Essential oils are some of the oldest and most powerful therapeutic agents known. They have thousands of years of documented use in healing and anointing throughout the ancient world. Essential oils such as frankincense, myrrh, and sandalwood are mentioned in many religious texts and Egyptian hieroglyphs. Other oils like clove and lemon were used as antiseptics hundreds of years before the discovery of chemical germ killers. The modern day definition generally means the smallest, most volatile parts of the aromatic plant which is thought to be the by-product of plant metabolism that aids in its immune system. Essential oils are some of the most concentrated natural extracts known. They have significant antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-parasitic, anti-tumoral, hormonal, and psychological effects. They have the ability to penetrate cell membranes, travel throughout the blood and tissues, enhance electrical frequencies in the body, and improve brain function. Some essential oils are also used in cooking. These include cinnamon, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and the citrus oils to name a few.
Well-Being Associates uses and recommends Gritman Essential Oils because of their purity, high quality, and informative labeling.
How do essential oils work?
Essential oils enter the body in several different ways. They can be absorbed through the skin passing into the circulatory system, be inhaled, passing into the blood stream through the lungs or by causing signals to be transmitted through the olfactory system directly into the limbic system of the brain. Smelling or diffusing the oils into the air (aromatherapy) is a common way to experience the oils. Working the oils into the body during a massage is also a very popular method of using essential oils. However, a fixed oil such as sweet almond, grapeseed, or avocado is needed to “carry” the essential oils for massaging.
What are therapeutic grade essential oils?
The essential oil market is not regulated by a government agency. The quality varies tremendously from company to company. The industry has begun to self-regulate itself with pressure from consumers. Gritman Essential Oils was one of the first companies to classify their oils using the Gritman Classification Code or GCC.
What methods are used to get essential oils out of the plant?
Distillation - The most common method for extracting essential oils is by steam distillation. Only the volatile and water insoluble parts of a plant are derived. Most essential oils are extracted using this method.
Expression - A method for extracting essential oils by pressure. Citrus oils are extracted using this method.
Solvent extraction - This method is used when the oils could be damaged or destroyed using expression or distillation. Jasmine is an example. A solvent (such as hexane or heptane) is used to pull or dissolve the plant. The solvent is then extracted for the creation of oils known as absolutes, concretes, and resinoids.
What should I know about purchasing essential oils?
If you go into a store and all the oils are priced at $4.95, most likely they are fragrances and/or adulterated synthetic oils and not pure essential oils. To ensure you are getting high quality oil it is important that the bottle clearly states the botanical name (genus species). For example Spearmint would also have the botanical name Mentha spicata Lamiaceae. Common names can be misleading. Several different plants can have the same common name. The country of origin is also important. The same variety of plant grown in a different country can smell differently. Take for example, Lemongrass from South America and Lemongrass from India. The Indian Lemongrass has a milder smell and is not as irritating to the skin as the Lemongrass from South America. The Gritman Essential Oil label gives you all this, plus, the Gritman Classification Code (GGC), which explains how it was processed and what grade or quality it is, along with the common name, scientific name, and country of origin. Most of all, it is important that you trust the company from which you purchase oils.
What do adulterated essential oils mean?
Adulterating is done by adjusting or altering the oil in some way. It is a legitimate practice in perfumery and food processing to stretch or standardize the smell or taste of an oil. There are five different ways this is done. Stretching by adding alcohol, adding terpenes from another oil, adding a cheaper oil to an expensive oil (such as adding Lemongrass to Citronella), adding a colorless and odorless synthetic product, or by substituting a cheaper oil for a more expensive one (such as Lavandin being sold as Lavender).
How can you ensure that your oils are not adulterated?
Gas-Liquid chromatography, GC, and Mass spectrometry have become popular ways to test oils for purity. They will basically tell you if there are any synthetic components in the oils. Oils also can vary from growing season to another, so profiles for an essential oil can vary from season to season. Other ways to tell adulterated oil is with your nose. As you become experienced with different oils, you will become able to tell if Lemongrass or a synthetic component was added to Citronella for example. Also essential oils, such as citrus oils, are volatile and evaporate quickly. If you notice the oil is leaving a residue behind it is likely been adulterated with a carrier or fixed oil.
What is the difference between organic and non-organic?
It has become very popular in aromatherapy to use only organic oils. Organic may not necessarily mean better when it comes to essential oils. When non-organic oils are steam distilled, offensive or harmful pesticides are left behind. The pesticide reside is too big to pass through the distillation process. The only way pesticides could get through is if plants were sprayed at harvest time which is unlikely. Organic plants do not have the oil yield of more conventionally grown essential oil plants therefore; organic oils tend to cost more. However, we do recommend using organic citrus essential oils which are not distilled, but expressed, and will not have pesticide residue in the oils.
What is the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils?
Fragrances are used frequently in synthetic products and often cause allergic reactions. However, essential oils are natural products from plant material and even highly sensitive people seem to be able to handle them more easily.
How do you tell if an oil is natural or synthetic?
If it comes in a clear bottle, is inexpensive, with a powerful scent, and has a fruit name (apple, banana, cherry, coconut, grape, watermelon) or a floral name (lily of the valley, hyacinth, sweet pea, wisteria, honeysuckle) then it is safe to say they are fragrances. Such names would indicate a synthetic fragrance manufactured in a lab. True essential oils are always in a dark bottle with varying prices. For example a 10 ml bottle of true steam distilled rose essential oil is over $100, while the same amount of peppermint is about $5. Essential oils come in a variety of scents and can be very pleasant, medicinal smelling, or have a somewhat unpleasant odor depending on the plant source.
What should I know about storing and caring for essential oils?
Always store essential oils out of reach and sight of children and pets. Essential oils are highly concentrated and could make them sick if they ingested an entire bottle. Essential oils are best stored in dark, airtight glass bottles, and away from light, heat, and moisture. The oils may be refrigerated if desired. Some oils have indefinite shelf life, like Patchouli, as opposed to Orange which usually has a shelf life of up to 2 years.
