Pure Essential Oils - Pure Aromatherapy

HAVE you ever wondered just how essential oils work – if, in fact, they do work on any level other than “smelling good”? The therapeutic value of any essential oil is directly related to number of factors from the manner in which the plants are grown all the way up to the handling of the finished product.

The highest quality plants are grown organically on land which has never been sprayed with pesticides and on which chemical fertilizers have not been used. The land is far away from factories and major highways where pollution can damage the delicate healing properties locked deep within each tender young leaf, flower, stem and root. Even the water used for irrigation is extremely important as chemicals – and often drugs – which are in municipal water supplies affect the plants adversely, it is quite important that care be taken not to reduce their healing capabilities. It would be far better for them to be watered with pure mountain-stream water far from the toxins of the cities.

Once the plants have been nurtured and allowed to mature naturally, it is important that care be taken in the harvesting and extraction, which is most commonly accomplished through steam distillation. As soon as the plant is cut, it begins to lose potency. It is essential that the distillery be located close to the farm in order for the time between the actual harvesting and the distillation to be minimised.

Next comes the process of unlocking the natural healing compounds held within the carefully-grown plants – the precious drops of essential oil. This golden liquid has often been called the “life force” or “blood” of the plant. Much like the blood of the human body, essential oils deliver oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the plant. In addition they have the capability of fighting bacteria, viruses, and other destructive things that could injure the plant. When the leaf or stem of a plant is cut or torn, it is the essential oil that rushes to the site of the “wound” to repair the damage just as human blood responds to cuts or injuries. Amazingly, even the major chemical components are the same as those of human blood – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. This is why the pure oils are so compatible with the human body.

The proper extraction or distillation of the essential oils from the plants is time-consuming and precise process if all of the delicate chemical constituents are to be retained in the finished product. For instance, cypress twigs require 24 hours of distillation at 130 degrees centigrade and only five pounds of pressure in order to produce a quality essential oil. If the time is reduced by just two hours, the resulting oil will be missing 18 of the constituents that should be present in the therapeutic-grade cypress!

You may be wondering, “What would happen if the temperature and/or pressure were increased? Couldn’t the oils be produced more rapidly” The oils would still smells the same, but the therapeutic value would dramatically reduced. Unfortunately, this is one of the ways that inferior oils are produced as the shorter distillation time lowers the cost involved – and it is impossible to detect this adjustment by the aroma. Often, the same plants are even distilled several times, and then synthetic fragrance is added!

Can synthetic oils be effective as natural ones which are carefully grown and properly distilled at low temperature and pressure for the full length of time The answer is quite simple when one understands how the oils work. Whereas pharmaceutical drugs are designed to treat symptoms, pure and natural essential oils work to achieve balance within the body. This is known as “homeostasis”. Our bodies desire to be in balance, but we often do many things to disrupt that natural balance. For instance, we eat chemically altered food, breathe polluted air and slather products filled with harmful chemicals on our bodies. When we introduce a pure, therapeutic-grade essential oil such as lavender which has hundreds of chemical constituents, which does not offer the body a significant healing opportunity.

As humans, we often have a tendency to believe “if a little is good, then more must be better.” This has led to chemists to isolate some of the major constituents of various oils which have particular properties. Then, after testing the constituents of the natural substances, synthetic ones are produced. Within Nature total balance exists, but imbalances often can occur when individual constituents are isolated. This is evident in the essential oil of wintergreen (botanical name Gaultheria procumberns) has exceptional pain-relieving qualities and is quite gentle to the human body in its natural form. Through laboratory testing, it was discovered that the primary source of pain relief comes from methyl salicylate. This constituent was then isolated and produced synthetically – as substance which we know as aspirin. Aspirin does retain wonderful pain-relieving qualities, but it can be toxic if taken in large amounts. This is what causes many challenges when synthetic ingredients are added to essential oils. Often methyl salicylate is added to inferior quality essential oil of wintergreen to boost the pain-relieving properties. This disrupts the balance of the essential oil, often causing it to become toxic to humans.

You may wondering now, “ even if all this is true, how can I access these healing properties?” The molecules of essential oils are very small – so small, in fact, that they are able to penetrate the skin quite easily. Almost all essential oils are absorbed into the skin within two minutes – and many absorb within seconds! They are then ready to begin their task of oxygenating the cells of the body and returning it to a state of homeostasis through offering the many chemical constituents which can potentially assist in achieving this balance. In addition, the oils are volatile, which means that they naturally diffuse into the air that we breathe.

