The 411 on Shea Butter

_{Shea butter ointment.}

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Shea butter is a popular ingredient in cosmetic products. These shea butter products promise that they can do wonders for dry skin, chapped lips and it is even present in some anti-aging creams. What is shea butter? Where does it come from and what makes it so good at what it does?

_{Raw unrefined shea butter}

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Shea butter comes from shea tree nut which grows wild in west and central Africa.¹ The color of unrefined shea butter ranges from ivory to yellow depending on the process used to make it.^1,2 Shea butter is classified as a vegetable fat because it comes from a tree. However, shea butter is unique because it remains a solid at room temperature whereas other vegetable fats are usually liquid at room temperature.² Hence the name shea butter as opposed to liquid canola oil (another vegetable fat). Neat huh? Shea butter takes a long time to make. It takes about 8 hours of hard work to produce 1 liter of shea butter.² Whew! Luckily, modern methods can now be used to reduce how long it takes to get shea butter from the nut.³

_{Local women making shea butter the traditional way}

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Shea butter has many interesting uses. It is used as an ingredient in cosmetic products because it keeps the skin hydrated by preventing water loss from the skin via evaporation, which makes it a good moisturizer for soothing sore skin and preventing dryness.³ It serves as a great base for medicinal ointments because it is a solid that melts easily when applied on skin, and it has anti-inflammatory properties (i.e. it helps to reduce swelling).^3,4 Shea butter is also found in anti-aging creams because of its antioxidant properties i.e. it fights off free radicals that our bodies produce which contribute to aging.⁴ These properties come from tocopherol (commonly known as vitamin E) and phenols found in shea butter.⁴ In some parts of Africa, shea butter is used as cooking fat and internationally, shea butter is used as a cocoa butter substitute for chocolate.²

_{Shea butter in a bowl : Ice-cream anyone?}

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Shea butter has a strong nutty smell.⁵ I think it smells divine but for some people it is hate at first whiff. If you are not a fan of unrefined shea butter, you can get refined ones that have scent added to them, or you can use other naturally derived alternatives like olive oil, cocoa butter, mango butter and avocado butter.⁶ Either way, it looks like shea butter is here to stay especially since it has not been found to be toxic to humans in any way.⁷

References

1.      Bender. D.A. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition [Online]; Oxford University Press, 2009. http://library.mtroyal.ca:2303/view/10.1093/acref/9780199234875.001.0001/acref-9780199234875-e-4943 (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

2.      National Research Council. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables [Online]; National Academic Press, 2006; p 303-321. https://www.nap.edu/read/11763/chapter/19 (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

3.      Coulibaly, Y.; Ouedraogo, S.; Niculescu, N. Experimental Study of Shea Butter Extraction Efficiency Using a Centrifugal Process. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 2009, 4:6, p 14-19. http://www.arpnjournals.com/jeas/research_papers/rp_2009/jeas_0809_221.pdf (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

4.      Honfo, F.G.; Akissoe, N.; Linnemann, A.R.; Soumanou, M.; Van Boekel, M. Nutritional Composition of Shea Products and Chemical Properties of Shea Butter: A Review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2014, 54:5, 673-686. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2011.604142 (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

5.      American Shea Butter Institute. 21 Reasons to Use Shea Butter. http://www.sheainstitute.com/asbi-library/21reasons/#shea_bestfriend (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

6.      Beautifullynappy. Alternatives to Shea Butter. https://beautifullynappy.com/2014/06/18/alternatives-to-shea-butter/ (accessed Oct 31, 2016).

7.      Shea Butter MSDS; [Online]; Sciencelab.com Inc: Houston, TX. http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924890 (accessed Oct 31, 2016).