whether or not shea can be a trigger for those with nut allergies. Too Much is Never Good As will all fats and oils, too much is never a good thing.

Additionally, just like all fats, too much can contribute to weight gain. Cooking with Shea Butter Adding shea butter in place of other fats in your cooking is an excellent way to make sure it is included in your diet. The following are a few ways to add shea butter into your meals: Use in place of dairy butter or oil when making eggs, grilled cheese, or cooking vegetables. Use shea butter in baking recipes instead of other fats. Keep it simple; spread some on your morning toast or muffin.

Experiment with creating recipes based around the nutty shea butter flavor. Create your own chocolate using shea butter. However, the question of its edibility is still quite acute for many people, especially the ones who want to try something new in eating and those who apply the butter onto the skin of their babies.

These are the most delicious and quick-to-make Nigerian breakfasts! In Africa, the extraction of shea butter is a business opportunity for women. They collect the shea fruits, boil them to remove the pulp and get to the seeds. Then, the seeds are opened to get the kernels.

This done, the kernels are fried without stopping through 24 hours and mashed with a rock. The mashed kernels with a little water are intensively folded like dough in big bowels. Three or four women replace each other every several minutes. The dough is then washed in a lot of water; the foam that develops in this process is removed and then boiled for a long time.

The top layer is collected carefully. This is shea butter. You should definitely use shea butter for these reasons. Of course, this is raw, unprocessed and unrefined shea butter.

Nobody simply uses any cheesecloth to filter the particles away. You can melt the butter slightly and refine it with a piece of cheesecloth. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Shea trees are native to West Africa, and most shea butter still comes from that region.

Shea butter has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for centuries. Its high concentration of vitamins and fatty acids — combined with its easy-to-spread consistency — make it a great product for smoothing, soothing, and conditioning your skin. Shea butter is technically a tree nut product.

Shea butter is typically used for its moisturizing effects. When you apply shea topically, these oils are rapidly absorbed into your skin. This restores the barrier between your skin and the outside environment, holding moisture in and reducing your risk of dryness.

Shea butter contains high levels of linoleic acid and oleic acid. These two acids balance each other out. When applied to the skin, shea triggers cytokines and other inflammatory cells to slow their production. This may help minimize irritation caused by environmental factors, such as dry weather, as well as inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema. Shea butter has significant levels of vitamins A and E, which means it promotes strong antioxidant activity.

Antioxidants are important anti-aging agents. They protect your skin cells from free radicals that can lead to premature aging and dull-looking skin. A study suggests that oral doses of shea bark extract can lead to decreased antimicrobial activity in animals.

Because of this, some speculate that topical application may decrease the amount of acne-causing bacteria on the skin. Shea tree products have been established as powerful ingredients to fight skin infections caused by fungi. Shea butter is rich in different kinds of fatty acids. This unique composition helps clear your skin of excess oil sebum. The result is a restoration of the natural balance of oils in your skin — which may help stop acne before it starts.

Shea butter contains triterpenes. These naturally occurring chemical compounds are thought to deactivate collagen fiber destruction. This may minimize the appearance of fine lines and result in plumper skin. Your body is constantly making new skin cells and getting rid of dead skin cells. You actually get rid of anywhere between 30, to 40, old skin cells each day. What's the difference between refined and unrefined shea butter?

The technical difference between refined and unrefined shea butter is the method in which is it produced. Unrefined shea butter involves removing fat from the seeds of the shea fruit by hand. No chemicals are used to make the finished product. Refined shea butter is produced in factories with the use of chemicals and machinery. According to the American Shea Butter Institute , refining is used to remove color, odor, and other undesirable qualities in the unrefined version.

Unrefined shea butter may have a yellowish or creamy color, while refined shea butter is usually white and odorless. However, according to the Institute, the refining process also removes some of the bioactive nutrients, making it less desirable to many consumers. Is all shea butter edible? Pure shea butter can be used for cooking.

However, beauty products that contain shea butter may include ingredients that are not edible. What are some common beauty uses for shea butter? But remember that not all of these uses are documented by scientific studies.

That doesn't mean that the treatments don't work. It simply means that the benefits are not backed by research. How do I store shea butter? Shea butter particularly unrefined shea butter should be stored with care. Place it in an airtight container or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in a cool dry place. If you are using it for cooking, store it in a cabinet away from the stove. When stored properly, it should keep for 18 to 24 months.

If your shea butter has a smoky or rancid smell, it has gone bad and it is no longer safe or effective to use. You won't find a lot of recipes that call for shea butter unless you do a lot of African cooking. But some cooks replace other fat and oils with shea butter in the kitchen. For example, you can use shea butter in stir fry recipes. You can also add it to smoothies in the same way that you might add coconut oil to give the drink a creamy texture. Also, since shea butter comes from seeds, not from dairy, shea butter is vegan.

So you can use it in recipes for baked goods and grain dishes that call for butter. If you have a tree nut allergy, you should avoid eating or using shea butter on the skin. The shea nut is distantly related to Brazil nut. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology AAAAI , however, just because you are allergic to one tree nut doesn't necessarily mean that you are allergic to another.

The American Shea Butter Institute reports that no clinical studies have been done on the use of unrefined shea butter by those with nut allergies.