Rice water is a suspension of starch obtained by draining boiled rice or by boiling rice until it completely dissolves into the water. It has sometimes been used as food for people with medical conditions affecting the digestive system.[1][better source needed] It has been claimed to be particularly effective in the treatment of diarrhea such as that arising in cholera or gastroenteritis.[2][3][better source needed]
History
editHistorically, women in various Asian regions such as China, Japan, and Southeast Asia have applied rice water as a hair treatment for hundreds of years. The use of rice water has dated back to the Heian period (794CE to 1185CE) in Japan. Japanese women during this time period were known to have floor-length hair kept healthy by bathing it in rice water.[4][5]
Today, a group known as the Yao people reside primarily in Huangluo, which is a village in China. The Yao women are famous for their extremely long hair, averaging about 6 feet in length. Not only is their hair long, but it is said that it takes much longer for a Yao woman's hair to lose its color and begin to turn gray; apparently it is only when they reach their 80s that they begin to experience hair color changes. The Yao women attribute their long and healthy hair to bathing and soaking it in rice water.[4][dubious – discuss][medical citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ John Milner Fothergill (October 2008), Food for the Invalid: The Convalescent, the Dyspeptic, and the Gouty, ISBN 9780559233104
- ^ HB Wong (11 July 1981), "Rice water in treatment of infantile gastroenteritis", The Lancet, 318 (8237): 102–3, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(81)90462-1, PMID 6113434, S2CID 19065402
- ^ Gore SM, Fontaine O, Pierce NF (1992), "Impact of rice based oral rehydration solution on stool output and duration of diarrhoea: meta analysis of 13 clinical trials", British Medical Journal, 304 (6822): 287–291, doi:10.1136/bmj.304.6822.287, PMC 1881081, PMID 1531430
- ^ a b "Rice water for hair: Benefits and how to use it". www.medicalnewstoday.com. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
- ^ "Rice Water: How It Benefits Your Hair". Cleveland Clinic. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
