Introduction to Essential Oils
Essential oils are the natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, and flowers of plants. They are beautifully and powerfully fragrant. If you have ever enjoyed the gift of a rose or the smell of fresh cut rosemary, you have experienced the aromatic qualities of essential oils. Hence the term, "aromatherapy." They lift the mood, calm the senses, and elicit powerful responses.
At a deeper level, essential oils are non-water based phytochemicals made up of volatile organic compounds. Although they are fat soluable, they do not contain fatty lipids or acids found in vegetable and animal oils. Essential oils are very clean, almost crisp to the touch, and are immediately absorbed into the skin. Pure, unadulterated essential oils are translucent and range in color from crystal clear to deep blue.
Essential oils are used throughout the world for medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Their unique chemical structure allows them to pass directly through the skin for immediate systemic response. Our elimination organs (the liver, bowels, lymph glands, kidneys, and skin) need to function properly and at full capacity to fight disease. Essential oils help facilitate their defensive wellness.
And although essential oils quickly relieve symptoms, the true strength of essential oils is found in using them "every day in every way" to fight pathogens.
Health Benefits
"You do not need to have worked with essential oils on a daily basis over many years to come to the realization that nature has provided mankind with a tremendously powerful and diverse materia medica. Some of the healing that has taken place under their influence would be called miraculous if we didn't have the scientific basis for explaining how the oils work. But giving a scientific explanation for a remarkable phenomenon does not make it any less miraculous.
"There are about three hundred essential oils in general use today by professional practitioners, but the average household could fulfill all its likely needs with about ten ... One of the most satisfactory aspects of using essential oils medicinally and cosmetically is that they enter and leave the body with great efficiency, leaving no toxins behind.
"The aromatic chemicals found in essential oils are derived from phenylpropane, and these are the precursors of amino acids which link to make the proteins which provide the building blocks for just about everything in the human body from the smallest enzyme to the skeleton. Another large group of chemicals found in essential oils are the terpineols which are formed from acetyl-coenzyme A, which in the human organism plays a crucial role in the production of hormones, vitamins, and energy ...
"The positive effect of essential oils on blood circulation is [also] well known. Through this they play an important part in bringing oxygen and nutrients to the tissues while assisting in the efficient dispoals of carbon dioxide and the other waste products that are produced by cell metabolism. The general increase in blood flow improves the efficiency of the immune system and decreases blood viscosity." ... and much, much more.
Valerie Ann Worwood, The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, First New World Library 1991, p.5-7.