The past few years have been a breeding ground for "natural" remedies and holistic treatments. The trend to self medicate and the distrust of modern medicine have grown along side each other. This obviously has raised concerns within the medical community, fearing that health decisions for critical medical issues are being made based off the opinions of Facebook celebrities instead of practicing physicians.
One of the biggest perpetrators that frequents my social media feed are essential oils. Companies such as DoTerra and Young Living are fighting for the top position of a one Billion Dollar industry. These companies don't even try to hide their MLM style format (first red flag) and use many fear-based methods for advertising their product. CHEMICALS!!! I can't tell you how many times I've seen that word used as a trigger to avoid a certain product (although essential oils are also composed of chemicals).
"Our pure essential oils are revolutionizing the way families manage their health." -DoTerra Website
This is actually true. But I'm not sure I want it to be. Do you really want to get your medical advice from a Facebook friend? Medical doctors give up 4 years of their lives, plus residency to learn how to properly prescribe real medicine. Having had multiple family members try the oil route, I can attest that there's no training required to become a representative.
The first question I see is how are you supposed to use these oils? The DoTerra website itself is very vague when explaining how and when to use the oils. For the sake of liability, I'm sure, they remain very general. They mention that they can be used aromatically, topically and internally but leave the rest up to interpretation. Im not sure if these companies distribute material giving specific dosages or simply abolish themselves of all liability by deferring to their representatives.
But some of their advertising has been less vague. There have been claims that essential oils can treat “Herpes simplex virus, Influenza, Measles, Neuralgia, Neuritis, Pneumonia, respiratory viruses, rhinitis, shingles, sinusitis and tuberculosis, canker sores, chicken pox, cold sore, colds, flu, fungal infections, MRSA, shingles, warts and viral infections, MNV (non-enveloped murine norovirus), athlete’s foot, candida, canker sores, Ebola virus, intestinal parasites, ringworm, staph infection, and whooping cough.” Yet, no actual studies have been done to prove any of these.
Heres the problem, you get a study like this that says clove oil may be antiviral but doesn't mention many important factors such as dosage and application. But someone selling the product could easily reference it as legitimate backing to their own claims, resulting in a misinformed consumer trying to prevent/treat the flu with a few drops of clove oil.
My next question is: whats in it? Again, referring to the DoTerra website, these are "volatile aromatic compounds." They explain that they are plant derived oils that play key roles within a plant and can be used for many physical and emotional well-being applications. As before, there are no specifics given and no "nutritional label" stating what exactly is in the bottle. But, as with many holistic treatments, essential oils work within an unregulated industry. This means that there is no FDA regulation or testing required. From an article called The Truth About Nutrition Supplements (Fitness Magazine, Oct 2009)
"According to a 2002 Harris Poll, more than half of us believe that a government agency like the Food and Drug Administration is keeping a watchful eye on the $20 billion supplement industry......It's not. The federal regulators who would normally be all over poor-quality supplements had their hands tied by a piece of legislation signed into law by President Clinton in 1994 called the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The bill was intended to make dietary supplements -- including vitamins, minerals, and herbs -- more widely available by classifying them not as drugs, like aspirin or ibuprofen, but as foods. In practice, that means supplements not only don't have to do what they promise (such as protect against disease) but don't even have to be safe.........The results have been predictable: In 2004 alone, more than 24,000 "toxic exposures" to supplements were reported, while other research showed that some supplements contain potentially dangerous contaminants such as lead, mercury, pesticides, mold, and bacteria.........No wonder some consumer advocates say that this regulatory loophole has helped create a marketplace that fails to protect consumers from contaminated, adulterated and, in some cases, deadly supplements."
Essential oils fall within this loophole. We have no idea whats in the bottle, if its safe, or if its what they say it is.
But are there any applications? There have been some research related to Tea-tree oils that have been shown effective and another study I recently read showing that a certain essential oil blend helped lower blood pressure over time. My suggestion would be to seek out specific cases and applications and try to find peer-reviewed studies that validate any claim for essential oil efficacy. But even then you should read the specific details of how that study was done, dosages and applications before giving it the green light.
The main point is that essential oils aren't a cure-all, especially for major health issues. If you want to give it a try on your cold sore or athletes foot, sure. But its definitely not a vaccine-substitute, nor is it worth risking your life for.
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