Makeup and Properties of Emu Oil
Emu oil is rendered from a thick pad of fat on
the back of the bird that was apparently provided by nature to protect
the animal from the extreme temperatures in its Australian homeland. The
fat is carefully rendered to prevent the formation of trans fatty acids,
100 pounds of fat producing anywhere from 50 to 90 pounds of pale yellow
oil. Correctly processed oil is almost 50% monounsaturated fatty acids
with the rest of its make up being saturated and polyunsaturated fatty
acids. (See Table 1) Studies at the Occupational
Dermatology Laboratory of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston
and elsewhere have shown that "70% of the fatty acids in emu fat are
of the unsaturated variety." These are the fatty acids that help protect
one's heart. The second conclusion of this study was that oleic acid, a
monounsaturated fatty acid is the largest component of emu oil, that and
this fatty acid may well be the main reason for this oil's amazing ability
to penetrate the skin and carry with it health-bringing medications. (See Table 2)
Emu oil is almost 100% triglyceride in nature which makes it an almost
completely neutral lipid. Researchers feel that the reason that it penetrates
human skin so readily is that it has a total lack of phospholipids. Human
skin is phospholipid deficient which means that there is no phosphorus
in human skin. Anything put on human skin that has phosphorus in it will
not penetrate because skin is programmed to keep such penetration from
happening. Conversely, anything such as emu oil that is phospholipid deficient,
i.e. has no phosphorus, will penetrate right in and take with it any medicinal
materials added to it. Even on its own without added materials emu oil
has amazing properties.
Properties of Emu Oil
The most important property of emu oil has already been mentioned. It
is highly penetrating. This ability to penetrate the stratum corneum
barrier of the skin, brought about by the high levels of oleic acid mentioned
earlier, has in it the basis for many new uses in the future. Emu oil could
be combined with various medicinals or cosmetic materials to take them
beneath this barrier and could do it relatively more cheaply than the costly
liposomes and iontophorisis now available. At the present time, chiropractors
and massage therapists are using emu oil for this penetrating ability because
it gets into the muscles and relaxes them so that the chiropractic work
that has been done lasts longer. As Dr. Ron Westbrook states in "An
Adjustment in Chiropractic" [Emu Today and Tomorrow, July 1995]:
"When the spine is misaligned, anything that can cause those tissues
to become loose or more fluid, is great help. The more fluid the muscles,
the less likely they will pull back out of alignment."
It is anti-inflammatory. According to another article in Emu,
Today and Tomorrow, July 1995, four Australian inventors have isolated
a yellow-colored component in emu oil that appears to be at least one of
the active ingredients causing the oil's anti-inflammatory activity. They
have patented the substance they isolated, and this patent, or other research,
could lead to new anti inflammatory medicines in the future that are without
side effects, are non-irritating, which continue to work and are not thrown
off or rejected by the body, and which are far less expensive than current
anti-inflammatories are. There is much anecdotal material available on
the anti-inflammatory abilities of emu oil. It has been shown to reduce
pain, swelling and stiffness in joints, to reduce recent bruising and muscle
pain, and ease sports related muscle strains as well. Studies have shown
that different emu oils had different levels of anti-inflammatory ability.
Emu oil is a good emulsifier, has good "blendability."
This means that it has the ability to blend oil and water together and
produce a cream that does not feel oily on the skin. The problem is that
most creams do not penetrate the skin barrier. As we have seen above, however,
emu oil can penetrate the skin barrier and do so without leaving
an oily residue behind. This bodes very well for its future use in cosmetics
as well as pharmaceutical uses.
A third important property of emu oil is that it is bacteriostatic.
Tests show that in its pure state, emu oil grows no bacterial organisms.
Pure non-contaminated emu oil has a long shelf life for this reason and
also because of its low levels of polyunsaturated fats which are the most
subject to oxidation and eventual rancidity. This bacteriostatic activity
will be of great help in future uses both cosmetically and pharmaceutically.
Emu oil has a low potential for irritation of the skin. It is
shown to have almost no side effects, and this means that even at full
strength, emu oil has irritation levels so low that they are the same as
those found in putting water on the skin, i.e. practically nonexistent.
This enhances its abilities in sports medicine and in massage and chiropractic
as well. This characteristic is unusual and it also betters its position
as an anti-inflammatory because most of the anti-inflammatory drugs are
irritating and have side effects.
Emu oil is non-comedogenic, that is to say it does not clog up
pores and thus does not cause pimples when used. This cannot be said for
mineral oil (one of the current, popular carrier oils in cosmetics and
rubbing oils) which causes outbreaks of pimples when used.
It is a good moisturizer which adds to its protective ability
and promotes anti-aging of the skin. Researchers believe that its unique
combination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids may be an explanation
for its ability to enhance the willingness of the upper layers of the skin
to hold water. It increases the thickness of human skin 2.5 times, thus
reducing its tendency to wrinkle.
There is much anecdotal material regarding its anti-aging and wound
healing abilities. Stories of the oil being applied to burns and causing
them to heal at a far faster rate abound. Allan Strickland, a pharmacist
in Ozark, Alabama, in an interview printed in the November 1994 issue of
Emu Today and Tomorrow tells of a woman undergoing radiation treatments
for breast cancer which produced a sunburn-like reaction on her skin. She
was receiving no relief from the cream manufactured for radiation patients.
He gave her emu oil and told her to use it on half the affected area and
the cream on the other half. When she came back several weeks later, she
said that "her doctor couldn't understand why half of the skin was
red and burned and the other half looked normal," said Strickland.
Her doctor called Strickland after he was told about the oil "wanting
to know what an emu was." He was told and wanted the oil for his other
patients. This is only one example of the many stories about the oil's
burn and wound healing abilities. A double-blind study started in May of
1996 at the Timothy J. Harner Burn Center affiliated with the University
Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, and sponsored by the American Emu Association
is being carried out currently to authenticate this anecdotal material.
The anti-aging factor in emu oil was proven in a study at the
Boston University School of Medicine in which a processed emu oil known
as Kalaya, manufactured by New World Technology, was topically applied
to depilitated mice in a for a two-week-long period in a double-blind study
using corn oil as the control substance. The processed emu oil produced
a 20% increase in DNA synthesis which meant that the growth activity of
the skin of these animals had a 20% increase. Also the hair follicles were
much more robust and the skin thickness had increased as well. Dr. Michael
Holick, MD, Ph.D. who conducted these tests said they also discovered that
"over 80% of hair follicles that had been asleep were woken up and
began growing hair." He explained that hair follicles go through stages
from resting to growth and back to sleep again, and that they awoke these
hair follicles by stimulating them which indicates that it stimulates skin
growth as well.
