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Essential oils bring great scent to help us reduce stress and fatigue. Natural essential oils derived from plants can help sleep and limit mold. Currently, due to the high demand for essential oils, some industrial essential oils appear to affect the quality of traditional essential oils. So is using essential oils good for health?
1. Benefits of natural essential oils for health
There are many different types of essential oils depending on the recipe of the craftsman. Their gentle scent helps us relax mentally after a stressful day. Therefore, essential oils are widely used in traditional folk medicine. The following are the health benefits of essential oils:
Stress relief Many essential oils are used as aromatherapy to manage stress and anxiety. Some scientific studies suggest that orange essential oil has a good effect on the mood of men when inhaled about 2 - 10 drops. However, this issue still needs to be studied and analyzed more closely to give the most accurate results.
Limits fungal and bacterial growth Early studies on tea tree oil gave hopeful results for its anti-bacterial properties that have been handed down for generations in ancient medicine. This essential oil has been used on patients with tinea versicolor, oral thrush or candida infections. However, this use is still not really recognized and needs to be studied more deeply to explain the hidden things.
Support deep sleep The soothing scent of lavender essential oil has a relaxing effect and improves sleep quality. Therefore, scientists decided to test this essential oil on elderly subjects with memory loss. The results showed that after adding a few drops of essential oil to the pillow, the scent helped the elderly sleep better and lasted longer than before.
Disease prevention Some essential oils contain antioxidants that are good for health. As you know, antioxidants help prevent cell damage caused by free radicals. When cells are damaged by free radicals, the risk of developing cancer is extremely dangerous. Scientists based on this use have actively researched to add some components to essential oils to increase antioxidants and prolong their use.
2. The risks you need to know when using essential oils
Not because of natural essential oils that we neglect to be subjective. Although essential oils have been around for centuries, there are still some risks involved. Often natural essential oils appear at risk because the user uses the wrong way to cause irritation or poisoning dangerous to health.
Children and pets or adults who are allergic to scents should not go near areas where essential oils are present. In addition, pregnant women should consult a doctor to ensure safety. Based on experiments, it is possible to list a few side effects caused by essential oils such as:
Dermatitis Currently there are many essential oils that are widely sold with good advertising for health. However, for orange essential oil, you should dilute it to ensure safety for the skin. Essential oil concentrates have quite strong medicinal properties that can cause severe inflammation or rashes. If not detected in time, you will need the help of medical measures.
Digestive health effects Usually essential oils are contraindicated for oral use. However, if you accidentally drink or swallow even a very small amount, you should be careful. Small amounts of essential oils when entering the body can cause serious side effects such as: Loss of muscle control or coma.
Causes hormonal imbalance For lavender essential oil, if you apply it directly to the skin, it will have a great effect on the endocrine system. There was an unfortunate case when a boy before puberty accidentally applied this essential oil to his body which affected his normal development. Observation shows that the baby develops in the direction of feminization. Gynecomastia causes a breast tissue to swell, causing changes in the male body. But fortunately after stopping using essential oils this condition disappeared.
3. Use essential oils properly and in the right dosage to ensure health
Dosage of an essential oil is not the same. However, recommendations are often based on the ingredients and the type of plant being extracted. Therefore, when using essential oils, we should pay attention to follow the instructions for use printed on the product packaging by the manufacturer. In case you are able to extract essential oils yourself, make sure you have enough knowledge and information about them to be able to determine a reasonable and safe dose for your health.
In general, pure natural essential oils when used should be diluted with some other substance such as water to ensure the concentration drops to 3-5%. You can also dilute essential oils with a ratio of 1 teaspoon of water to 1 drop of essential oil.
To determine if you are suitable for an essential oil, you can apply a patch and then apply it on your body for 24 hours. To avoid the effect of essential oils on the skin, you should stick it on the forearm area. If after the allotted time the body does not appear any irritation, you can remove the patch and clean it.
So whether essential oils are good for health no longer depends on the composition and usage of each person. Equip yourself with the necessary knowledge to avoid experiencing side effects when using essential oils.
Reference source: webmd.com