My goal: Effectively explain (to a large group of people) how/why essential oils work with our bodies without having everyone’s eye glaze over.

I am a visual person… tell me a story and allow me to visualize and I seem to learn better. So, today’s quest is to keep this interesting, by giving you some visuals. It may be a tall order but here I go.

Our bodies have the natural abilities to heal themselves and really, Wow! What a beautiful thing! But unfortunately, we live in a world where most of us ingest, breath, apply and clean with toxins daily. (Yes, Daily!) With every genetically modified food, non-organic shampoo & soaps, chemically ridden makeup/beauty product or cigarette smoke that we are exposed to, this beautiful self healing ability decreases. (sad!) As those toxins build up in our system, it becomes easier for disease to set up camp. A clean diet, exercise, managing stress, nature and essential oils can help counter these toxins.

As a woman who endured (and conquered!) breast cancer, going forward I have embraced many opportunities to live a healthier life, one modification at a time. Although I haven’t given up wine or my high heels, I have embraced a healthier diet, decreased the number of chemicals/toxins I am consuming (it’s a slow steady process!) and have incorporated dōTERRA essential oils into my daily routine. I research, take classes, and as a nurse, try to understand how oils work within the human body.  I believe that they are effective because I have experienced them. But others need scientific facts to prove how/why they work.

In my research, I have found that there are a lot of “Negative Nellie’s” out there just waiting to pee in my diffuser on this topic. They can’t wait to say things like: Essential oils are witchy- woo-woo and are just a hippie fad; Oh no, no!; Never take oils internally; Don’t diffuse around your cat, (I don’t actually have a cat, but people say that.) Don’t use more than 3 drops at a time; Don’t use lavender because it will give your son and boyfriend big boobs; Don’t use too many in one day because they can make you toxic. Sigh.  They hear random stories about someone’s aunt’s boyfriends, sister-in-law who randomly sniffed an essential oil and broke out in boils and suddenly couldn’t stop singing the national anthem on long car rides. (What the…?) If you don’t know your product, I suppose that could happen. But I know the standard of quality for dōTERRA essential oils, and I can say, with certainty, that it wasn’t caused by those oils. And while I’m on the subject, just as a quirky observation, those Negative Nellie’s are often the people who don’t think twice about the infinite amount of toxic substances that are in the glade plug in they use to mask their cigarette smoke or what comprises the patties of the double big mac meal they just ordered from McDonalds. Just sayin’

In fairness, not all oils are created equal and it’s the majority of the products out there that are cheap and easily accessible that are harming cats, making people sick and growing rogue boy boobs. This happens because there is no governance for oil standards: oil companies don’t have quality measures to monitor for synthetics, toxins and additives and as a matter of fact, many purposely adulterate their oils to get them to last longer or have a more intense scent. There is no way to check them for consistency of their chemical components. dōTERRA is different. They have high expectations for their products and give information, transparency and even lot numbers so customers can look up the chemical components of each oil. So as I continue with this article, the information only pertains to dōTERRA oils and products because that is what I know and use.

So, for those of you sitting on the essential oil fence, waiting to be convinced that they are really a “thing”, I thought I’d share a little “sciency” information to counterbalance the “woo-woo” side of things. (and I mean that in the most positive way). Let’s start by comparing our bodies with plants, toys and toxins.

The majority of the synthetics and toxins to which we are exposed are not found in nature; they are manufactured. I mean, it’s not like you head out in the fall and harvest tertiary butylhydroquinone, (TBHQ) a synthetic antioxidant that is used to prevent foods from going bad. Synthetics are made by “chemical synthesis”, especially to imitate a natural product. Seriously, how many times in those last 2 sentences did “not natural” scream out at you??
However, essential oils DO come from nature because they come from plants. Plants are comprised of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon and are EASILY absorbed by our bodies. Why? Well, guess what people are made up of? Ninety-nine percent (99%) of a human’s mass is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. Hm. Is it just me or do those bolded components above look similar? I’ll answer that: it’s not just me!  

Remember those little baby puzzles (pictured above) that have brightly colored plastic shapes that fit into corresponding holes? For this example, we will say that the little box represents our body and each hole shape on the front and top (for this example) is what our body is comprised of and needs in order to thrive. In this picture, there is a star (oxygen), a circle (carbon), a half moon (hydrogen), a diamond (nitrogen), a rectangle (calcium) and a quarter circle (phosphorus).  Again, those are the 6 components that are natural to the body.

