Essential Oils | Two Ice Floes

From Mrs. Cog's Corner

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Mainstream sources will tell you essential oils are the distilled aromas of a plant, sometimes with other properties. Natural medicine unveils that essential oils are actually the highly concentrated medicinal property of a plant.

Because essential oils are so powerful, they can be a bit tricky to use. A few can make you sick if you take too much or use them the wrong way. For instance, several are anti-coagulant and you cannot take them if you are also taking pharmaceutical medicine that is a blood thinner. Further, unlike over the counter medicines, these oils come with no instructions or warning labels. Because they are natural, the FDA (so far) does not regulate them and the western medical world does their best not to acknowledge these alternatives.

Since essential oils are derived from plants who have DNA not so different from our own, our bodies do not see them as a foreign substance when they enter our body. Usually, our bodies do not fight the oils and allow them to have natural healing effects more easily than any processed pharmaceutical drug might. Our body chemistry does know that most prescription drugs are foreign substances and not natural and treat them as such. The essential oils have the properties of the defense and immune system of the plant itself and our bodies seem to recognize this and utilize the benefits in it accordingly.

Many essential oil companies use chemicals and solvents to distill the essential oils, so sourcing them as legitimate "therapeutic grade" is important. I read many blogs and hundreds of comments from people who have used various oils and brands to see what people have to say. I always try something myself before I give it to anyone else to take. You will not find me discussing anything that I have not tried myself.

Essential oils can enter the body three ways. One is to inhale it. The fumes are quite powerful. When you smell Vicks Vapor Rub, that is the Eucalyptus Oil you are inhaling that clears your sinuses, same principal. The chemicals do enter your bloodstream this way. The second way to use oils is topically, rubbing it on your skin to be absorbed into your blood system. This is very effective. Most essential oils need to be diluted in a bland oil called a "carrier oil" in order to apply it topically, but not all of them. The last way is to ingest it in a pill, drink or food. (You MUST research to know which oils are GRAS.) They actually sell empty gel caps you can fill with oils, but I do not use them. I prefer to drink it in a warm drink such as tea or warm cider. On occasion I have put a few drops on a cracker and washed it down with a beverage. I have read that topical application, rubbing an oil into your skin may be more effective. Why put a medicinal item into your digestive system to be processed if you can rub it on and have it directly absorbed, circumnavigating the process of digestion? There is wonderful conversation and debate about this in the Essential Oil blogging world.

One more thing, the method of inhaling oils is called aromatherapy. The oils and so called aromatherapy you see in most stores? NOT THE SAME THING. It is a commercial version to capitalize on pretty and soothing smells, but it is far from therapeutic grade essential oils in a wellness context. Do your homework!

Thoughts From Cognitive Dissonance Ψ ψ