Essential oils are not simple substances, they are mosaics of hundreds – or even thousands – of different natural plant chemicals, natural plant chemicals that our bodies have evolved with over centuries. Any given essential oil may contain anywhere from 80 to 300 or more different constituents. When we walk through a herb garden, and brush against a lavender or thyme plant, for instance, that delightful aroma which fills the air is the essential oil is far more than nice scent.
Young Living Lavender field... ahhhhhhh, heavenly!
An essential oil like lavender is very complex with many constituents occurring in minute quantities – but all contribute to the essential oil’s therapeutic effect to some degree. Each constituent in a plant (or a food for that matter) is there for a reason. This is why I am such a stickler about all of my food and products have to be completely “in-tact.” I want all of the parts to be there and to be whole. This is why I get so disgusted when I go into a store and see ‘low-fat’ and ‘no-fat’ foods… the fats are there for a reason – they help our bodies digest properly, they aid the processing of proteins, and so much more. Our bodies evolved with the plants and animals that we eat… if my ancestors ate animals that grazed on native grasses and contained a certain amount of fat – you better believe I want all of those nutrients and fat in that food when I put it in my mouth! I want it because our bodies evolved with our foods and healing plants containing everything that mother nature intended to contain and as a result… my body knows how to process all of the constituents, nutrients, enzymes, and so forth.
Let’s look at oranges, the same is true when we peel an orange, we see a fine mist go into the air and we smell that wonderful citrus orange scent (the essential oil from all citrus comes from the “peel,” not the flesh inside – the flesh does not contain any essential oil). The essential oil in the peel is abundant in the outer most layers of the peel, the essential oil is contained in tiny pockets, or glandular cells, in the outer peel.
Essential oils are “volatile” oils, this means that they can dissipate, or evaporate, into the air. You know how when you go into a herb drying room, where fresh herbs are hung to dry, the room has the most incredible scent of the herbs… well, that is the essential oil (the volatile oil) leaving the plant and going into the air.
If you’re thinking… “That must mean the dried herb is loosing it’s essential oil, right?“
That’s absolutely right! A dried herb is estimated to loose about 90% of its essential oil content.
This is precisely why it can take weeks, or even months, for a herbal remedy to show results. The dried herb has lost about 90% of it’s essential oil into the air.
It’s the essential oil that contains the benefits. And while the dried herb does still contain some benefits, the amount of benefit is greatly lowered.
Yes, a fresh herb does contain more essential oil but when you consider how many tons of plant material (herb) is required to make a single pound of essential oil the amount even in a fresh herb is also very little.
Drop for drop, essential oils are the most potent part of the herb…
It is estimated that “one” single drop of a organic pure therapeutic-grade Peppermint essential oil equals 28 cups of Peppermint tea.
Even though I began using herbs at age 15 and I continue to use them (I love them!), I no longer use them when I’m looking to heal something. For fast wellness and healing purposes, I always turn to my Young Living essential oils.
What’s the difference between an essential oil and a carrier oil:
Essential oils are not the same as greasy oils, such as avocado, olive, safflower, sesame, etc. these ‘fatty’ oils are not volatile and do not evaporate, thus these types of oils are not considered essential oils and do not contain any of the benefits of a pure therapeutic-grade essential oil. However, these fatty oils can be used as “carrier” oils for your essential oils.
These fatty oils, vegetable oils, turn rancid and oxidize – making them extremely unhealthy over time. A little side note: always smell your cooking oils before using them, if they smell funky, by all means discard them!
Essential oils on the other hand, do NOT turn rancid or oxidize. Essential oils are “volatile” oils. Read more about the shelf life of a high quality essential oil.
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy literally translates into “healing smells.” There are many studies on how scent can have a positive impact on mood, blood pressure, stress and anxiety, appetite, and much more.
But Aroma-therapy is much more than scents that help us, it is infinitely more complex and there are many ways that a therapeutic-grade aromatherapy oil can benefit us. But first, we must explore what are essential oils and why we need to know certain things before making smart choices…
When and why would you use a carrier oil?
