Is There Really "Therapy" in Aromatherapy?

By Frances Fuller, BS, LMT, CHTP, Reiki  Master

Have you ever wondered just how  essential oils work – if, in fact, they do work on any level other than  “smelling good”?  The therapeutic  value of any essential oil is directly related to a number of factors from the  manner in which the plants are grown all the way up to the handling of the  finished product.

The highest quality plants are  grown organically on land which has never been sprayed with pesticides and on  which chemical fertilizers have not been used.  This land is far away from factories and  major highways where pollution can damage the delicate healing properties locked  deep within each tender young leaf, flower, stem, and root.  Even the water used for irrigation is extremely important as chemicals – and often drugs – which are in municipal  water supplies affect the plants adversely, reducing their healing  capabilities. Wouldn’t it be far  better for them to be watered with pure mountain-stream water far from the  toxins of the cities?

Once the plants have been  nurtured and allowed to grow to maturity naturally, it is quite important that  care be taken in the harvesting and extraction, which is most commonly  accomplished through steam distillation.  As soon as a plant is cut, it begins to lose potency.  Therefore, it is essential that the distillery be located close to the farm in order for the time between the actual  harvesting and the distillation to be minimized. Next comes the process of  unlocking the natural healing compounds held within the carefully-grown plants –  the precious drops of essential oil.  This golden liquid has often been called the “life force” or “blood” of  the plant. Much like the blood of  the human body, essential oils deliver oxygen and 
nutrients to all parts of the  plant.  In addition, they have the  capability of fighting bacteria, viruses, and other destructive things that  could injure the plant.  When the  leaf of stem of a plant is cut or torn, it is the essential oil that rushes to  the site of the “wound” to repair the damage just as human blood responds to  cuts or injuries.  Amazingly, even  the major chemical components are the same as those of human blood – carbon,  hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.  This is why the pure oils are so compatible with the human body.

The proper extraction, or  distillation, of the essential oils from the plants is a time-consuming and  precise process if all of the delicate chemical constituents are to be retained  in the finished product.  For  instance, cypress twigs require 24 hours of distillation at 130 degrees  centigrade and only 5 pounds of pressure in order to produce a quality essential  oil.  If the time is reduced by just  2 hours, the resulting oil will be missing 18 of the constituents that should be  present in therapeutic-grade cypress!

You may be wondering, “What  would happen if the temperature and/or pressure were increased?  Couldn’t the oils be produced more  rapidly?”  The oils would still  smell the same, but the therapeutic value would be dramatically reduced.  Unfortunately, this is one of the ways  that inferior oils are produced as the shorter distillation time lowers the cost  involved – and it is impossible to detect this adjustment by the aroma.  Often, the same plants are even distilled several times, and then synthetic fragrance is added! Can synthetic oils be as effective as natural ones which are carefully grown 
and  properly distilled at low temperature and pressure for the full length of  time?  The answer is quite simple  when one understands how the oils work.

Whereas pharmaceutical drugs are designed to treat symptoms, pure and natural essential oils work to achieve balance within the body.  This is known as "homeostasis”.  Our bodies desire to be in balance, but  we often do many things to disrupt that natural balance.  For instance, we eat chemically altered food, breathe polluted air, and slather products filled with harmful chemicals on our bodies. When we introduce a  pure, therapeutic-grade essential oil such as lavender, which has hundreds of  chemical constituents, it is like offering the body a giant buffet of healing  substances.  The body is able to   
select whatever it needs to achieve homeostasis and eliminate whatever it does  not need at that time.  Synthetic  lavender, by contrast, has only 8-10 chemical constituents, which does not offer  the body a significant healing opportunity.

You may be wondering now, “even  if all this is true, how can I access these healing properties?”  The molecules of the essential oils are  very small – so small, in fact, that they are able to penetrate the skin quite  easily.Almost all essential oils  are absorbed into the skin within 2 minutes – and many absorb within  seconds!  They are then ready to  begin their task of oxygenating the cells of the body and returning it to a  state of homeostasis through offering the many chemical constituents which can  potentially assist in achieving this balance.  In addition, the oils are volatile,  which means that they naturally diffuse into the air that we breathe. As the tiny molecules are  inhaled, they stimulate the limbic system.  This is the part of the body related to emotions.  When one inhales the aroma, it is actually the tiny molecules of the essential oils entering the body, and one is  able to positively affect emotional balance as well as balance upon the 
physical  level.

