This article is about essential oils and their potential for providing us with natural antibiotics. As the world lurches into a crisis of our own making, we are on the verge of medicine reverting to the dark ages – before antibiotics. Without these miracle drugs, even basic surgery would barely be possible and a plethora of diseases would wreak such havoc on human populations as we have not seen since the great plague of the 17th Century which may have killed as much as 60% of Europe’s population. 

We find ourselves in this position because of our insanely profligate use of antibiotics globally, which has caused the breeding of highly resistant bacterial strains. Whether or not Essential Oils can significantly add to our armory in the fight against disease and resistance remains to be seen, but this excellent article gives us some useful insights.

Essential Oils might be the New natural antibiotics

Various plant oils have been shown to effectively treat a wide range of common health issues such as nausea and migraines, and a rapidly growing body of research is finding that they are powerful enough to kill human cancer cells of the breast, colon, mouth, skin, and more.

A handful of promising, real-life studies have been conducted with humans and other animals, though most of the research in that realm thus far has been conducted in the lab.Research Service.

Drug-resistant microbes could cause more than 10 million deaths by the year 2050

As Cari Romm reported in The Atlantic, livestock consume up to 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S., and the amount actually jumped by 16 percent between 2009 and 2012, according to a recent FDA report. This rampant use of the drugs has led to “superbugs” that are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics that are used to treat not just farm animals, but humans as well. In fact, almost 70 percent of the antibiotics given to these animals are classified as “medically important” for humans.

While the drugs are, of course, sometimes necessary to treat infections in livestock, the real reasons they’re overused are to speed up growth and to compensate for the cramped, unsanitary living conditions the animals endure.

Confronting the Threat of Antibiotic Resistance

What’s being done to confront this major contributor to this obvious, growing world health threat? The FDA has asked those in the agricultural industry to voluntarily reduce their use of antibiotics, but no one is keeping track of whether they do (nor has there been a record of the antibiotic use all these decades). Farmers can still say they’re using it for prevention of infections. “The lobby is so strong it’s hard to get categorical refusal to do this,” Levy says. “We really want to convince the users—the farmers—that this is a practice that should be eliminated.”

We really want to convince the farmers that this is a practice that should be eliminated

Whether farmers choose to use it or not, there is a strong alternative on the horizon. Numerous recent studies—including several done by the USDA—have shown great promise in using essential oils as an alternative to antibiotics – as natural antibiotics  –  in livestock. One of their studies, published in October 2014 in the journal Poultry Science, found that chickens who consumed feed with added oregano oil had a 59 percent lower mortality rate due to ascites, a common infection in poultry, than untreated chickens.

Other research also supports essential oils as natural antibiotics

Other research, from a 2011 issue of BMC Proceedings, showed that adding a combination of plant extracts—from oregano, cinnamon, and chili peppers—actually changed the gene expression of treated chickens, resulting in weight gain as well as protection against an injected intestinal infection.

Researchers have also directly compared the effects of commonly used antibiotics with those of various essential oils which act as natural antibiotics. One such study, from the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Animal Science, found that rosemary and oregano oils resulted in the same amount of growth in chickens as the antibiotic avilamycin, and that the oils killed bacteria, too – in fact they act as perfect natural antibiotics. Additional findings have shown that essential oils help reduce salmonella in chickens, and another study found that a blend of several oils can limit the spread of salmonella among animals.

Natural Antibiotics is an exciting new research area for essential oils

One of the co-authors of that study, Dr. Charles Hofacre, a professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says essential oils as natural antibiotics is such a new area of research that they don’t yet know exactly how the essential oils work, but “there is some strong evidence that they are functioning by both an antibacterial action in the intestine and also some have an effect to stimulate the intestinal cells ability to recover from disease more quickly–either by local immunity or helping keep the intestinal cells themselves healthier.”

Lavender (Florin Gorgan/Flickr) as a natural antibiotic

Of course, there is also a dire need for alternatives to antibiotics for the direct treatment of infections in humans and animals, not only for illness prevention and growth-boosting in livestock. Research investigating the use of essential oils in humans has produced encouraging results, but such studies have been small and surprisingly rare, especially given the demonstrated success of their use in livestock.

An Italian study found that a combination of thyme and clove essential oils was just as effective in treating bacterial vaginosis as the usual antibiotic treatment, and results of a study by U.S. researchers show that staph-infected wounds healed faster when they were treated with vapors of tea-tree oil than with conventional methods.

Staph-infected wounds healed faster when they were treated with vapors of tea-tree oil than with conventional methods.

