The Benefits of Essential Oils

My good friend Dana lent me her amazing collection of essential oils for the week. These little treasures are where East meets West, where plants and herbs become medicine and therapeutic tools.Dana's father, Dr. Olivier Wenker, is on the Young Living Essential Oils Scientific Advisory Council and has become an expert on essential oils. He travels the world to lecture about the amazing benefits of essential oils and what makes them so special. The secret tip is to look for pure, medicinal, therapeutic grade essential oils.

I started experimenting with essential oils years ago when I realized that my babies were sensitive to the detergents, soaps, cleansers and perfumes even in "baby products." They had constant eczema which diminished after removing the many toxic potions. I was encouraged to remove the laundry soaps, shampoos, harsh cleansers, and every chemical toxin I could replace.

Following a plethora of DIY videos and recipes online I started to make my own products and the one thing they all had in common was the use of essential oils. These concentrated oils of herbs, plants and seeds have natural properties that are just as strong as drugs and toxic chemicals but they do not have the scary side effects.

Many essential oils such as lemon, tea tree, and clove have antibacterial properties; they kill germs on contact and leave a clean, chemical free scent. Citrus oils such as orange, tangerine, and grapefruit often have incredibly high antibacterial activity but do not cause harm to our bodies.

It is important to note that we "eat" or absorb most of what we put on our skin and what we breathe. I encourage you to see what you can remove and what food grade products you can use naturally. Here are a few tips for replacing toxic chemicals with essential oils in your home.

7 Home Made Toxic Free Products

1. Mouthwash is a very easy 1:4 dilution of 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 4 parts water. Add a few drops of peppermint essential oil and this becomes a fresh, toxic free cleanse.

2. For a relaxing massage oil or perfume, buy a simple olive oil or sweet almond oil and add 8 drops of your favorite scent. I like to add arnica or mustard oil to warm up sore muscles or geranium for fragrance.

3. Instead of a dehydrating bubble bath, add 1 cup of epsom salts and 4 drops of lavender oil which has a natural calming effect.

4. Essential oils with antibacterial properties can be added to 1 cup vinegar and 1 gallon of water for cleaning the home. The added bonus of using citrus oils on your kitchen counters is that instead of your food picking up bleach or detergent, it may absorb some vitamin C from the oil.

5. Citrus oils can be diffused within the house after a sick friend has come to visit and the antibacterial properties will get to work cleaning the air. Add a few drops to a bottle of water to spray in a stinky bathroom instead of spraying toxic aerosol chemicals around and then breathing them into your system.

6. For a petroleum free mentholated chest rub, an adult may enjoy 1 Tbsp coconut oil with 1 drop wintergreen or eucalyptus to rub on their chest and open up their pores.

7. A few drops of any essential oil can be added to unscented castille soap for the body. Be careful to read if the oil is appropriate for children under the age of 3.

Children are very sensitive to the potency of essential oils so be careful to dilute all oils with plenty of carrier oils such as olive oil, almond oil or jojoba and not to use more potent essential oils such as wintergreen and eucalyptus on their delicate skin. For a small child, try adding a few drops of these oils to a diffuser into the entire house where everyone will benefit from inhaling them.

Not all essential oils are edible. It is crucial to find pure, medicinal, therapeutic grade oils which are completely food grade. I tried 1 drop of Dana's oregano oil which is known in the holistic world to kill bacteria in the digestive tract and is often used for infection. According to Dr. Wenker using oregano oil when marinating and cooking meats is beneficial too.

"Oregano oil kills bacteria while preparing food and then prevents the formation of carcinogens by 78% when cooking meat at high temperatures."

My favorite of the oils was fennel. Fennel teas are often recognized for digestive properties, in fact many Indian restaurants offer fennel seeds to chew after a meal. I simply inhaled the scent of Dana's fennel oil with a few deep breaths and my indigestion improved.

If you are looking for therapeutic grade essential oils, look no further. Contact my friend, Dana Wenker dwenker27@gmail.com of Young Living. I cannot say enough good things about my experience using these oils and I know you will love them too.