Essential oils are good for your wellness
But is it just another fad or are essential oils here to stay? And more importantly, what exactly do people claim they do?
First of all, essential oils haven’t just hit the mainstream; they’ve actually been around for thousands of years as a way to increase emotional, physical and spiritual wellness. Aromatic diffusion, topical application and dietary consumption are the three main ways people can reap benefits.
“I started using essential oils three years ago after one of my co-workers told me about using them for her daughter’s GI issues,” said Jennifer McGraw, a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee nursing student living in Whitefish Bay. “I thought, ‘Where have these been all my life?’ I’ve seen huge improvements in my energy levels, skin and immune support.”
“As a distributor, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t allow us to say it treats this or that,” she said. “Instead, we focus on overall body and emotional wellness.”
For example, McGraw diffuses lavender religiously before bed for a calming effect and to promote better sleep. When she wants to feel focused and energized, she’ll use peppermint oil.
She also makes rollerballs (a thin bottle with a rolling-ball top, like deodorant or a fragrance roller) with Young Living’s Thieves essential oil to boost her immune system. (Typically, oils are rolled onto the feet or wrists.) Thieves is a blend that combines clove, cinnamon and rosemary oil.
To ease a sore throat, McGraw will make a hot, tea-like beverage using a drop of Thieves, two drops of lemon oil and some honey.
Specific oils are said to improve skin health. When she first started using oils, McGraw would add a drop of frankincense oil to her moisturizer. Now she makes her own facial serums and face wash using lavender oil, frankincense oil and rose water.
“It helps support overall skin evenness,” she said. “I’ve also noticed more softness, which is especially great in winter.”
In addition to skin health, lavender and frankincense are relaxing scents that help enhance emotional wellness. People will often look toward these types of oils to help with anxiety and stress issues.
“Citrus oils are known for being uplifting by boosting confidence and balancing moods,” she said.
McGraw’s best sellers are peppermint, lavender and Thieves. But her customers use different oils for different reasons. A chiropractor friend uses lemongrass oil for musculoskeletal support. Another friend diffuses lemon oil with a tea tree oil-blend to make her house smell good because she has big dogs.
For mom Lindy Jones, a Matilda Jane clothing representative living in Whitefish Bay, essential oils are a big part of her cleaning and wellness routine. “However, I am not an expert. I just know what I have read in articles and books.” She said that she and “the vast majority” of her friends use essential oils daily.
“If there is a product that is equal or superior to a household chemical, I greatly prefer the natural product,” Jones said. “I would like to reduce the exposure my household has to chemicals.”
According to a study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, there are many essential oils that are antibacterial in nature. In the study that tested specific oils against 22 strains of bacteria, lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppermint and orange oils were found to be effective against every strain.
Jones will clean the hard surfaces in her house (like countertops, doorknobs and chairs) every other day during cold season with just lemon oil and hot water. She puts about 10 drops of oil in a large mixing bowl and fills it with hot water. She uses a rag to wipe down what she needs to. By the end of her cleaning, she says, you can see all the dirt and grime on the bottom of the mixing bowl.
“I’m also a big fan of tea tree oil,” she said. “I’ll put some of that in a spray bottle with water and spray down curtains and our rug. I also spray it on the kids’ hair in the morning because tea tree oil is a lice deterrent.”
She will also use tea tree oil to help with earaches by warming it up with olive oil, soaking a cotton swab in the mixture and then letting it drip into the ear. She says it works.
In addition, Jones likes using peppermint oil to help relieve headache pain and grapefruit oil to boost her energy and metabolism.
It’s common to hear people talk in casual conversation about how they’ve benefitted from essential oils. But in the medical community, there is a much different conversation happening.
“Essential oils are not regulated by the FDA because they don’t claim to treat diseases,” said Christopher Weber, an internal medicine physician and pediatrician at the Columbia St. Mary’s Germantown clinic. “And the results of any studies (that have been) done have been very mixed.”
Still, Weber said, some of his patients use essential oils to help with things like headaches and nausea.
“People care about themselves, not necessarily the studies,” he said. “I’ll hear my patients say, ‘I had a migraine and I put peppermint oil on my temples and I felt better.’
“If you notice a benefit, I have no problem with people using it to treat symptoms of a disease. Using it as a treatment for cancer, I have a problem with that.”
Weber said the theory behind how essential oils work is that odors affect the olfactory system in the brain.
“It’s like how Grandma’s cookies will trigger an emotional response,” he said. “It’s the same thing as aromatherapy. When you smell that odor, it goes into the system in your brain that is tied to emotion.”
When it comes to the safety of essential oils, Weber recommends caution.
“Just because something says it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe,” he said. “Think about poison ivy. And just because it comes in a pill form doesn’t mean it’s not safe. I take a risk/benefit assessment of all treatment options.”
He also recommends having an honest two-way communication with your doctor. “Especially if you have hormone issues, talk to your doctor about using these,” he said.
For more information
If you want to learn more about essential oils, your primary care physician is a great place to start (especially before using them yourself). But there are many more resources where you can discover more information.
Nccih.nih.gov (search “essential oils”)
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