In the lab, scientists have been testing all kinds of combinations of essential oils and antibiotics, and they’re repeatedly finding that the oils—used on their own and in combination with some common antibiotics—can fight numerous pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus (which causes staph infection), and other common types of bacteria. Results consistently show that combining essential oils and antibiotics significantly lowers the amount of antibiotic required to do the job.

For example, two recent studies showed that lavender and cinnamon essential oils killed E. coli, and when combined with the antibiotic piperacillin, the oils reversed the resistance of the E. coli bacteria to the antibiotic.

We need more research into essential oils as natural antibiotics

Further investigation is clearly needed to advance this promising area of research, but that would require time and money. “Such investment is not likely to come from the mainstream pharmaceutical industry, which has not placed much emphasis on antibiotic development for a number of reasons, including the excessive cost in bringing a single drug to market without a commensurate return,” says Dr. Nicole M. Parrish.

Dr Parish is associate professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and associate director of medical mycobacteriology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and she co-authored a recent review on the potential use of essential oils as alternatives or supplements to antibiotics.

Essential oils as natural antibiotics are working on the nations’ farms

On the nations’  farms, some farmers are already putting essential oils as natural antibiotics into practice. “There are a number of companies that are currently selling plant extracts as feed additive, and large integrated producers are also adding feed additives to their rations to enhance the health of animals, especially their intestinal health, during their production cycle,” Gay says.

No one seems willing to readily offer that information, though—and they don’t have to. One farmer who has talked publicly about using essential oils is Scott Sechler, owner of Bell & Evans Farms, a high-end producer of antibiotic-free poultry. Back in 2012, he told the New York Times about his use of oregano oil and cinnamon to fight infection on his farms, which now number about 140 with a total of 9 million chickens at any given time.

Cinnamon (Dennis Brekke/Flickr)

It took Sechler nearly 10 years just to get the people he works with to believe in his method, including farmers, workers at the feed mills, and his own employees, of which there are now around 1,200. He has met his share of skepticism from colleagues, too.

For someone who notes that he lacks a formal education, Sechler is at the forefront of some cutting-edge methods in the field of natural antibiotics and animal husbandry (for one, he counts Temple Grandin, the famous animal-science expert, as a friend who helped him implement a humane slaughter system).

He has been on the natural antibiotic kick for about 30 years, and he describes his current method in terms of its effects on gut bacteria—another hot topic right now. “We started with a breed of chicken that wasn’t raised to be stressed and overfed and to live in sanitary conditions,” he says.

High quality grain used with essential oils

They also feed the chickens high-quality grains enhanced with essential oils, and they avoid the use of toxic chemicals like hexane, which is commonly used by other farmers in processing their feed. “With our chicken breed, housing environment, and feeding program, we’re able to promote healthy gut bacteria—we use oregano oil to kill the bad bacteria and cinnamon oil to support the good bacteria.”

Acknowledgement and Accreditation

The extract above is from the full article posted on theatlantic.com whom we acknowledge as the authors and copyright owners of the above material.

Lavender is the base for an essential oil that can actually invoke trust when it’s in the air! But quite apart from that surprising quality, lavender also acts as a bug repellent, as an anti-inflammatory agent, and as a soporific that assists with sleep problems. Lavender is also confirmed to act as a significant reliever of stress, to be effective against acne, to stimulate urine production, to mitigate the problems associated with respiratory illness, and ton help with circulation and digestion. lavender lemonade must surely be not only delicious but good for us!

It is hardly surprising that when used in a cool drink, lavender again shows some of its remarkable properties. This article extracted from collective-evolution.com (full credit below), explains the benefits and also how to make your very own Lavender Lemonade (or should that be Laverade?!). Enjoy, and do let me know if you try this.

How To Make Lavender Lemonade To Get Rid Of Headaches & Anxiety

Pure lavender oil is an incredible essential oil to use for your own health and wellness. It’s among the gentlest of essential oils, but also one of the most powerful, making it a favorite of households for the healing properties and uses of lavender essential oil. Lavender oil  has a chemically complex structure with over 150 active constituents, which explains its effectiveness at helping with a lot of health ailments. Lavender oil possesses amazing anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antidepressant, antiseptic, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, analgesic, detoxifier, hypotensive, and sedative properties.