A carrier oil is used when the essential oil you are going to apply “topically” could possibly irritate your skin. Essential oils that might be irritating to the skin are the ‘hot’ oils, such as: oregano, thyme, cinnamon bark, clove, black pepper, etc.
Not all essential oils need a carrier oil, that is to say if you’re using a Young Living essential oil. There seems to be misinformation and confusion on this topic and I’ll explain why…
Remember that I said earlier, one drop of Young Living Peppermint essential oil equals 28 cups of Peppermint tea… well, that’s potent, and what will also be potent are the chemicals used during the growing and distillation of the herb.
Imagine how much chemical pesticide or a chemical solvent will end up in the finished bottle of essential oil if the manufacturer cares more about ‘production’ than quality. For instance, if the manufacturer in not using organic lemons, and it requires 1,300 pounds of Cinnamon Bark to make a mere 5 ounces of Cinnamon Bark essential oil… holy smokes, you’re looking at a lot of concentration of not only the essential oil but of anything else that is in that bark. Read Cinnamon Oil Needs to Bark so it can Heal Your Feet and Preserve Your Food.
To make matters worse, extreme heat and solvents are also commonly used in the industry to distill (extract) essential oils from plant material. High heat and solvents allow the manufacturer to produce more essential oil from ‘less’ plant material. Solvents perform the same results.
To further complicate matters, manufacturers can “add” chemicals individually that make their low quality essential oil test and appear a higher quality than it is. Gary Young, founder of Young Living, has actually been to essential oil manufacturing and distilling premises and has found 55 gallon drums behind many processing plants empty – these drums once contained individual chemical compounds (such as Linalyl acetate, a constituent found in ‘properly’ distilled lavender in high amounts). Such companies try to sell their inferior essential oils to Young Living.
Fortunately, Young Living has state of the art equipment for testing all essential oils and thus can detect when an essential oil has been adulterated in any way.
What happens to essential oils Young Living rejects?
Sadly, the rejected essential oils end up on store shelves in the form of 100% Pure Organic Essential Oils, in aromatherapy products, in aromatherapy/scented candles, shampoos/conditioners, laundry and dishwashing products and many more products.
I CAN assure you that all of the essential oils in the products sold in stores, health food stores included, absolutely do contain these inferior essential oils.
It doesn’t even matter if the label states: 100% Pure Organic Essential Oil. The reason why it doesn’t matter what the label states is because there is no regulation in the aromatherapy or essential oil industry.
Why are some essential oils so cheap?
Right this minute, you and I could go into a lab and create, using ONLY chemicals, a liquid that smells like Frankincense (or any number of other herbal scents) and bottle it and print a label that states: 100% Pure Frankincense Essential Oil” – and it would be 100% legal.
So, when I want orange essential oil, you better believe, I do not want oranges that have not been grown organic (according to the “old” organic standards, not under these new lax organic criteria). Gary Young feels the exact same way. This is why Young Living keeps buying more land and growing their own plants – Young Living operates by the “old” organic standards – they won’t even allow regular grease on their tractors and other equipment because they do not want a nasty petro-chemical coming into contact with their plant material. This is “my” kind of farming practices!
Let’s take real Frankincense that has been distilled properly, it is extremely expensive – pound or pound, it’s even more costly than ‘gold.’
Frankincense, as are many other essential oils, is very often adulterated, or extended with an odorless substance called diethylphthalate or dipropylene glycol. And the only way to tell if Frankincense has been adulterated is through state of the art equipment and an extensive database (to draw upon to see if a particular batch matches up or exceeds previous batches). Some of the equipment used in this rigorous testing is GC (gas chromatography), MS (mass spectroscopy) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance). This is the only way to distinguish “authentic” from “adulterated.”
However, even GC (gas chromatography) cannot identify a natural compound from a synthetic one. This is why it is so easy to engineer essential oils or extend poor quality essential oil to make them smell and look like they’re the real deal.
