You can’t miss all the hype about pure essential oils online can you?…not really. Bloody annoying all these hippies suggesting they’ll cure you of everything you’ve ever had with some smelly hippie potion…am I right? Yeah I’m hearing you, but the problem is that it ain’t just hippies using oils. As a matter of fact there are a LOT of myths floating around about oils and oil companies. You need to do your research and talk to someone you trust but here are my Top 7 Myths busted…
The 7 Top Myths that Get up My Nose…(ok, pun intended)
1. It’s just hippie perfume. Ok so here’s the thing, hospitals and doctors across the USA and many other countries are using and researching the benefits of pure essential oils with ASTONISHING results. Scientists who were going out of their way to prove oils didn’t work were GOB-SMACKED to see how effectively they do work and are now collaborating with essential oil companies in order to understand this stuff better. Scientific research is PROVING EOs have amazing properties, so far largely unknown and untapped. So if the doctors and scientists are learning…are you open to learning too?
2. Sometimes you still need REAL medicine. Oh man, I hear this a LOT. I am not anti-medicine but let’s think for a moment where and how new drugs are developed. Something is found (in nature) to possess a certain biochemistry that might help, say, blood sugar levels. You can’t patent nature. So what happens next is that the drug companies do some fancy chemistry to try and make a unique variation on nature that is their special recipe – same properties, slight change to the chemical structure. THIS they can patent and sell for lots of money. Now on the one hand, sure it’s in a concentrated form. But on the other hand, what we are also learning is that biochemistry is complex, and NO ONE CHEMICAL will work effectively on it’s own – you need cofactors, vitamins, that sort of thing to really get the body working effectively.
So back to the original myth, do we sometimes need “real” medicine? That is entirely up to you to decide for your health. But what I can tell you is that health is a holistic picture and if you aren’t taking in the nutrients you need; if you aren’t doing things that bring movement, joy and health to your body; ain’t no drug going to cure you. Nature has answers, the question is do you want to make a holistic effort? (I know, it’s hard, but really – ONE body is all you get!)
3. Pure means …well, PURE. Ironically no. Labelling laws are so lax around such things that you can have a pure synthetic and it’s still PURE 100% Lavender…just made in a laboratory and with close to zero healing benefits. It’s not an essential oil, but to give you an example, you can go to a supermarket and buy 100% pure olive oil and it can LEGALLY contain up to 50% other rubbish oils (in Australia). These are the labelling laws. No help at all because obviously you just don’t know what you’re getting!
4. Pure means …therapeutic. Wrong again sorry! Pure can mean 100% Lavender. It might even be real lavender and not made in a lab. What it doesn’t tell you is ANYTHING about the healing benefits. For this you need to know the therapeutic potency, which comes from the balance of chemical constituents within your pure oil. Lavender from one species grown in France will have very different chemistry from another species grown in Australia – both the species AND the climate playing a role in creating the chemistry in this example. I can tell you that Vetiver (sourced from the root of a grass) needs to be grown for at least 18-24 months to get good quality essential oils that have actual therapeutic chemistry. The perfume industry has used Vetiver a long time but I can guarantee you they weren’t worried about harvesting at 24months if you can get a nice smell at 6 months. New companies that are looking to create therapeutic chemistry are revolutionising the way crops are grown, harvested and oils distilled. #doyourresearch
5. You’ll be CURED! Ok so this is a really interesting one. Do you know that curing something has NOTHING to do with it’s ability to heal and EVERYTHING to do with who is profiting? You cannot LEGALLY state that anything cures, unless it is a pharmaceutical drug. Seems an unfair playing field yes? Well, I think so. I’m not claiming I’m about to cure anything, but if someone tells me they had something and now it’s gone, I think we should be able to say something about that, whether it’s an apple a day or a prescription med. What do you think? Particularly when the ones proving that drugs cure are usually researchers paid by…well, drug companies. My point here is only to say that there is bias in the system and you need to look critically and all the information and judge for yourself.
6. MLM Companies Selling oils are a rip off! OK so this is another one I hear a lot. As I’ve mentioned already, there are few companies that make oils to the standard that I feel create healing change in the body. There are few companies that even test the purity of their oils. I KNOW that the oils I use are the most highly tested and potency-proven oils on the market. If you can say that about the brand you use, fantastic! But honestly, I doubt it. If you take a look, 5 of the top 8 companies on the market do zero testing on their oils – they broker them in and sell them on. Zero. Use what you like, but know what you’re using.
Additionally, being in an MLM (a good one) gives you an opportunity to earn some money toward paying for your oils. Does that make you cringe? Selling to friends and family. Oh I’m hearing you! Awful isn’t it. Unless of course you can help someone who has had chronic issues for 20years…or someone who was at their wit’s end and had tried every conventional medicine available…I mean, then it might be ok to share them around?? Well this is my experience and I would share anything that helpled my friends and family. I have always been great at networking (for love NOT money) to connect people with the help they need…because I like helping people get what they need. It’s that simple.
7. Some oils are so expensive, it’s still a rip off! I feel like I didn’t fully address the cost complaint in the last dot point. Here’s the thing. When I use an oil on myself I use a drop. One. Drop. For the average oil this is about 2-10cents per application. For an expensive oil this might be 70c-$1. Now is this expensive? Not if it:
a. helps; and
b. I have no need to take time off work, go to my doctor, get a script and destroy my gut flora with antibiotics.
Personally my cost-benefit analysis says this is an ok investment. HOWEVER, it only costs me this much because I have a tendancy to be lazy. Yep, totally owning that right here. If you are using oils regularly to say, settle stomach discomfort, you don’t need to use a drop. You put a couple of drops in a roller with a carrier oil and roll it over your abdomen after a meal. So you are using a few drops out of a diluted roller…maybe about one TENTH of a drop.
In Summary
My background is in medical research. If the science of essential oils didn’t stack up, I wouldn’t be here. If the results of the brand I use didn’t stack up, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. You need to find what works for you. You need to find what makes your soul sing and your body come alive. That’s my wish for you. The rest is just details.
If you need to understand more about the oils I use or are ready to give some a go, just get in touch: genwell.au@gmail.com
If you’d like to get some specific assistance around your family health concerns (oily or otherwise) remember I do offer a free 20min consult and I’d love to get to know how I can help you. No obligation. My office days are Thursday and Friday but evenings are possible upon request: genwell.au@gmail.com