Florida researchers have found that lavender oil benefits include reducing anxiety and lowering pulse rates in nursing students taking stressful tests. And in hospital settings, lavender aromatherapy has been demonstrated to decrease pre-surgery distress and to be more relaxing than massage or merely resting.(1)

Lavender essential oil has medicinal properties as well. It has been shown to reduce depression, improve insomnia and ease labor pains. And anecdotal evidence suggests that lavender oil benefits those with headaches, hangovers, sinus congestion and pain relief.
“Much prior research on lavender has focused on the administration of lavender via an olfactory route. The anxiolytic activity of lavender olfaction has been demonstrated in several small and medium-sized clinical trials.46-53 The efficacy of aromatherapy of lavender is thought to be due to the psychological effects of the fragrance combined with physiological effects of volatile oils in the limbic system.54 These calming effects of lavender oil and single constituents may be the origin of the traditional use of lavender. Lavender oil olfaction has been shown to decrease anxiety, as measured by the Hamilton rating scale,51 and can increase mood scores.

DIY Lavender Lemonade with Lavender Essential Oil

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw honey
• 12 cups pure water
• 1 drop lavender essential oil
• 6 lemons, peeled and juiced
• Lavender sprigs for garnish

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Add more water or raw honey if needed.

Other ways you can use Lavender Oil for Anxiety and Headaches

• Mix 5 to 6 drops of Lavender essential oil to your bath water if you have dry skin.
• Diffuse 10 to 12 drops of Lavender into the air during your workday for natural stress relief.
• Add 2 drops of Lavender per ounce of your favorite lightly scented, unrefined organic oil (like almond oil or olive oil) for a body oil with all the benefits of lavender for improving your skin, relaxing your mind, warding off insects or helping you sleep.

Accreditation

The article above has been extracted from Collective-Evolution.com whom we thank and acknowledge as the copyright owners.

Oh for the secret of eternal youth! Or even another ten years of being twenty-five! But alas, such things are not possible – and probably never will be because no matter how smart we think we are, nature will not be denied.

But that’s the good news – nature will have her way, and natural aids to keeping us health and young-looking do actually work. In this article (accreditation for information is at the bottom), the authors give us some very useful tips on essential oils for anti-aging. I love Essential Oils, and this article will give you at least one reason to love them too!

5 Essential Oils for anti-aging  – What are their  Properties?

Here you will find some of the best essential oils that are very popular for their anti-aging properties, and once you understand how these precious liquids work, you will want to ditch your expensive high-end anti-aging serums and make your own, from scratch!
Apart from preventing the free radicals from prematurely aging your skin, these essential oils also speed up the healing process.

Jojoba Oil – Your Next Best Friend!

Jojoba oil is present in most of the hydrating creams, body lotions and even shower gels. It is one of the top essential oils for anti-aging.

Jojoba oil is extremely hydrating, and what makes it so popular in the cosmetic industry is the fact that it does not leave any unpleasant oil traces or residue on the skin, unlike it happens with other oils that make your face look unnaturally shiny and oily.

The jojoba oil gets quickly absorbed into the skin, and the result is outstanding: your skin will become more radiant, and your pores will be minimized as well.

Pomegranate Seed Oil

Known for its intense, astringent effects, the pomegranate seed oil is very rich in Vitamin C and it also doubles as an antioxidant, just as Vitamin E.

What makes this seed oil a particularly important part of every homemade anti-aging serum or cream is the fact that it is extremely rich in bioflavonoids which,

In addition to nourishing your skin, also protect it against the damaging UV rays which can lead to sun burns, scars, brown spots and even increase the risk for skin cancer. This is another one of the top essential oils for anti-aging.

Frankincense

Although the extracts and oils mentioned above should never miss from a truly beneficial homemade skin care product, the following essential oils are the true “pillars” of these creams.

Frankincense is anything but new, as our ancestors have been using it for thousands of years in order to stimulate cell regeneration and to alleviate sun spots and age spots – it was identified as a top essential oil for anti-aging and healing many centuries ago.

If you started to notice small, brown spots on your skin as the direct result of prolonged sun exposure, then Frankincense will certainly come in handy for diminishing them and giving your skin a fresh new look. Some people claim that the first results were visible within a few days!

Lavender Oil

Lavender  is a great choice for a homemade anti-aging serum or cream, as it has antibacterial and healing properties.

Not only can the lavender essential oil improve cellular communication, but it can also help you manage burns and cuts, especially when used in conjunction with the Frankincense, the Vitamin E extract, the pomegranate seed oil as well as the jojoba oil described above. This is anther top essential oil for anti-aging.

After you have gathered all these ingredients, all you need is a clean, small plastic container or a glass/serum jar where you can mix and store them.

It is of utmost importance to store this homemade anti-aging serum away from direct sunlight or moisture, and to use the product each evening before you go to bed.

Five drops of this amazing serum is all you need to revitalize your skin and to reverse even the most visible signs of aging – simply apply them onto your skin and massage gently, until the serum is absorbed into your skin. You will wake up looking fresh and invigorated!