As the tiny molecules are inhaled, they stimulate the limbic system. This is the part of the body related to emotions. When one inhales the aroma, it is actually the tiny molecules of the essential oils entering the body, and one is able to positively affect emotional balance as well as balance upon the physical level.

Years ago scientists discovered that every living thing has a frequency which can be measured. The unit of measurement is called megahertz (mHz). Studies at many universities in Europe and the USA found the following range of frequencies for certain foods and even for the human body both in a healthy state and when illness or disease is present. It was established that the frequency of a healthy human is 62-68 mHz.

Human Brain	72-90 mHz
Healthy Human Body	62-68 mHz
Cold Symptoms	58 mHz
Flu Symptoms	57 mHz
Candida	55 mHz
Epstein Barr	52 mHz
Cancer	42 mHz
Death Begins	25 Mhz

The following range of frequencies was also established:

Processed Canned Food	0 mHz
Fresh Produce	0-15 mHz
Dry Herbs	12-22 mHz
Fresh Herbs	20-27 mHz
Essential Oils	52-320 mHz

What does all this have to do with how essential oils can positively affect your health and your life? It is a principle of physics that when two objects which have different frequencies are placed in close proximity to one another, the one with the lower frequency will shift upward. Further studies have indicated that pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils have the ability to raise the frequency of the human body. Thus, the introduction of these tiny droplets either through inhalation or absorption through the skin can even raise the frequency of the body above that of illness or disease! This is an amazing property for assisting everyone in achieving optimum health.

These tiny gifts from Nature are truly some of the most powerful healing substance known today!

Can you tell if an essential oil is “therapeutic-grade” or even “pure” by the smell? Sometimes, it is possible, but certainly not always. Occasionally, you may be able to detect certain solvents which are commonly used in extracting inferior oils and/or to boost the volume inexpensively. However, more often than not, it is not possible to detect the quality of the oil by the aroma. As the public is more educated, more sophisticated methods of camouflaging the quality are employed, but there are certain guidelines that will assist you in your selection. Oils which have the AFNOR standard on the label have passed the strictest tests. This is the Association of French Normalisation Organisation Regulation. You can feel confident about the purity and the therapeutic value of any oil which has earned this designation.

Are there other pure, therapeutic-grade oils available? Absolutely, but it could be difficult to determine the quality without the use of gas chromatography – the intricate laboratory analysis. However, you may choose to ask the supplier the following questions which can assist you in deciding whether the oil is of a suitable quality for your needs.

THE TEN ESSENTIAL STEPS

HOW TO BE SURE YOUR ESSENTIAL OILS ARE THERAPEUTIC GRADE

• Are the fragrances subtle, rich, organic, and delicate?
• Do the fragrances of your oils vary from batch to batch – an indication that they are pure and painstakingly distilled in small batches rather than industrially processed on a large scale?  
• Does your supplier send each batch of essential oils it receives through up to five different chemical analyses before it is released?
• Are these tests performed by independent laboratories?
• Does your supplier grow and distill its own organically grown herbs?
• Are the distillation facilities part of the farm where the herbs are grown so they are freshly distilled to maintain their potency?
• Does your supplier use low pressure and low temperature to distill the essential oils, preserving all of their delicate chemical constituents?
• Are the distillation cookers fabricated from costly stainless steel alloys to reduce the likelihood of the oils chemically reacting with the metal?
• Does your supplier have representatives travelling worldwide, to personally inspect the fields and distilleries where the herbs are grown and distilled?
• Do they scrutinize the facilities to check if that no synthetic chemicals are being used in any of these processes?

If your answer to ALL of these questions is “yes”, you can feel confident that your oils are therapeutic grade – the highest standard available.

Are you now thinking, “Can I afford to use pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils?” Perhaps a better question might be, “Can I afford NOT to use pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils?”  

ESSENTIAL TIP

When travelling, apply 1 drop of pure, therapeutic-grade essential oil of CEDARWOOD to the rims of your ears and the base of your skull, and then cup your hands over your nose, inhaling the aroma deeply. This will rapidly oxygenate the cells of your brain, allowing you to arrive fresh and alert.

(Written by Frances Fuller in SpaAsia)