So, if a pure dōTERRA essential oil comes be-bopping along and wants to enter, the body recognizes it as familiar because they are either a star (oxygen), a circle (carbon) or a half moon (hydrogen) and are welcomed in.

If there is something that is trying to enter the body that is not a star, circle or half moon, let’s say it is a tetrahedron, then it is a toxin. Let’s use “red dye #40” as an example. This dye contains p-Cresdine: an ingredient that the Dept. of Health and Human Services says is “reasonably anticipated” to be a human carcinogen. It is found in red M&M’s, Trix cereal, skittles & Orange crush. [https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/is-red-dye-40-toxic#what-is-it]). If that sneaky little tetrahedron tried to squeak into any of those holes, sirens would blair (at a cellular level of course): “WAAAAHHH! WAAAAHHH! WAAAHHH! Impostor!!”  Because it wouldn’t be recognized as “natural” and doesn’t fit into the holes.

Of course, not EVERYTHING else is a toxin but for all intents and purposes of this example, I am pointing out that unadulterated Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade essential oils (such as dōTERRA) are made up of the same components as the body and therefore can be assimilated easily because they are not harmful and are familiar. This is why I choose to use them not only to counterbalance any unintentional harm (at a cellular level) that I may have done over the last 5 decades of my life, but also to set the standard for what and how a healthy body should look and function like going forward.

So why do some people experience reactions to oils? Simple answer: Because the body is detoxing. When we introduce natural essential oils into our bodies they enter looking like a sculpted prize fighter ready to dominate!  They step into the ring to meet their opponent: a repulsive compounding of toxins that have been accumulating in your body for the duration of your lifetime. (Yikes!) Visualize those toxins as a middle aged morbidly obese man who hasn’t seen exercise in decades, just watches tv, drinks beer, eats McDonalds and smokes cigarettes all day. He drags his sorry a$$ into the ring.

Ding Ding!  Round one starts and the two of them start to duke it out.  It is a lot of work, but the oil/prize fighter wears down the toxin/middle aged man.  But toxin man will not go down without a fight. As he’s being worn down, he sweats, vomits and maybe loses control of other bodily functions. He’s exhausted and weak and his skin swells from the repeated blows. He has to be fully broken down before he can be knocked out. So too do the years of accumulated toxins in our bodies.  And they have to get out somehow.

So for us, it isn’t the essential oils that cause reactions, it’s really the process of detoxification (the breakdown of toxins) that causes the reactions. Knowing this, depending on your oil regimine, it might be helpful to anticipate that you may see temporary changes occur when you start; but it’s not necessarily bad! Be gentle with yourself, listen to your body and give it what it needs, (hydration, rest, healthy foods etc) and seek the support of someone who knows oils who can help you understand what is happening and guide you if you need assistance.  

The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated the efficacy of essential oils. Therefore, we are not allowed to make the claims that essential oils can treat any disease, illness or injured condition of the body. Nor should/can we diagnose or prescribe for any condition (unless we are a medical professional who does that already.).They make it clear that they are not jumping in the “what oils can and can’t do” arena. That said, as Essential oil educators, we can: a)  speak from our own personal experience, (for me, peppermint or Past Tense always works to alleviate my headaches) b) share the known science of plants (they have natural healing properties that have been known and used since the earth cooled!) and c) help guide others to suggested written protocols and/or intuitively recommend oils for wellness. These protocols, written or intuitive, should always come from someone you trust and be used with an open mind. Oils don’t come with blanket statements of success; they are as unique as their users.  Sometimes, an oil only works for a while or doesn’t feel like it’s working at all. You might need to try a different one for your phase of shifting, healing, and/or growing and as you do shift, another oil may be more important to use. And for the love of all things holy…. Don’t throw them away! There may be a reason you will need them later.

So I guess that eyes glazing over isn’t really a fair test when it’s in a blog form.  If you got bored with the info, you likely didn’t make it to this point. But if you did, maybe your interest is piqued and you will reach out for more info because it sounds like a great opportunity to step into the ring and go for a round or two on behalf of your health.

Knock ‘em dead you chizeled god/goddess!!