Acknowledgements

Thanks to NaturalSolutionToday for this the information in article.

We continue our series of Internet Gems with this article on the mental and emotional benefits of  Grapefruit Oil – a not so-well-known Essential Oil.

Grapefruit Oil Has A Great Influence Over The Mental State

A 2002 study published in the Journal of Japanese Pharmacology investigated the effects of grapefruit oil inhalation on sympathetic brain activity in normal adults and found that grapefruit oil (along with other essential oils like peppermint oil, estragon, fennel and rose essential oil) significantly affected brain activity and relaxation.

“The adults who inhaled the oils experienced a 1.5- to 2.5-fold increase in relative sympathetic activity that improved their mood and reduced stressful feelings. They also experienced a noticeable reduction in systolic blood pressure compared with inhalation of an odorless solvent.” – Dr. Axe

Benefits of Grapefruit Oil: Uses and  Precautions

Grapefruit essential oil (Citrus x paradisi), a lesser used but very potent and therapeutic oil, is created by cold-pressing the rind of the fruit to extract the oil. There’s a reason eating a grapefruit for breakfast was a long-time weight loss fad. The oils in this fruit are incredibly beneficial to the metabolism. The aroma of the oil is clean, fresh, a little bitter, and of course, citrusy. 

This oil has been reported to increase  energy levels with its uplifting scent, generating  more energy, and helping you increase your activity levels. It supports cleansing of the system from the inside-out. 

Primary Benefits

• Cleanses and purifies your body
• helps to clear up  oily skin
• Supports healthy metabolism
• Helps reduce mental and physical fatigue

Emotional Benefits of Grapefruit Oil

In addition to the physical support grapefruit offers, the emotional and spiritual support of this oil coincide beautifully. The aromatic effects include support of one’s own sense of self-love and approval, especially in regards to loving and honoring our bodies.

The most significant ambiguity we have found in our investigations for the claims of the benefits of grapefruit oil are that the studies all tend to use other oils in combination as well as the usual carrier oils. This make sit difficult to determine if the benefits (which seem real) are derived from grapefruit oil, the other oils or a combination. Added to this si the fact that essential oils affect the mind through the limbic system, and as we are all different emotionally, we tend to get different results fro different oils.

Acknowledgements

This article quotes from  Essential oils Weekly whom we thank and acknowledge.

Does the question seem strange – how to use aromatherapy at home? The smells of home … no matter what it may be, the smell of roast meat, the spices of a good curry or the smoke from a wood fire, some smells target the brain like laser guided arrows and evoke those sights and sounds that make us long to be there with our loved ones.

But what if we can do things the other way around, and build new memories around amazing new  odors using essential oils?  What we need o know first, is what sort of feelings certain oils invoke – and that’s where this article comes in.

This information on how to use aromatherapy at home, extracted  from mindbodygreen.com (full accreditation below) puts things the other way around and invites us to choose the odors with which we infuse our homes, making the memories even more powerful and evocative. 

Aromatherapy for the Home (mindbodygreen.com)

My memories of our childhood home was always strewn with fresh-cut flowers and plants, and our garden ripe with heady herbs and spices — until mom used them in the kitchen.

Those scents are integral to many of our fondest childhood experiences. The powerful connection between scent and memory means smelling those fragrances can take us back to that time and place.  Aromatherapy at home, beyond simply fostering this general sense of well-being and warmth, can also be effective in treating maladies from anxiety and depression to PTSD. 

Most people don’t know exactly what smells have what effects, and this can vary from person to person. Generally though, we just know we like them. To help you choose the best scents for aromatherapy at home, and show you how to use essential oils effectively,  here’s an aromatherapy primer on four of our favorites (and all the ways you can use them).

Lavender is wonderful for relaxation, and really easy to grow.

How to use it: Place essential oil on your bedside table and smell it when you’re getting ready for bed, or rub it on your temples.

Rosemary is a deliciously edible way to introduce a calming scent influence into your evening routine.

How to use it: Roast a chicken with a handful of rosemary sprigs played on top. The smell is mouthwatering, but also known for its tension-taming abilities.

Wild orange is my newest discovery. It helps with digestion and has purifying properties.

How to use it: Use wild orange oil in a diffuser to create a warm, inviting home environment. You can use it as an organic household disinfectant.

Citrus oils like grapefruit, lemon, and lime (plus peppermint!) are great for perking up non-morning people like me.

How to use them: These make delicious additions to a household as essential oils, or to the breakfast table.

