Rice Water for Hair Growth: How to Make and Use it at Home

Making use of rice water as a hair care is an ancient Asian culture remedy and recently boomed as a TikTok trend, with rice water getting hundreds of millions of hair-flipping endorsements. Rice water is the starchy water that is left over after rice is boiled or left to soak. It is supposed to make the hair smooth and shiny and help it grow faster.

In this article, we will look at rice water for hair growth treatments and its benefits, and how to use them at home.

Why Rice Water?

Rice water has the potential to increase hair shine, make it healthier, and detangle it. Rice grains include 75–80 percent starch. Basically, it’s the starchy water that remains after soaking or cooking rice.

Rice water is believed to contain several vitamins and minerals included in rice. These possess:

amino acids
B vitamins
vitamin E
minerals
antioxidants

Benefits Of Rice Water For Hair Growth

Many studies back the claim that rice water is good for hair, and their presence as ingredients in hair care products present the same. Here are some benefits of rice water for your hair fall issues.

1. It Nourishes Hair Scalp

Utilizing boiled rice water for hair improves hair root strength by nourishing the scalp. In addition, rice water comprises several macro and micronutrients, such as vitamins, carbohydrates, and minerals, which enhance scalp health.

2. It Enhances Hair Strength

Long hair needs nutrients to nourish the health of the scalp and enhance hair thickness. Rice water has starch which coats hair strands with proteins. As a result, it facilitates hair surface friction caused by rubbing during combing, styling, and washing and improves hair elasticity and smoothness. Furthermore, it also enhances hair strength by reducing hair dryness.

3. It’s A Chemical-Free Hair Cleanser

You can utilize rice water as a conditioner, hair mask, or shampoo. Rice water offers multiple benefits and you can make any hair product with it.

4. Stimulates Hair Growth

Rice water benefits the scalp by fixing the damage. Antioxidants present in rice water nourish hair follicles. Also, vitamins B, C, and E further maintain a suitable environment for hair growth.

5. Improves Hair Shine

Rice water is a natural conditioner that keeps your hair bouncing. In addition, it adds a protection layer, particularly against air pollution, electric hair appliances, chemicals in hair care products, etc.

6. Eliminates Dandruff and Flakes

Fermented rice water, primarily made from red rice, inhibits the growth of Malassezia, a fungus that leads to dandruff. In addition, research shows one-day-old rice water contains the bacterium Bacillus cereus, producing antibiotics zwittermicin A and kanosamine. These further prevent Malassezia growth.

How to Make Rice Water At Home

There are different ways to make rice water, which includes

a) Soaking

Rinsing the rice thoroughly is part of the soaking process. It is one of the simplest and the quickest ways to make rice water.

To use this method:

take ½ cup of uncooked rice
rinse thoroughly
put rice in a bowl and add 2–3 cups of water
leave to soak for 30 minutes
Now, strain the rice water into a clean bowl

b) Boiling

Another method to make rice water is by boiling the rice.

Usually, we take ½ cup of rice with double the water for cooking. Cook the rice in boiling water and strain the rice water into a clean bowl before use.

c) Fermented vs. plain rice water

Some rice water supporters claim fermented rice water offers more benefits than plain rice water. Research shows that fermented substances have more antioxidants. Antioxidants may fight hair and skin cell damage, so they are typical ingredients in beauty products.

So, you can follow steps 1–4 of the soaking method to ferment rice water. Before straining, make sure you eave the rice water to stand at room temperature for up to 2 days, letting it ferment. Then, strain the rice water into a clean bowl before use.

How to Use Rice Water

Rice water can take the place of a commercial conditioner. To do this, you should:

wash your hair with shampoo
rinse them thoroughly with water from the tap
pour rice water onto their hair
massage your hair and scalp with the rice water
leave on for up to 20 minutes
rinse your hair thoroughly utilizing warm water from the tap

According to experts, you can use it once or twice a week. While some people might notice some change in their hair after a few weeks, you will gradually find any real differences in hair strength and length.

Wrap up

Applying rice water to your hair is an age-old practice that has been used in several Asian countries. Some people even apply rice water to their skin to soothe it and cure eczema.

Rice water helps you get healthier, shinier, and stronger hair. You can try it out and see whether rice water for hair growth is actually beneficial or not. However, if you don’t see any benefits and feel like it’s not suiting your hair, you can stop using it.

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