Olive oil is great for your hair whether you’re consuming it or using it topically as a hair mask because olive oil contains potent antioxidant and antifungal properties that help protect your hair from environmental damage, and it contains a concentration of monounsaturated fats that can penetrate your hair shafts keeping them moisturized from the inside out.
Although there isn’t any evidence yet for humans, a study with mice showed promising results for olive oil to trigger hair growth by stimulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, and this same pathway also serves to stimulate your body’s anti-cancer immune response.
Fun fact: according to Wikipedia, domestic cultivation of olives dates back to the Chalcolithic era (2500-2200 B.C.) and the oldest olive tree still alive today is 3,350 years old.
Olive contains the following hair healthy nutrients:
Looking to learn more about the hair benefits of olives and olive oil, and get a recipe for a DIY olive oil hair mask? You'll find all of this below.
Hair Benefits of Olive Oil and Olives
Preventing Hair Loss
The antioxidants in olives and olive oil benefit your hair and scalp by protecting them from a type of free radical called “reactive oxygen species,” which can cause damage to your hair from inside and out, including hair loss and premature greying.
These same antioxidants also help fight inflammation in the body, which besides making you feel meh, is a key component in both male and female pattern baldness.
And if you suffer from chronic inflammation issues like psoriasis, olive oil can help tame the pain when you rub it on your skin (including your scalp). But as good as it feels on the skin, you might want to avoid it in your diet as research on mice has shown it might actually make your skin condition worse when eaten.
But to make sure you get all the antioxidant benefits olive oil offers your hair, check the label since it’s an official designation by the International Olive Council.
Extra Virgin or Virgin olive oils retain the antioxidants, but other grades of oil don’t. Also, avoid the “california style” since this processing method not only changes the texture of the fruit, but also makes it lose most of its nutritional value.
Added Moisture
Thanks to olive olive oil’s high concentration of monounsaturated fats, putting it on your hair shafts will moisturize them from the inside, similar to other lightweight oils like coconut and argan oil.
However olives, and by extension olive oil, don’t have omega-3 fatty acids like argan oil does, so eating olives or consuming olive oil won’t offer the same shiny hair benefits as other fatty foods like salmon.
Hair Growth Through Vitamin A, Circulation, and Keratin Production
Vitamin A does double duty by helping regulate your body’s normal hair growth cycle and also produce sebum, your body’s natural hair moisturizer. It’s also important to get enough vitamin A to avoid annoying pimple-like sebum plugs in your scalp. And olive oil helps with hair growth and health.
Iron is a key mineral that allows your body to transport oxygen, which your hair follicles need to grow hair by producing mature keratin cells. This is why people with iron deficiencies can struggle with hair loss according to the NIH.
Just make sure to choose black olives over green since you’ll get 3 times the iron as you would even from ground beef. Unfortunately olive oil does not have a sufficient amount of iron, only the black olives will provide this benefit.
And now that you know all the amazing benefits olives and olive oil offer your hair, here’s a quick and easy recipe for an Olive Oil hair mask that you can make at home.
How to Make an Olive Oil Hair Mask
Ingredients You Will Need:
- Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons
- 1 whole egg (eggs are healthy for your hair and are rich in protein and biotin)
- Lime Juice: 2 tablespoons (citric acid helps remove buildup)
- Yogurt: 2 tablespoons (the probiotics add more antifungal benefits to the olive oil)
The Steps to Make an Olive Hair Mask:
- Whisk the egg until it's frothy.
- Whisk in the olive oil, yogurt, and lime juice.
- Work the mask evenly throughout slightly damp hair, covering your hair and making sure to massage it thoroughly onto your scalp.
- Wait about 15 minutes to let the mask sink into your hair strands.
- Rinse your hair thoroughly with lukewarm or cold water (cold water is better than hot for washing your hair).
