How Rice Water Helps Skin and Hair
Rice water is not only good for the skin, it is also good as a hair conditioner! You should pay attention to this if you want to try out the beauty water!
What does rice water do for our skin?
Unclean and pimpled skin does rice water (yes, the boiled broth that remains in the pot when rice is cooked) really good. If you have blemished skin, it helps to sprinkle a cotton wool pad with the liquid and to dab the pimples. The folic acid it contains has an anti-inflammatory effect – so THE secret recipe against acne? In Japan, by the way, cooking water has been considered a beauty elixir for centuries. Rice water contains inositol, which supports cell renewal and is therefore considered an anti-aging ingredient.
In Asia, rice water is also used for bathing. It moisturises the skin and is especially pleasant in winter when the skin is dry. Despite all the positive findings, rice has suffered severe damage to its image in recent years. Are we really allowed to let the rice water on our skin?
Rice and arsenic – A problem? You should pay attention to that!
Many foods contain a tiny amount of arsenic, even in water and air. This is because arsenic occurs naturally in the earth’s crust – in more or less high concentrations depending on the region. This has always been the case, but in recent years the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has repeatedly warned against excessive arsenic levels in rice products.
But how does it come to greatly increased arsenic levels in food?
Fertilizers such as phosphate increase the arsenic content of rice plants dramatically. Investigations carried out in 2014 and 2015, for example, revealed that rice wafers contained shocking amounts of arsenic – which is particularly dangerous for the target group of small children. Since 1 January 2016, new maximum levels of inorganic arsenic in rice, rice biscuits, rice wafers, rice crackers and rice cakes have been in force in the European Union to minimize the risk posed by rice products.
Rice water for the hair
The Yao minority (also called Miao) lives in the southeast of China. The village of Huangluo has become famous mainly because of its hair – because the women there have manes up to two meters long and rarely gray hair. On their 18th birthday, the hair, which is already long, is cut, but never again in their lives (no, not even the tips …).
What is the secret of their pitch-black healthy hair? The Yao women in the village have developed their own mixture for their hair, which is based on rice water and is rinsed out again with clear water. And you can also conjure up a conditioner for your hair from rice water:
- Strain the cooking water from the rice.
- Leave it covered for one or two days.
- If it has become slightly sour, you can use it.
- Rinse your hair thoroughly with it and wash everything out again thoroughly.