Do essential oils really have healing properties?
But although many essential oils have pleasant smells and some of their active ingredients are purported to have health benefits, there is limited scientific evidence that they actually improve people’s health or mood. And even small vials of these concentrated oils can be pricey.
The Science of Essential Oils: Does Using Scents Make Sense?
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ore and more Americans may have heard some buzz about essential oils, and may be experimenting with them in hopes of improving their moods or feeling better. These fragrant oils, such as lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, orange and tea tree, are extracted from a plant’s leaves, flowers, roots, barks, seeds or peels.
People may turn to essential oils as part of aromatherapy, an alternative-medicine approach in which these highly concentrated, aromatic plant oils are used in small amounts in hopes of improving someone’s physical or emotional health. The oils are sold online and in natural food stores.
But although many essential oils have pleasant smells and some of their active ingredients are purported to have health benefits, there is limited scientific evidence that they actually improve people’s health or mood. And even small vials of these concentrated oils can be pricey.
Essential oils are mixtures, sometimes containing almost 300 substances, said Gerhard Buchbauer, a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Vienna in Austria, who has researched and written about the chemical compounds used in aromatherapy. The oils contain both simple and complex chemicals, he said.
Pure essential oils are free of aromatic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which may be linked with cancer, but they do contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — otherwise, they could not be smelled, Buchbauer said.
Using the active compounds in essential oils in low concentrations and inhaling the vapors of these oils are normally safe for most people, Buchbauer said. Safety testing of essential oils have shown they have few negative side effects, when used as directed. [5 Wacky Things That Are Good for Your Health]
However, research suggests that because some of the oils mimic the female hormone estrogen, they may have unwanted effects on males. Lavender oil and tea tree oil may cause enlarged breast tissue in prepubertal boys, according to a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
How essential oils are used
Aromatherapists recommend the oils be directly inhaled from a bottle, cloth or palm of the hand, or massaged into the skin after being diluted in a carrier oil, such as olive oil or almond oil.
When inhaled, “the absorption of essential oils by the nose is as fast as an intravenous injection,” Buchbauer said.Essential oils are sometimes called volatile oils, meaning they evaporate quickly when exposed to the air, which releases their scents.
In comparison, the absorption of essential oils through the skin is slower, because some of their chemical compounds need to pass through the fat layers under the skin and may even get stored there, Buchbauer said.
He stressed that because of their potency, it’s important to use only a few drops of a diluted form of essential oils when applying them to the skin. Unless they are diluted, essential oils can irritate the skin.
Some consumers add essential oils to their baths, or use them as home remedies, such as inhaling eucalyptus vapors to relieve congestion.Others may place the oils in a diffuser to scent the air — peppermint is promoted for stimulating alertness, and lavender is often listed as a way to promote calmness, although there are no rigorous studies to support such claims.
Do-it-yourselfers may add drops of essential oils when making natural beauty products to give them fragrance, or use them in green cleaning products because of their disinfectant or cleansing properties. … READ FULL ARTICLE
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