Walnut to Cover Grays

[mellie]

Has anyone ever had any success using walnut to cover their grays? I have some black walnut hull powder which I'd like to try. I am aware that it causes allergies for some people, so I will do a patch test first. And I have heard that it stains everything it touches, so I would be interested in how best to apply it as well.

[ktani]

mellie

There are also some concerns about toxicity with walnut hull preparations - not the nut.

Walnut dye is prepared from the hulls. The hulls contain juglone.

Juglone - 2005
"Juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphtoquinone) ... natural toxin produced by walnut trees. In this study we show that juglone .... reduces viability of human cells in culture.
Our results .... juglone has multiple effects on cells such as .... DNA damage .... the induction of cell death."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WXH-4G0HV7X-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view =c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_user id=10&md5=00a6e98bc2ff78ae49f5e69146fa92f8

[mellie]

Wow, that was a scary article! "Induction of cell death" - eek!!

[ktani]

mellie

This is from the pdf full version of that article.

".... we have shown that the natural toxin juglone induces a very rapid induction .... and cell death in human fibroblast.

Since juglone is present in human health .... beauty products, a further understanding of its effects on human cells is warranted."
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/ljungman....es/juglone.pdf

[Nightshade]

You'd be wise to patch test I'd say if there are no ill reactions then you could go ahead. As ktani's article said, " a further understanding of its effects on human cells is warranted", so it sounds like there's a good amount of testing yet needed to discern how serious those warnings are.

I did some strand testing with walnut, and found I got a much better stain when it was simmered with amla for awhile. You can check out the results if you're so interested over here.

[ktani]

Mellie

Since that same research showed that juglone also caused ”the loss of p53 proteins in cells” - see "In conclusion" Pg 8 . p53 protein is “important as it helps to suppress cancer“.

and walnut hull preparations used frequently have previously been linked to a higher incidence of certain cancers, I would give walnut dye a pass.

It seems to me as if the research is making good progress. As they say in the article, they need to more fully understand how the mechanisms in juglone cause it to do the things shown, through further research.

There are plenty of other plants to try.

I do not think that very small amounts in some cosmetics, carry the same risks as large amounts of the pure dye, used frequently.

[mellie]

Very interesting, thank you both!

[LaurelSpring]

I recently got 100 g of this to try on my grays. Now Im wondering if I should get rid of it. That article sounds very scary.

[BrianaFineHair]

Several years ago I owned a greyhound ex-racer dog. After she suffered for a couple of weeks of bloody diarreah I saw her eating the black walnut hulls from the tree in our back yard. I googled something like, "plants that cause bloodly diarreah in dogs" and black walnuts from the black walnut tree came up. We went to several vet visits and the vet just could not figure out what was going on. $$$$ I simply had a hunch after I saw her eating those black walnuts. She never ate them again, but I did make certain to rake them up and discard them.

Was it FOR SURE those black walnuts? I can not be 100% sure, but I'd bet on it. After seeing pup go through that illness, I'd not mess with black walnuts.

[ktani]

BrianaFinehair

Walnut hulls are known to be toxic to both animals and plants.

That research is very interesting IMO, regarding the effects the juglone they contain, has on human cells.