Whatever our current points of stress, — work deadlines, school projects, relationship difficulties — creating an in-home oasis makes a huge difference. Combining fresh flowers, plants, and essential oils helps enormously in providing that calm, safe space to escape from it all.

 

Article Accreditation

Thanks to mindbodygreen.com for this excellent insight into using aromatherapy at home to create lasting memories.

Did you know that you can use lavender to gain trust? This is because Essential Oils act on the brain. We see a range of different effects from each oil, manifested in our behavior, mood, recall and much more. In essence I suppose, these oils act like drugs, albeit beneficial drugs! I came across an article on the effects of Lavender on Time Magazine (full accreditation below the article) and thought it might interest our readers. Apparently, if you want people to trust you – use Lavender!

You Can Use Lavender to Gain Trust Study Says

If you want to sneakily lull people – colleagues, staff, business partners, even strangers  into liking you, a new study published in the journal Frontiers suggests you may want to start infusing your meeting places with lavender.

Researchers in the Netherlands led by cognitive psychologist Lorenza Colzato knew that how we respond to others depends not not only on our relationships but also on environment, the authors write. One 1997 study, for instance, showed that prosocial behavior, like picking up a dropped item from the floor, went up significantly when pleasant fragrances were in the air—rather than when air just smelled like air.

The researchers wanted to further test the theory that smell influences behavior so they set up a trust game in a room misted with one of two aromas: lavender, which is considered soothing, and peppermint, which is associated with alertness and energy. The researchers put a few drops of essential oils, diffused by a candle, in the room before the 90 young adults in the study came in to play.

The trust game is a test behavioral researchers use to measure levels of trust. One person (the “trustor”) gets money, and they can keep it or give any amount of it to the other person. When they do, the profits are tripled, and the person who just got a cash infusion (the “trustee”) gets to decide whether to share it with the original trustor.

Without being told about any change in scent, when people smelled lavender, they gave significantly more money than when they had sniffed peppermint or nothing at all – showing conclusively that we can use lavender to gain trust.

“Lavender has this effect because of its calming property,” said study co-author Lorenza Colzato, cognitive psychologist and assistant professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, in an email.

Source Accreditation

This article is based on the original article on Time.com and appeared in January 2015.

Are there really rosemary essential oil benefits for your brain? Like all essential oils, Rosemary acts on the brain through the agency of the limbic system, which develops early in the human fetus. It is essentially a primitive, reptilian part of our makeup.

It is from the limbic system that our ‘fight or flight’ responses originate when we sense danger; it is part of our emotional response system and is triggered by a whole range of smells, sight and sounds.

In the case of smells, when we inhale an essential oil molecule, it travels through the nasal passage to a receptor neuron that transports it up to the limbic sections of the brain, which causes the generation of neurochemicals that relax and calm us. Because of this mechanism, aromatherapy can play a big part in stress reduction, balanced heart rate, hunger control and sexual desire. So what are the effects of Rosemary…? Is there such a phenomenon as rosemary essential oil benefits for your brain?

To start with, tt seems that Rosemary may have strong effects on our memory. Read on with this excellent article extracted from the British BBC (full credit below the article).

Rosemary Essential Oil Benefits – Traditional and Modern

In folk medicine, rosemary has been associated for centuries with having a good memory. But is it worth investigating whether it really has any powers, asks Dr Chris Van Tulleken.

In scientific terms there are different kinds of memory. There’s past memory – your experiences and what you learned at school. There’s present memory, which is your working minute-to-minute memory. And there’s future memory or “remembering to remember”.

This is for many of us the trickiest one. When it fails bad things happen – we forget to take our vital heart medicine or worse still to buy our spouse’s birthday presents. It’s the reason letters decompose in my back pocket over months even though I cycle past a postbox every day.

There are plenty of examples of people who have enormously improved their past memories, committing decks of cards to memory or whole new languages. But remembering to remember is more complicated. Like most people I would do almost anything for an improved future memory.

There are some drugs for treating the memory loss that happens with dementia but they are not hugely effective. They give some measurable benefits but whether they are “clinically significant” is controversial.

Certainly they are no miracle cure for people with dementia, nor do they improve the memory of anyone else. Rosemary has been linked to memory for hundreds of years. Ophelia in Hamlet says to her brother Laertes: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” But that’s no kind of basis for a study. She had after all gone insane after the death of her father and was to kill herself shortly after this scene. But that doesn’t mean that there ore no rosemary essential oil benefits:

An Experiment with Rosemary and Lavender

Here’s how the experiment worked. The team at Northumbria recruited 60 older volunteers to test the effects of not only rosemary oil but also lavender oil. They then tested these volunteers in a room infused with either rosemary essential oil, lavender essential oil or no aroma. Participants were told they were there to test a vitamin water drink. Any comments about the aromas were passed off as irrelevant and “left over from the previous group to use the room”.

