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Essential Oils, Aromatherapy, and Holistic Health, Oh My!

Essential oils have been used and experimented with since the age of the Ancient Greece. Hippocrates was the first to experiment with the oils, claiming that aromatic baths were a key component to health. The Bible actually references these fragrances over 180 times throughout the course of its text claiming they had healing powers for the body, mind and spirit. These concentrated aromas didn’t reappear in Western medicine until the 1930s during WWII where a French surgeon had great healing success with essential oils with patients recovering from surgery. At this moment in time, Aromatherapy was born.

This holistic method of treatment has had a lot of success due to their ability to relax a patient. Being in a calm state is key when minor to severe injuries are healing or when trying to recover from an illness. If you are stressed, cortisol will be released and will cover the cells in charge of running your immune system. There reaction to cortisol is to shut down all functions and sends the message to let the system be. Having a calming scent in the room could make the difference in a patient fighting a nasty infection!

Some of these essential oils are more then just crushed flower pedals that smell really good. Melaleuca is a natural disinfectant and can be used to clean anything, from you wounds to your kitchen counter. The best part is, unlike most chemical cleaners like ammonia and disinfectants like alcohol, Melaleuca won’t destroy every cell and will instead target the infection or the bacteria on your kitchen counter.

Don’t be fooled by charlatans peddling their “Therapeutic Grade” oils that are two to three times the price of normal oils. When it comes to aromatherapy and disinfecting your cuts, the only thing that matters about your essential oil is that it is 100% pure! The benefits of each aroma varies on the person and certainly the quality of your oil will be the decider on how well it cleans any abrasion. A perfect example of a high quality product that is cost friendly and 100% pure is PURE Essential Oils. Make sure you do your research before you make any purchases.

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Therapeutic Grade: Fact or Fiction?

The topic of essential oils has become a hot one throughout the world, and it seems that every day there is a new use or medicinal purpose for what we originally thought just had a benevolent fragrance. The question has now become “what is fact versus fiction, what are its medicinal benefits, and what does therapeutic grade really mean?”.

There is no denying that essential oils have many fascinating uses, but what exactly can you do with them? While most companies don’t recommend imbibing the oils themselves, they say it is ok to use them sparingly while cooking. Science has shown there is no medicinal benefit to doing so, but it has created a new fragrant style of cooking where chefs can use their creativity by adding powerful aromas to their dishes.

While cooking it produces one effect, many people believe that combining the pure oils with carrier oils and applying them to specific areas can have many health benefits. While some of the claims tend to be a bit outlandish, scientists have insisted to not throw all of the claims, such as healthy skin, acne treatments, and other small ailments. Other claims such as curing cancer and serious illness tend to take away from some of the amazing therapeutic benefits essential oils can be used for.

This is where people generally get confused with the term “therapeutic grade”. The definition tends to vary from company to company which makes sense when you see that most of the research was done within their own facilities. In fact, there is no certification or credibility behind the term “therapeutic grade”. You can only mention purity of an oil and it is either pure or it is not.

Scents have more power than we think and when used properly they can help us remember things we may have suppressed or bring back warm memories of our youth. It can help us unwind and lower our blood pressure by relieving our stress. There are scientific reasons for why essentials oils are actually good for you, so stop looking for miracles and focus on the facts behind and the ingredients in the product you are using. There is only one type of essential oil you should be looking at for the best results, 100% pure essential oils. Therapeutic grade is a marketing, not a scientific term.