So, how is it that you can go into your health food store and buy Frankincense for $10 or $20 a bottle… because it is one of two things:
1.) It is either made from nothing but chemicals, or
2.) It contains “one” drop of a LOW quality Frankincense essential oil and the rest of the bottle is a carrier oil (if you’re lucky).
For these reasons it is why I always caution… do NOT use an essential oil or aromatherapy product the same way we use a Young Living essential oil.
My Bug-A-Boo
Nothing makes me wince more than when I see the promotion of (so-called) essential oils that aren’t essential oils at all. For instance, the following are not, and do not produce any essential oil AT ALL, or it is vastly too impossible to distill an essential oil from the plant/fruit/root/bark: water melon, raspberry, strawberry, lilac, gardenia, Narcissus, Lily of the Valley, and the like.
Side note: raspberry tea should NOT taste like raspberry, if it does you know you have a tea that contains a chemical flavoring.
Fragrance Oils and Aromatherapy Oils: what are they?
Simply put, they are the lowest of the lowest quality scents available. They either contain nothing but chemicals, or they use the most inferior essential oils on the planet.
I highly recommend NEVER using them for any purpose whatsoever!
This quality of scent is commonly found in the following:
Scented candles, soaps, perfumes, air fresheners, carpet fresheners, laundry detergents, dryer sheets, dish soaps, shampoos and conditioners, perfumes, face creams, lotions and potions… these products are the culprits as to why so many people have allergies, respiratory problems, some types of cancer (breast cancer being one!), autism, depression, etc., etc.
An entire industry has been built around manufacturers use of these very dangerous and disease causing products. Avoid them like the plague!
Our essential oils are as good as Young Living’s
There is a reason ‘why’ many companies compare their essential oils to Young Living’s… that is because it has been Young Living who has set the world standard in essential oil quality.
Young Living is the leader in quality essential oils.
You never see Young Living saying, “our oils are as good as…” – do you? When you’re the top in anything you never say, “I’m as good as…”
Although some claim that they are the same quality, when Young Living tests their competitors essential oils (in house and independently) it has shown over and over that they don’t even compare, most don’t even come close.
Thus, many believe, albeit ignorantly, that the essential oils they’re using are just as good when in fact they are not.
This is why you will NEVER find me using an essential oil the same way I use a Young Living oil, and I strongly urge you to do the same.
Moral of the story…
You MUST know your source, and know that your source goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to quality. Anything less than that means you are not getting the best available and you are wasting your money.
Try this, let’s say you have some essential oils at home right now (or the next time you go into your health food store) look at the label more carefully at your favorite brand… look to see IF that essential oil has instructions on how to use that essential oil as a dietary supplement. Essential oils that CAN be used internally as a supplement are any of the herbs you would use for tea or in cooking, such as: lavender, lemon, orange, thyme, oregano, clove, cinnamon bark (YES, it has to be “bark’), etc. (see the GRAS list).
If your essential oil (from an edible herb) cannot be used internally you KNOW for CERTAIN that brand is inferior, low quality. If that is the case, then I strongly urge you to do what I did ten years ago, when I discovered Young Living, throw the essential oils in the trash.
Look at it this way, if it’s not high quality enough to eat… then why would you even consider applying it to your body or breathe it in while diffusing?
This is precisely how many diseases are acquired… people using or eating products that contain carcinogens over long periods of time become ill and diseased. Don’t let you’re brand of essential oil ruin the quality of your health through ignorance or lies.
Use only the best aromatherapy products and essential oils. I swear by Young Living… even if I weren’t a distributor I would only recommend Young Living.
Why I use Young Living Essential Oils…
The reason I switched to Young Living ten years ago is quite simply, all of the above and because I knew the difference, and I know I will always get an essential oil that I could trust entirely, for the rest of my life. Young Living is devoted to making the purest of the pure organic essential oils in the world.
So, now you know what I know and I hope this article has cleared up a lot of the confusion you may have had and provides you with information “you” need to know to make smart choices for yourself and your family.
If I can answer any questions or help you choose Young Living oils to start with, please contact me – I love helping people become more empowered!
Get the best essential oils for all of your aromatherapy purposes here!
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