Essential oil seems to be very popular the past few years with the rise of MLMs like doTerra and Young Living Essential Oils. But there are a lot of harmful claims out there about essential oils and misinformation. This is your Essential OIl 101 safety and uses guide.
What is an essential oil?
Essential oil is extracted from plants that are created with diffusing or cold pressing. The essential oil captures the essence of the plant. Some essential oils are created through chemical processes and are not true essential oils.
How can you use it?
Essential oils can be used as aromatherapy by using it in an essential oil diffuser or mixing it with a carrier oil. These oils can be associated with different properties depending on the plant. Some common ones include:
- Lavender: can aid anxiety, stress, pain and creating a healthy pain response
- Peppermint: can improve fatiague, naseua, headaches and can lift mood
- Orange: can improve mood, reduce anxiety and pain
- Tea tree: can help with congestion and pain relief
- Rosemary: reduce inflamation,pain, stress and improve brain function
Misinformation
- Internal use: Essential oil is not safe for internal use and can cause internal burns or posion, it is a highly concentrated form of the plant and is voilate. Despite, the populaurity of drinking essential oils in smoothies it can send you to the hospital or kill you. Only culinary garde herbs are safe to ingest.Even small amounts of the oil can cause you to be posioned, if you ingest essnetial oil call your Poison Control.
- Skin safety: Essential oils are not safe to put on the skin or in the bath without diluting it. It can cause skin burns, espically peppermint or citrus fruit oil. There have been cases where people have got third degree burns from applying essential oils on there skin without carrier oils. Carrier oils include oils like cocobut oil, johoba oil, almond oil, etc. There are different formulations depending on the essential oil you want to use.
- Regulations: Essential oils are not regulated by the FDA. Thatmeans there is no way to tell if something is a qualioty essentail oil or just scented oils, I have personally seen fake essential oil being sold. Not all oils are actually essnetial oils, you need to look at the coloring/body and the smell to help identify if it is real. Even then there is s risk of buying fragence oil.
- Medical Claims: There are lot of dangerous claims about essential oils online. However, there is no proof that esential oils worth beyond aromatherapy. I have seen claims about it curing diabtes and cancer, it does not. It also can not keep you from getting Covid-19. Always research the claims people make.
- Kids and Pets: Essential oils are not safe around children under three. It can cause naseau, headaches, breathing problems and anxity in young kids. There are certain essnetial oils that are safe only within certain age ranges and safe doser are lower than for adults. They can also be harmful to pets and certain essential oils should not be used.
- Essential oils vs plants: Essential oil is not a replacement for using plant medicine. They have very different uses and can not be used as subsuitutes. Drinking culinary safe lavender tea is not the same as using lavender essential oil in a diffuser.