Have you ever noticed
how comfortable some people are taking drugs that have dozens of possible side
effects, but when it comes to natural medicine they are
scared to use it?
By the end of this section, you will be a little more familiar with
essential oils and why so many people are going nuts over them. I guess I am an
essential oil nut myself. It is the part of the natural food and wellness world
that I am most familiar with, anyway.
David, the Psalmist, tells us that God
created plants for food, wine, and oil (Psalm 104). In other words, God created
plants for our sustenance and vitality. For thousands of years, from the very
first civilizations, man has used plant oil for medicine and good health. Plant
oils have the ability to strengthen every system of the body giving it
essential nourishment and boosting the immune system.
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are often called the ‘life blood’ of plants because they
keep the plant healthy. For example, when a conifer branch breaks off the tree
trunk, sap, containing essential oils, comes up to the area to heal it and
fight off disease. Essential oils are also called the ‘immune system’ of plants
because they contain properties that keep plants healthy. Because God made
plants especially for our nutrition, essential oils work similarly in humans –
stimulating the immune system and assisting the natural healing processes of
the body.
There are two kinds of plant oils, fatty (like olive oil and coconut
oil) and volatile (essential oils). Both can be used therapeutically. By volatile
I do not mean explosive – these are not petroleum (fossil) oils. Volatile means
the oil rises into the air and generates a smell.
Everything that we smell is
volatile, including essential oils, which means things that smell contain
substances which evaporate. If you leave the cap off of your essential oil
bottle, it will eventually evaporate – some essential oil species more quickly
than others.
Essential oils are highly concentrated plant oils obtained through steam distillation: Plants are harvested and put in a huge stainless steel vat. Steam is run up through the vat and as the steam penetrates the plant material, the oil molecules are released as vapors. The steam and the vapors cool in a condenser where they are turned back into water and oil. The oil naturally separates from the water and is skimmed off the top. Katy and I have seen this whole process on location; it is quite fascinating! If you like winery tours, you would love visiting an essential oils farm.
Each single species essential oil contains
anywhere from 80 to 800 different chemical constituents that are found in the
plant. Because our bodies are designed
by God to assimilate these naturally balanced chemical properties of plants, these
oils are metabolized in five to twenty minutes.
The molecules in the oils are so extremely small that when ingesting
them or putting them anywhere on the body, they can pass through lipids, and go
anywhere and everywhere, traveling through the blood stream and other bodily
pathways. Essential oils work synergistically, on a cellular level, supporting all of our bodily systems and organs.
Having said all
that, it is time to make another distinction: When I refer to essential oils in
this blog I am referring to pure, therapeutic grade essential oils. These are
the oils that can be taken internally and are safe for medicinal purposes
because they pass the most rigorous test standards. It is important to make
this distinction because not all essential oils are of the same quality. There
are four grades of essential oils: therapeutic, natural or organic, synthetic
or nature-identical, and fragrance grade.
Four Grades of Essential Oils
A. Therapeutic grade essential oils are pure oils that have been grown
using sustainable, beyond organic practices and gently distilled to render
potent, safe essential oils with optimal levels of natural plant compounds.
B. Natural or organic essential oils are manufactured by companies
that can pass growing standards but may or may not render optimal levels of
natural plant compounds through their distillation processes.
C. Fragrance is used to describe extended or adulterated essential
oils which are manufactured for their aroma only. Fragrances contain minimal or
undetectable natural plant compounds.
D.
Synthetic or nature-identical oils
are those created in a laboratory.
The oils we use in the Warner home are pure,
therapeutic grade from the safest, most reputable essential oil company in the
world. I didn’t intend to go into a lot of science in this blog, and I promise
to get back to first principles soon, but I have to say, for all its
limitations, science is amazingly revealing. Someone who studies and uses
essential oils is called an aromatherapist. The more I learn about the
chemistry of essential oils the more I am in awe of God's exquisite design of
these aromatic wonders.
Sourcing Essential Oils
While we are on the subject of essential oils companies, it might be
helpful to mention why we chose the company we purchase from. You will
want to find a company that has beyond organic standards. Organic standards for essential oils in the United
States are weak. You only have to have
your fields free of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops for three to five
years. Fields should ideally be free
from GMO crops for at least fifty years or have never had GMO’s. You want to purchase essential oils from a
company that has control and vigilant care over the soil. The soil should be full of
enzymes and nutrients that will support the plant’s highest potential. Here I
do not mean highest potential for yield but for therapeutic oil quality.
The company should own its own farms, must be
scientifically competent, and must own the best equipment for testing the
plants to determine if they are ready for harvesting & distillation. A third party should also test the oils. Your
essential oil company should bottle their own oils to be sure there is no
tainting and that they have been handled properly. Our company gets an A+ rating across the
board. They oversee every step of the
process in making an oil from sowing the best seeds to sealing the bottle. They
ensure we have the purest and most potent therapeutic grade, consumable oil
possible. You can even visit the farms
anywhere in the world and help with the harvesting or planting. Some of our
friends have cut down black spruce trees and brought them in to be distilled
with equipment right on the farm.
Our
company has transparency on all of their farms around the world. They use international standards to ensure
the highest quality essential oil production and unwaveringly safeguard the
entire process to ensure nothing is ever added to our oils. For example, each bottle of peppermint
essential oil is peppermint oil from plants grown on our farms, that have been
meticulously cared for, harvested, and distilled under optimal conditions.
I
must also give a strong word of caution:
Essential oils that you find at the supermarket labeled ‘100% pure’ only
need to have 5% essential oil in them to be legally labeled as such. The
remaining content is anybody’s guess. Be
sure you are using the best. We’ve
researched competing companies for years and have only found one company that
meets these standards. If you would like to learn more, you are welcome to
contact us.
How Do Essential Oils Work?
The second question we are often
asked is, “How do they work?”
Someone asked a medical doctor, friend of ours, the same question and he
answered, “They work just fine!”
There are several good guidebooks out there that scientifically explain
more than you need to know in order to use essential oils with confidence.
Why are people raving about essential oils?!
They work! Millions of people feel better consuming essential oils and
thousands have been able to overcome major health conditions with the support
of essential oils in conjunction with other healthy habits like exercise.
Essential Oils Are Part of Our
Judeo-Christian Heritage
You don’t
have to be a Christian 'hippie' to use essential oils. Incorporating oils into everyday
family life is a normal decision for Christians. We have historical evidence
that ancient Jewish and Christian families used essential oils in their
everyday lives. Clement of Alexandria, the greatest Christian catechist of the
early third century, wrote a whole chapter on essential oils and how they
should be used. We will get to that.
If this post has been helpful, thank you for sharing it with others using the share buttons below! We also invite you to LIKE "A Christian's Guide to Essential Oils" on Facebook and follow us there.
No comments:
Post a Comment