Aromatherapy

What Is Aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is the art and science of using Essential oils to aid health and healing. Treatment involves applying essential oils to the body, or inhaling them.

What Are Essential Oils?

"Essential oils are the regenerating and oxygenating immune defense properties of plants. Their oxygenating molecules effectively transport nutrients and a myriad of other powerful chemical constituents to the cells, bringing life to the plants, destroying infections, staving off infestation, aiding in growth, and stimulating healing. They are to plants what blood is to the human body, and much, much more."

Dr. Gary Young, 1995

"Dr. Taylor of the University of Austin Texas has observed that essential oils present more new compounds than the chemists of the whole world could analyze in a thousand years. We now know that they are mixtures of many powerful and therapeutic chemical constituents."

Valnet, 1980

There are 30,000 known aromatic molecules that make up various essential oils. Scientists admit they have only scratched the surface in identifying and cataloguing them. A single oil can contain up to 800 different chemical constituents. This is one reason why the vast number of therapeutic actions of even a single essential oil are not yet fully understood.

The three primary elements of all essential oils are hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. However, essential oils contain a tremendous number of other powerful chemical groups, including alcohols, phenols, esters, ethers, oxides, coumarins, sesquiterpene, terppinols, ketones and aldehydes. These chemical constituents and the sub-compounds they are made up of are what give the essential oils many of their most amazing healing properties.

"Essential oils include muscle relaxants digestive tonics, circulatory stimulants and hormone precursors. Many repair injured cells; others carry away metabolic waste. In addition, a number of essential oils enhance immunity, working with the body to heal itself. They're capable of stimulating the production of phagocytes (white blood cells that attack invaders). And some are antitoxic. Many essential oils have been proven effective against fungi and yeast, parasites and viruses. Others fight infection with amazing effectiveness, killing bacteria by disrupting their life cycle. And unlike conventional antibiotic drugs, essential oils are "probiotic": they kill pathogenic bacteria, but tend to leave beneficial bacteria intact. Finally, bacteria typically do not acquire resistance to essential oils, as they so often do to antibiotic drugs."

Keville and Green, 1995

How Do Essential Oils Work?

Because of their unique chemical structure, essential oils are able to penetrate the membrane of human cells, just as they do the cells of plants, carrying vital nutrients inside. Once inside the cell, "Essential oils promote natural healing, stimulating and reinforcing the body's own mechanisms. Essences of chamomile and thyme, for instance, are credited with the ability to stimulate the production of white blood cells which help in our fight against disease." (Windowed, 1991)

When applied externally, there are two main routes by which they may reach the bloodstream. By skin absorption and inhalation. Whether absorbed through the skin or inhaled, once in the bloodstream essential oils are believed to interact with the body chemistry and exert a pharmacological effect - even though the amount absorbed is very small indeed.

These vital substances consists of many organic constituents that come together in a delicate, complex balance to produce a wide range of therapeutic qualities. For instance Tea Tree oil have over 40 different constituents. Eucalyptus has more than 250.

It is the number of constituents in the oil that make it impossible to reproduce exactly with synthetic ingredients. The reaction between these molecules gives the oil its therapeutic value.

Although they may act more slowly than synthetically isolated and derived substances, they do not destroy anything else. They usually stimulate the body's immune system to strengthen its resistance to further attack.

"Forgotten and ignored for many years, aromatic essences are coming back into their own, for many researchers and for a large section of public opinion, as the stars of medicine. The doctor who is familiar with essential oils can use them to treat a whole range of infections; pulmonary, hepatic, intestinal, urinary, uterine, rhinopharyngeal and cutaneous ... Aromatic therapy can neutralize enteritis, colitis, putrid fermentation, and can relieve chronic bronchitis and pulmonary tuberculosis. The colon bacillus cannot resist essential oil ... aromatherapy is also indicated for cancer ..." (Jean Valnet, M.D., 1980)

The Power Of Aromatherapy

Tests conducted in France
Tests were conducted in France to assess the antiseptic effect of a blend of essential oils; pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon.

Professor Griffin, director of the French Police Toxicology Laboratory, set up a number of Petri dishes approximately 15 centimeters from ground level in an open room, allowing them to stand for 24 hours. Germs from the air were being collected naturally as they settled into the open two dishes. After 24 hours the dishes contained two hundred and ten colonies of various microbes, including molds and staphylococci.

He then sprayed the mixture of essential oils in the form of an aerosol into the air. After only 15 minutes, only 14 colonies of micro organisms out of the original 210 were left alive. After 30 minutes, only four colonies of the original 210 were left. Importantly, all the potentially harmful disease causing molds and staphylococci had been killed in the first 30 minutes. (Valnet, 1980)

Saved from the Plague
Bucklersbury, England was spared from the plague even while the residents of other towns in close proximity were dying in droves. Historians believe it was because it was the center of the European lavender trade. Lavender has long been known to have powerful disease-fighting properties.

Some Historical Facts

Aromatherapy is deeply rooted in the most ancient healing practices of man. Records dating back to 4500 B.C. reveal perfumed oils, scented bark and resins used in medicine.

Ebers Papyrus which consists of seventy feet of medical scrolls was discovered in the late 1800's. This scroll dates back to 1500 B.C. and lists over 800 herbal prescriptions and remedies.

Essential oils, used throughout most of history, lost popularity with the growth of scientific medicine. We began isolating healing plant molecules, modifying, synthesizing and patenting them (one cannot patent nature). Profit and rapid healing results became the focus.