The Memory Test

The volunteers (and I) then took a test which was designed to test their prospective memory. It’s a clever test with many layers so you never quite know what’s being tested.
At the start, objects are hidden around the room in places which you have to remember at the end of the test. Then you perform a series of distracting but fun word puzzles while increasingly complex demands are made of your memory by the testers (in my case two extraordinarily nice and competent graduate students, Kamila and Lauren). “In seven minutes’ time from now can you hand me this book?” or “when you come across a question about the Queen in the word puzzles can you remind me to call the garage”.

Some remarkable results

My marks were squarely average. I didn’t remember to remind Kamila to get her car from the garage in much the same way that I would have forgotten myself.
What Mark’s team found was remarkable. The volunteers in the room with the rosemary infusion did statistically significantly better than those in the control room but lavender caused a significant decrease in performance. Lavender is traditionally associated with sleep and sedation.

Was the lavender sending our volunteers to sleep and decreasing their performance? How could vaporized essential oils possibly have this effect? It turns out that there are compounds in rosemary oil that may be responsible for changes in memory performance – chemicals that explain rosemary essential oils benefits for the brain. One of them is called 1,8-cineole – as well as smelling wonderful (if you like that sort of thing) it may act in the same way as the drugs licensed to treat dementia, causing an increase in a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.

These compounds do this by preventing the breakdown of the neurotransmitter by an enzyme. And this is highly plausible – inhalation is one of the best ways of getting drugs into the brain. When you eat a drug it may be broken down in the liver which processes everything absorbed by the gut, but with inhalation small molecules can pass into the bloodstream and from there to the brain without being broken down by the liver.

As further confirmation Mark and his team analysed blood samples and found traces of the chemicals in rosemary oil in the blood.

The implications of this kind of research are huge, but they don’t mean you need to spend your days smelling of rosemary and your night sleeping on a pillow of lavender. The effects were measurable but modest and they give us a clue that further research into some of the chemicals in essential oils may yield therapeutics and contribute to our understanding of memory and brain function. So yes, there are Rosemary Essential oil Benefits for your brain – but of a limited nature.

Article Recognition and Accreditation

The article above was extracted from BBC site BBC News Magazine and was first published in July 2015.

Can essential Oils Stop Cancer?

Our struggle against cancer seems endless and often hopeless. But now and again, we come across stories of hope that point us in the direction of natural substances that seem to hold at least a part of the answer. For its own reasons, science has often turned away from these ‘old wives’ remedies’ and declaimed them as the products of superstition – which of course is often the case. In this article we examine the claim that essential oils stop cancer.

I searched for and found claims that essential oils stop cancer, but only in test-tubes; there was no proof at all that essential oils stop cancer in people. These stories are widespread on the web and I have quoted a few below. The bad news is that none of the stories can be traced to real people. The good news is that some oils, and frankincense in particular do kill cancer cells, but so far in a test-tube only.

Essential oils act via the limbic system

We know that essential oils act on the limbic system, which in turn acts on the brain, causing changes of mood and perception.
I have wondered often about the placebo effect (which is very real) and whether a change in our mindset might trigger the healing effects often seen with this effect. That might explain some of the effects we see in the article below. 

Claims that Essential Oils Stop Cancer in its Tracks

Some scientists now claim to recognize the natural anti-cancer agents that exist within some essential oils which stop cancer spreading and which induce cancerous cells to close themselves down i.e. that essential oils stop cancer, – a long-term goal of cancer research. But do the claims stand up to scrutiny?

Studying some of the most popular essential oils in current use, such as mint, ginger, lemon, grapefruit, jasmine, lavender, chamomile, thyme, rose, and cinnamon, researchers sought out to discover how these oils may combat cancer. They did so by testing antibacterial potency as well as in-vitro toxicology against human cancer cell lines.

An absurd claim – essential oils Must Be Therapeutic Grade
The claim is made that to be effective only 100% pure therapeutic grade quality essential oils must be used. And that’s fine, but to use the claim that they must be ‘therapeutic grade’ is nonsense, as there is no such thing. ‘Therapeutic grade’ is nothing more than a marketing scam.  

Another dubious claim is that somehow, essential oils have beneficial ‘frequencies’. This is more pseudo-science and nonsense.

In one such spurious claim, Robert O. Becker, M.D., the author of the book, The Body Electric claims that the human body has an electrical frequency and that much about a person’s health can be determined by it –  and that’s more nonsense. Some of these people go as far as to quote Nikola Tesla who  said that if you could eliminate certain outside frequencies that interfered in our bodies, we would have greater resistance toward disease.

