In the past few years it seems that the topic of essential oils have swept the nation. Growing up, I never heard much about them. Nowadays even big name brands are putting essential oils into their products. I remember buying my same ol' hand sanitizer but this time with lavender essential oils. It had such a light, aromatic fragrance! So what's the big deal with essential oils?
First I'm going to talk about this new essential oils trend and how it's been shaping the way people view alternative health care. For decades people have been going to the doctor, getting prescribed medications, and then taking monthly trips to the pharmacy to pick up those meds. In recent years however, focus has shifted toward natural remedies and actually treating the problem, not just the symptoms. Many researches began to study how indigenous people's health in rural areas compared with the health of those in lands where traditional healthcare is easily accessible. What they discovered is that in other lands, less people have diabetes, heart disease, and mental illnesses compared to the United States.
While this can be attributed to their overall active lifestyle and diet, people were intrigued by the methods they use to heal themselves when sick. Rather than going to a doctor, they might go to an herbalist. They would tell the herbalist their symptoms and he would then use various plants to brew into a tea, use as a poultice, or some other method. Here is where essential oils come in. Essential oils are basically the oils extracted from a plant by means of distillation or cold-pressing. When you have the plant's essence in such a concentrated volume, you can get the benefits of the whole plant from just a few drops. Thus essential oils became an amazing way for people to improve their health without needing whole plants.
There are so many ways to use essential oils that I won't have time to cover in this post. However, I have outlined how to use essential oils for aromatherapy and the benefits associate with using them that way. You can check out that article at the link below. Additionally, as with many things, not all essential oils are created equal. Trying to choose a good essential oil brand with all these competitors can be difficult. You want to make sure that the oils are made without impurities. You want them to be ethically sourced. You don't want them to be cut with other cheaper oils. So how can you be sure that what you're getting is legit?
Thankfully a partner of mine, Estefania Guzman from Consumers Advocate saved us all the trouble of having to buy at-home test kits. She assisted with vetting 11 companies and her team spent over 200 hours on researching these top brands in the game. From big names like doTerra and Mountain Rose Herbs, this report discusses whether the companies provided consumer education, sustainable sourcing, tested the quality of the oils and more! What I read from their report has shaped my view of popular companies and I really appreciate the ability to make an informed decision on which essential oils are best for me. To check out their report you can click the link below.
Consumers Advocate- https://www.consumersadvocate.org/essential-oils
Prepping Your Environment- https://jkessentials.net/blogs/jks-blog-2-0/prepping-your-environment-aromatherapy-basics