Can you gain weight by rubbing oil on your skin?

Indy_Mario

Hey, it never hurts to be kind... I'm well-educated, just not in nutrition. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know - and how much more I can learn by acknowledging and being curious about the things that I don't completely know. Okay, end assertion.

So, apparently, what hits the skin has a chance to hit the bloodstream. It's not clear to me why that means the fat isn't absorbed into the body, except for taking it on faith that the GI tract is the only system that can store fat.

I got my girl prego by rubbing crisco and bodily fluids onto her arm...watch-out, it could happen to you too!

Laura_Ivy

I got my girl prego by rubbing crisco and bodily fluids onto her arm...watch-out, it could happen to you too!
[/quote]

Eww why crisco...all those hydrogenated fats. I do believe she deserved a quality olive oil. What a shame.


:laugh:

screwtop_gangsta

I got my girl prego by rubbing crisco and bodily fluids onto her arm...watch-out, it could happen to you too!

Oh my! I once got drunk by taking a bath with a malt and hops body bath. I believe I almost got pregnant that time!

servilia

Don't worry, olive oil has the good fats!!
All kidding aside, you won't gain weight by rubbing oil on your skin. Olive oil and other natural plant oils are wonderful for the skin. I never had greater skin than when I rubbed almond + lavender oil on my face.
Regarding cosmetics - if you really want to be nit picky, some chemicals that are used in cosmetics can be endocrine disruptors so they can play with your hormones. But I doubt this would be enough to affect weight.

LuckyLeprechaun

not unless you lick yourself clean like a cat. :laugh: :noway:

katherinesnell

I have to say I'm quite disappointed by some of the posters on this topic (not the funny ones, but the ones who are just downright hurtful towards to OP).

MFP is a supportive community of people from all different backgrounds, with all sorts of knowledge to contribute. Help the OP by increasing her knowledge, and when you get stuck on anything she will use her knowledge to help you all.

Be kind, it costs nothing.

ElizabethRoad

not unless you lick yourself clean like a cat. :laugh: :noway:

You don't?

vingogly

She is talking about olive oil and the nutritional value in it if applied to skin. Probably but it should be so small it shouldn't be applied to diet.

It's always helpful to ask: if that were true, how would it work? That is, what's the mechanism that transports nutrients from your skin into your system, and where's the science that demonstrates it's effective at doing so? The only way to get chemicals into your system via your skin as far as I know is to mix it with dimethyl sulfoxide, and that likely wouldn't work with oils because of the size of the molecules.

Whatever minor weight gain (probably in the grams as the other poster said) you got from rubbing oil on skin is superficial. Even if you got your skin to absorb a pound of olive oil, the outer layers of your skin replace themselves every few weeks, so you'd lose it when your skin sloughed off.

pnkflydfemale

I absolutely agree with Katherinesnel. So many of the replying posts are ridiculous, rude and quite frankly a joke! I don't think it is absurd to think that our skin (largest organ of the body) could absorb fats from the oils on our skin. Isn't it true that in the hot shower we can absorb the chemicals from the water into our skin and then into our bodies? Dr. Simeons (a doctor) teaches in his HCG protocol to not use any oils or lotions on the body and to use oil free make up. And he has many studies that he did to justify this belief. I understand that you should do your own research and not just believe what you hear, even if it is coming from a doctor. But one of the ways I do so is to do a google search. That brought me to this page and instead of being better educated, I am more confused. I guess I will continue to do my research but not on this page.

3laine75

I wish this were true . .l'd be hung like a pony!

AWiseManKnowsHisIgnorance

I just now created a MFP account to address the arrogance of all those who ridiculed the original poster. It is NOT a ridiculous idea that calories from edible oil may be absorbed through skin in some metabolically available form. Some substances are indeed absorbed by skin and metabolized by the body, some are not. I don't know whether coconut and olive oil fall into the first or second category, and neither do you smug sarcastic geniuses. And it's not just MFP - on every message board that came when I googled this question, ignorant know-it-alls pile on the hee-haws.The single thoughtful poster here did mentioned that a compound must be mixed with DMSO in order to be absorbed, but I'm skeptical - I know hydrocortisone cream can mess up your liver if you apply it too often (that's why you need a prescription for stronger than 1%), yet I don't see DMSO in the ingredient list.

Disappointed by the level of discourse amongst the unwashed masses who post on health and weight loss forums, I looked for some actual research. Lo and behold, Indian researchers in 2005 found that low birth weight babies massaged with coconut and safflower oil DO absorb the oils as an extra source of calories and blood lipids. (For preemies in rural India that would be good news, but for me trying to cure my eczema and lose 10 lbs at the same time it would be bad). Is this research replicated, and if so, would it work the same way for adults? I don't know, but this at least shows the original post was far from a stupid question.

100 years ago you guys would be giving opium candy to your colicky baby and laughing at people who wondered if cigarettes might be bad for you. Thanks for teaching me never to ask an actual medical question on a health message board.

Dewymorning

I use coconut oil for eczema and it has made no impact on my weight loss.