Why use essential oils?
So why would anyone want to use essential oils when we have so many medicines available to us in this day and age? A few reasons come to mind. First and foremost, they work. One only need try a blend like doTerra's Breathe or a single oil like Melaleuca essential oil to see how effective they can be in very short order. Essential oils have been in use for centuries and in some cases longer. That in and of itself is not a valid reason for their use, but when you also look at some of the studies and research that are going on you begin to see that some traditional medicines are well worth looking at. We have relied on plants to treat our ailments since the dawn of our existence and essential oils are simply an extension of that. They are in many regards the essence of a given plant or plants.
As a society, species, and world we have become very dependent on measures in healthcare and lifestyles that seem to be the most efficient route but ultimately extract a severe price. The foods that we eat and the medicines that we pump into our bodies often do as much harm as good. Antibiotics have tended to be pretty indiscriminate killers when it really comes down to it. Many a dose of medicine has culled beneficial bacteria from our intestinal tracts as well as the targeted ones; rewriting the biome that is our body in a matter of days or weeks ultimately changing us as well as our descendants. We feel better, but in the long term our bodies often find themselves less able to deal with dangers that were once mundane.
The fear of the superbug that is resistant to antibiotics has moved out of the realm of speculation and science fiction and become something that we are actually being told is a viable danger. The very medicines that we have come to rely on are becoming less effective. This is where alternatives like essential oils become very palatable. Use of essential oils, even to a moderate degree, decreases your dependence on other types of medications allowing your body to be your body. Knowing what you are putting into your body is so important. Which allows me to close on a more trivial note. While my not being able to pronounce an ingredient in a food or medicine does not make it bad, on some level it is also reassuring to know exactly what I am putting into my body. Peppermint essential oil is peppermint. Period. Cilantro is cilantro. Lemon is lemon. As small a victory as it is, there is something reassuring in being able to say that you killed a wart with oregano or a rash with some lavender rather then something out of a tube that is a mixture of things that you have never even heard of.
As a society, species, and world we have become very dependent on measures in healthcare and lifestyles that seem to be the most efficient route but ultimately extract a severe price. The foods that we eat and the medicines that we pump into our bodies often do as much harm as good. Antibiotics have tended to be pretty indiscriminate killers when it really comes down to it. Many a dose of medicine has culled beneficial bacteria from our intestinal tracts as well as the targeted ones; rewriting the biome that is our body in a matter of days or weeks ultimately changing us as well as our descendants. We feel better, but in the long term our bodies often find themselves less able to deal with dangers that were once mundane.
The fear of the superbug that is resistant to antibiotics has moved out of the realm of speculation and science fiction and become something that we are actually being told is a viable danger. The very medicines that we have come to rely on are becoming less effective. This is where alternatives like essential oils become very palatable. Use of essential oils, even to a moderate degree, decreases your dependence on other types of medications allowing your body to be your body. Knowing what you are putting into your body is so important. Which allows me to close on a more trivial note. While my not being able to pronounce an ingredient in a food or medicine does not make it bad, on some level it is also reassuring to know exactly what I am putting into my body. Peppermint essential oil is peppermint. Period. Cilantro is cilantro. Lemon is lemon. As small a victory as it is, there is something reassuring in being able to say that you killed a wart with oregano or a rash with some lavender rather then something out of a tube that is a mixture of things that you have never even heard of.