Years ago scientists discovered that every  living thing has a frequency which can be measured.  The unit of measurement is called  megahertz (mHz). Studies at many  universities in Europe and the USA found the following range of frequencies for  certain foods and even for the hu8man body both in a healthy state and when  illness disease is present.  

It was  established that the frequency of a healthy human is  62-68mHz.
Human Brain....................72-90 mHz
Healthy Human Body........62-68 mHz
Cold Symptoms................58 mHz
Flu Symptoms...................57 mHz
Candida............................55 mHz
Epstein Barr......................52 mHz
Cancer..............................42 mHz
Death Begins.....................25 mHz

The following range of  frequencies was also established:

Processed Canned Food.....0  mHz
Fresh Produce....................0-15 mHz
Dry Herbs..........................12-22 mHz
Fresh Herbs.......................20-27 mHz
Therapeutic-grade Essential Oils......52-320 mHz

What does all this have to do  with how essential oils can positively affect your health and your life?  It is a principle of physics that when  two objects which have different frequencies are placed in close proximity to  one another, the one with the lower frequency will shift upward.  Further studies have indicated that  pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils have the ability to raise the frequency  of the human body.  Thus, the  introduction of these tiny droplets either through inhalation or absorption  through the skin can even raise the frequency of the body above that of illness  or disease!  This is an amazing  property for assisting everyone in achieving optimum  health. These tiny gifts from Nature are  truly some of the most powerful healing substances known today!

Can you tell if an essential oil  is “therapeutic-grade” or even “pure” by the smell?  Sometimes, it is possible, but certainly  not always. Occasionally, you may  be able to detect certain solvents which are commonly used in extracting inferior oils and/or to boost the volume inexpensively.  However, more often than not, it is not  possible to detect the quality of the oil by the aroma.  As the public is more educated, more  sophisticated methods of camouflaging the quality are employed, but there are  certain guidelines that will assist you in your selection.  Oils which have the AFNOR  standard on the label have passed the strictest tests. This is the Association of French Normalization Organization Regulation.  You can feel confident about both the purity and the therapeutic value of  any oil which has earned this designation. Are there other pure, therapeutic-grade oils available?  Absolutely, but it could be difficult to determine the quality without  the use of gas 
chromatography – the intricate laboratory analysis.  However, you may choose to ask the supplier the following questions which can assist you in deciding whether the oil is of a suitable quality for your needs.

HOW  TO BE SURE YOUR ESSENTIAL OILS ARE THERAPEUTIC GRADE

- Are  the fragrances subtle, rich, organic, and delicate?
- Do  the fragrances of your oils vary from batch to batch – an indication that they  are pure and painstakingly distilled in small batches rather than industrially  processed on a large scale?
- Does  your supplier send each batch of essential oils it receives through up to five  different chemical analyses before it is released?
- Are  these tests performed by independent labs?
- Does  your supplier grow and distill its own organically grown herbs?
- Are  the distillation facilities part of the farm where the herbs are grown so they  are freshly distilled, maintaining their potency?
- Does  your supplier use low pressure and low temperature to distill the essential  oils, preserving all of their delicate chemical constituents?
- Are  the distillation cookers fabricated from costly stainless steel alloys to reduce  the likelihood of the oils chemically reacting with the metal?
- Does  your supplier have representatives traveling worldwide to personally inspect the  fields and distilleries where the herbs are grown and distilled?
- Do  they scrutinize the facilities to check that no synthetic chemicals are being  used in any of these processes?

If  your answer to ALL of these questions is “yes”, you can feel confident that your  oils are therapeutic grade – the highest standard available.

Are you now thinking, “Can I  afford to use pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils?”  Perhaps a better question might be, “Can you afford NOT to use pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils?” To see my complete line of essential oils go to The Very Essence, contact me if you have questions. You can place an order directly by contacting me or online by clicking on "Create an Account."

Frances Fuller recently relocated to Singapore from Palm Beach, Florida, bringing her vast experience in the world  of wellness and healing with her.   Trained in most spa services and modalities, Frances holds regular classes in Singapore on aromatherapy, specialized massage  techniques, meditation and cellular level healing.  She is a nationally certified massage  therapist and instructor in the US and holds training classes throughout Asia.