I assure you that unless you put your head in a microwave oven or grab a high power transmitter antenna, this simply is not true. Doing those things will respectively either cook or burn you.  the electromagnetic fields around us day to day simply are not strong enough to do us any damage.

Unfortunately there are more of these spurious claims made when discussing whether essential oils stop cancer than almost anywhere else! 

Claims  that essential oils stop cancer
It is claimed in the reference article (see bottom of page) that breast cancer cells are mostly destroyed by cinnamon, thyme, chamomile and jasmine oils, with chamomile killing up to 93% of them in vitro. Even more effective was thyme oil, which led to a 97% kill rate of the MCF-7 breast cancer cells. However, these tests are done IN A TEST TUBE not in a living organism – i.e. essential oils stop cancer in a test tube or petri-dish.

Another study published in the journal Industrial Crops and Products found that chamomile oil harnesses powerful antioxidant properties. The research, evaluating 11 essential oils including lavender, thyme, winter savory, rosemary, sage, peppermint, French tarragon, bitter, and sweet fennel, found Roman chamomile to have the highest antioxidant activity.

Sorry to debunk this, but a few years ago, antioxidants were one of the great ‘hopes’ in the fight against cancer, but more recent research indicates this to have been a blind alley.  Now let’s look at some specific claims for specific essential oils as ‘cancer killers’.

Frankincense Oil – A Cancer Killer?
A claim is that “Frankincense separates the ‘brain’ of the cancerous cell – the nucleus – from the ‘body’ – the cytoplasm, and closes down the nucleus to stop it reproducing corrupted DNA codes,” says researcher Suhail.  This is a claim from an accredited scientist, and there is indeed some support for this viewpoint. Frankincense does seem to differentiate between healthy and cancerous cells. 

It seems true that frankincense oil is effective because it contains monoterpenes, compounds which have the ability to help eradicate cancerous cells at the onset of their development, as well as their progression stages, making it ideal for those who discover their cancer regardless of when it’s found. Again though no results from tests on humans are available.

A Claim for Terminal liver cancer and frankincense
The claim is that a woman in Long Beach, said her husband was told to put his affairs in order. His liver cancer had progressed so much so that the tumors were far too large for surgical removal. He was given six months to live. She was introduced to the power of 100% pure frankincense oil shortly following the diagnosis. He applied it topically over his liver and under his tongue daily. On their next visit with his physician, they discovered his tumors were miraculously shrinking. They continued using frankincense. In April, his tumors had shrunk so much so that his physician agreed to surgery. The cancer was removed, taking 3/4 of his liver. Today, he is in good health and enjoying life with his beautiful wife and family.

I can find no credible evidence of this claim anywhere on the web from a solid medical or scientific site. However, I did find this from the BBC:

“But immunologist Mahmoud Suhail is hoping to open a new chapter in the history of frankincense.

Scientists have observed that there is some agent within frankincense which stops cancer spreading, and which induces cancerous cells to close themselves down. He is trying to find out what this is.“

Bladder Cancer
The claim is that when Jackie Hogan was diagnosed with a rare bladder cancer, she was informed by doctors that she’d eventually need to have her bladder removed. She discovered the healing abilities of frankincense oil, which University of Oklahoma researchers have found, especially in conjunction with sandalwood oil, has properties that kill off cancer cells. So effective is the frankincense oil that experts say, “Frankincense essential oil may represent a candidate on a growing list of natural compounds selectively eradicating cancer cells.”

Again, I can find no medically based evidence of the existence of ‘Jackie Hogan’. However, the claims for frankincense destroying cancer cells in a test-tube are still valid and good science.

Lung Stage 4 – metastasis to bones, spine, ribs, hips, pelvis
Bebe’s mom had malignant tumors in her lungs, and it spread to her spine, her bones, her ribs, her shoulders, her hips and her pelvis. After starting do the essential oils, four months later, she was thriving and her diseases cells were rapidly dying. She was back home and gardening and planning on going on vacation. Seven months after being told by the doctors that she was would die from her stage 4, the doctors say that she in good health and no more cancer. Bebe recommends: Frankincense : take liberally every 2-3 hours, both topically over affected areas and the bottom of the feet. If you can put numerous drops under the tongue, even better.

Once again – there is no medical evidence I can access on this – it is just a  claim floating on the internet with no medical proof. 

