Essential oils are all the rage today. You’ve heard your friends talk about it. They invite you to their Facebook groups to talk about the wonders of these oils. Suddenly, everyone is into these oils. They can make skin blemishes disappear. They can make your hair more lustrous. They can boost your immune system. They can fight the common cold. They take away muscle pain and soothe tired muscles. These oils are the superpower of millennial moms.
Is there any way these essential oils are better than traditional medicine? Should you learn more about these as you try to take a naturopathic nutrition diploma course? No evidence suggests that. It’s best to get that information out there right now. Essential oils are great as a companion to conventional methods of healing. There’s no way they should replace your paracetamols, antibiotics, and, most importantly, your vaccines.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies essential oils as food supplements and not as drugs. These oils are extracted from plants. They have a distinct odor, and each has its own function. The most popular oils are lavender, lemon, eucalyptus, tea tree, and peppermint. There are hundreds of different varieties of these oils. All of them promise a variety of anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and cleansing properties.
Aromatherapy
Where these oils are used best is in aromatherapy. This is described as the science and practice of using essential oils to benefit the health and wellness of your body and mind. Many use these oils in spas, holistic treatment facilities, and even in a hospital setting. There is no evidence yet on how the aromas of these oils affect the mind. Theories suggest that aromas create electrical impulses. These are transmitted to the areas of the brain associated with moods, emotions, and focus.
The effect of aromatherapy has no one-time effect. To get the full benefit of aromatherapy, it should be done regularly—at least twice a day for many people. It is not recommended as a treatment for any disease such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Many believers will suggest that these can cure such diseases. There is no truth to these claims.
But essential oils can be used to boost mental health. They have shown applaudable benefits in preventing insomnia, depression, and anxiety. These are the same mental health problems that people face when they discover that they could be suffering from heart problems and other diseases. Improving one’s mental health is critical in fighting diseases that ail the body.
Herbal Remedies
Calls to use essential oils as actual medicine are nothing new. Do you still remember when your grandparents thrust plant roots under your nose because they could purportedly relieve you of your asthma attacks? These essential oils are your grandparents’ herbal medicine. Non-believers of conventional medical approaches will want to believe that the plants they have in their gardens are all they need to fight diseases.
While there is nothing wrong with buying into the trend of essential oils, you should never use these as primary medicine. These oils are only great as complementary to your medications. Until there is evidence that these oils can cure illnesses and replace common medications, you should not rely on them.