When Flemming discovered penicillin, it was a "natural" cure being isolated from a culture of mold. Today, natural penicillin is no longer used. We are becoming immune, allergic and sometimes bacteria now even feed on the synthetic antibiotic.

"Using a strong synthetic drug to kill harmful bacteria is like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer, for not only does the drug kill the harmful bacteria, they also destroy the beneficial ones present in the body." Danielle Ryman

Modern Pioneers Of Aromatherapy

French cosmetic scientist Rene-Maurice GattefossÈ coined the term 'Aromatherapy', which was the title of his first book on the subject published in 1937. He was particularly intrigued by the remarkable antibiotic and antiseptic properties of essential oils.

Dr Jean Valnet, a French army surgeon, used essential oils in the treatment of soldiers wounded in battle. Later he used the oils, in conjunction with herbal medicine, to treat patients in psychiatric hospitals. Many of these people were eventually weaned off powerful drugs, the side-effects of which had been found to complicate their distressing conditions. Valnet describes such treatments in his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, Austrian-born cosmetologist Marguerite Maury developed the art of aromatherapy massage, based on the techniques employed by traditional healers in Tibet. In the early 1960s she introduced aromatherapy clinics to Britain.

Essential Oil Chemistry

An individual oil may have hundreds of identifiable chemicals, the principle components being a group of complex substances known as terpenes and their compounds or derivatives. This may explains why a single essential oil has a wide range of therapeutic values.

These therapeutic properties stem from an interaction of all its chemical constituents working harmoniously together, so that the effect of the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Drug manufacturers prefer to isolate the 'active principles' of raw plant material and essential oils. They are often modified and/or synthesized to achieve certain desired effects such as increased activity and greater stability. This often results in a patent, which yields higher profits for the manufacturer. There is obviously no incentive to promote essential oils.

Nature however is far from stupid. These compounds eliminated by the drug manufacturers, work in concert with the 'actives', making them more easily used by the body. They also neutralize the action of what are otherwise powerful chemicals, protecting the body from dangerous side-effects.

A synthesised drug always carries with it a small percentage of undesirable substances which are not found in nature. What effect some of these new synthetic drugs will have in the long term is not known.

Some Chemical Constituents

Aldehydes
They are anti- infectious, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and sedative. When inhaled, they are calming. They are found in many of the lemon-scented oils, including the oils of Lemongrass, Melissa and Citronella. One of the principal aldehydes compounds, citral, is highly anti-infectious and anti-viral, particularly when applied topically on herpes simplex.

Phenols
They are deadly to bacteria. They have powerful antioxidant properties. As a result, they are one of the most beneficial immuno-modulating compounds of all of the aromatic groups.

Alcohols
They are strongly anti-bacterial and anti-viral. The sesquiterpenol molecules in this group are anti-inflammatory and stimulate the immune responses. Linalol, one of the most beneficial constituents of the alcohols, is highly anti-bacterial and works to boost the immune system. Carvacrol has been shown to be antiseptic, superbly energizing and possibly anti-cancerous.

Terpenes
They are known to inhibit the accumulation of toxins in the human body, and help the liver and kidneys discharge built up toxins. They are antiseptic and stimulating, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, analgesic, anti-spasmodic and sedative.

Ketones
They are known to help stimulate cell regeneration and promote the formation of tissue. They also help dissolve and discharge mucous, helping with asthma, colds, flu, and coughs.

Principal Extraction Methods

Steam Distllation
Most essential oils are extracted by steam. Plant material is placed in the still, and steam is passed through it. The heat and pressure release the essential oil droplets, which then rise with the steam. The aromatic vapour is carried along a closed outlet and is cooled and condensed (turned back to liquid) by being passed through a cold water jacket. The resulting aromatic water is collected in a Florentine flask. The essential oil, being lighter than water, floats on the surface and is later separated.

The leftover water (technically known as a hydrolat or hydrosol) remains quite aromatic and can often be used as a therapeutic/cosmetic by-product. Rosewater and orange flower water are two well-known examples.

Expression
A process used to extract the essential oil found in the rind of citrus fruits. Although this was once carried out by hand (by squeezing the rind and collecting the oil in a sponge), machines using centrifugal force are now used instead.

Super Critical Carbon Dioxide (Co2) Extraction
A process whereby carbon dioxide gas at very high pressure is used to dissolve essential oil from a wide range of plant material. The chemistry of a Co2 extract is somewhat different from that of a steam distilled oil, and thus should be regarded with a degree of caution. Ginger Co2, for example, is more likely to irritate sensitive skin.

Essential Oil Quality

If a bottle is labelled 'Aromatherapy Oil', this usually means it's a mixture of about 2-3 per cent essential oil in a carrier such as grapeseed or almond oil, often with the addition of vitamin E as a preservative.

Storing Your Oils

Essential oils evaporate readily and are easily damaged by light, extremes of temperature and exposure to oxygen in the air. For this reason they are sold in well-sealed, dark glass bottles. In ideal conditions most essential oils will keep for several years, although the average shelf life is about two years.

Citrus oils deteriorate within 6-12 months. But all essential oils are vulnerable. The more often you open the bottle, the greater the chance of oxidation - a process whereby a substance is chemically combined with oxygen and its original structure altered or destroyed.

Interesting Little Facts

- It takes about 44 pounds of fresh lavender flowers to produce 2.5 pounds of essential oil. It takes 5 metric tons of rose petals and 3,000 lemons to make that same 2.5 pounds.

- Bucklersbury, England was spared from the plague even while the residents of other towns in close proximity were dying in droves. Historians believe it was because it was the center of the European lavender trade. Lavender has long been known to have powerful disease-fighting properties.