Breast Cancer
Another claim in the reference article – I used frankincense to shrink a breast tumor. When I went for surgery, they couldn’t find any trace of cancer! I had a breast tumors in Feb. and just had it removed and am doing the oils. I put frankincense and lemongrass on my breast every day and herbal supplements. I had my 6 month check up last month and he said everything looked great. No more cancer! For me I will never do chemo or radiation the side effects are way to bad. He was very surprised I looked so good cause I didn’t have the treatments.

Once again – there is no medical evidence I can access on this – it is just a  claim floating on the internet with no medical proof. 

Leukemia
Yet another claim – my brother’s son, who had a second reoccurrence of leukemia…was taking essential oils as well as the chemo & went into remission much quicker than the doctor had advised, and didn’t have any of the nasty side-effects.

Once again – there is no medical evidence I can access on this – it is just a  claim floating on the internet with no medical proof. 

Throat
My mom’s dear friend has been battling throat degeneration that was spreading to other areas of his body. Last October, he started using the oils! Frankincense and natural remedies. Today he went from an MRI and he was given a true miracle.

Guess what – Once again – there is no medical evidence I can access on this – it is just a  claim floating on the internet with no medical proof. 

Melanoma
Another common claim on the web: “I applied frankincense morning and night and covered with a band aid. In 3 days the mole had shrunk. Day 5 it bled a little and half fell off. Day 7, gone! I had a little bit of pink skin and I worried it was a scar. A few days later, totally gone! My husband had a stage 4 malignant melanoma removed last year from his back…another melanoma came up on his nose…before we started using essential oils we did radiation on that one. It has since grown back…and we have since become educated using essential oils. He started using lavender frankincense, and Immortelle on the melanoma and it is SHRINKING!”

There is no proof for this claim anywhere on any credible website.

Conclusion

There is proof that some essential oils stop cancer, and especially frankincense, which  can discern cancerous cells from healthy cells and destroy them. However, all the results so far are in test-tubes and mot on human beings. All of the claims made in the article above are widespread on the net and there is not a shred of evidence for them. This is sad; cancer is too serious a matter and people should not be fed false hope. 

Article Credit

The reference article used above is from  healthy-holistic-living.com 

How essential oils work is a simple question with a complicated answer! These natural oils work on both mind and body by mechanisms that are still not fully understood.  let’s begin by looking at how their essence enters our bodies:Essential oils enter the body in three ways. They can be:

• Applied directly to your skin
• Inhaled as vapor
• Ingested

How essential oils work: Skin Application

Essential oils can generally be safely applied to your skin. For instance, black pepper oil can be applied to reduce arthritis pain and improve flexibility, whereas German Chamomile can be applied to assist with controlling eczema. Once the oils have entered the skin, they can begin to do their work from the inside.

This method of application (topical application)  works because our skin is selectively permeable  it keeps water and germs out, but  active chemicals in essential oils are absorbed –  just like the ingredients in nicotine patches.

Several factors affect the extent of absorption of essential oils through the skin. You can help things along by massaging the area before applying the oils, which will increase circulation to that area, thereby causing an increase in absorption of essential oils.

Some research has shown that  essential oils are more easily absorbed in the areas of the  genitals, head, soles, palms, and armpits –all of which have a high concentration  of sweat glands. Be careful with application to the genitals though!

How essential oils work: inhalation – is it safe?

Common examples of essential oils we can inhale are include eucalyptus and peppermint essential oil to reduce fatigue or nausea. These are often inhaled from a diffuser

When we inhale droplets of these oils through our noses, the molecules interact with our smell (olfactory) mechanisms organs which communicate with the brain within a few tiny fractions of a second.

These molecules, inhaled through the nose or mouth are carried to the lungs and interact with the respiratory system. So it is obvious that inhaled essential oils have the potential to  affect our  bodies through a diversity of entry mechanisms and paths. This is a key mechanism in how essential oils work

How essential oils work – Affecting Our Emotions

During inhalation, essential oil  molecules travel through the nose and affect the brain through a variety of receptor sites, one of which is the limbic system.

The limbic system, by interacting with the brain,  affects the way we control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone.

This is why smells often trigger emotions, memories and sometimes very strong physical responses. This is another key mechanism in how essential oils work.

Should We Swallow Essential Oils?

Another  way that essential oils enter the body is by ingestion (swallowing). This is NOT recommended without medical guidance.

There are several reasons for caution, including the following:

• Some essential oils can be toxic to the liver or kidneys when ingested.
• Chemical breakdown of essential oils during gastric processing can change the effects.
• There could be potential drug interactions.

We are not aware of any benefits arising from the ingestion of essential oils.

This is a very brief introduction to how essential oils enter the body and work their magic! There are more detailed  articles below.