What are therapeutic essential oils?

Therapeutic essential oils are very different from fragrance oils.  In fact, there’s a lot more to them than just smelling good.  Therapeutic essential oils provide physical health benefits as well as mental health benefits.  Lavender for example provides a calming scent that will relax your mind and body, while it also contains properties that will sooth away a headache.  Essential oils are used for aromatherapy, by massage therapists, and can even be used for cooking.

Therapeutic essential oils are distilled from various parts of the plants, such as the flowers, leaves, stems, seeds, roots or bark.  Essential oils retain as much of the original plant essence in its original state as possible.  To produce essential oils of therapeutic quality the most gentle extraction method that will draw the oil from a particular plant is most desirable. Extraction methods range from Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extraction - being the most gentle (and most expensive), to pressing (as for extracting the oil from citrus rinds) and steam distillation, to solvent extraction. Steam distillation is most common, and as a result of only requiring heating to just above the boiling point of water, is considered gentle enough for most essential oils.  Did you know that less than 2% of the essential oils on the market today are therapeutic grade?  With a therapeutic grade essential oil, you can be assured that you are receiving only the purest oil from the plant which will ensure you are receiving the maximum benefit by using the oil.

History of essential oils

According to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese manuscripts, essential oils have been used by priests and alchemists to heal the sick for centuries.  The ancient Egyptians used essential oils in the embalming process, in medicine and in purification rituals.  When King Tut’s tomb was opened, they discovered it contained nearly 350 liters of essential oils. There are also over 200 references to aromatics, incense and ointments in the Old and New Testaments; Frankincense, Myrrh, Galbanun, Cinnamon, Cassia, Rosemary, Hyssop and Spikenard are noted for being used for anointing rituals and healing of the sick.

Today, therapeutic essential oils are used in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes.  There are about three hundred therapeutic essential oils in general use today.  The average household could fulfill all its likely needs with 10 (for wound healing, cold fighting, insect repelling, calming children and cleaning), perhaps 20 if their use were a touch more eccentric (for deepening meditation, enhancing yoga practice, etc).