Ever had an upset stomach and noticed that peppermint can make your stomach feel better? Or maybe you were feeling tired and a peppermint gave you a little burst of energy? Have you walked into someone’s house and the smell of vanilla has made you instantly relax? The reason for these reactions lies in essential oils.

You have started to regain your health through a more natural and holistic approach by cleaning up your diet and following a solid natural nutrition plan. You have followed our advice on activating your vagus nerve by singing and gargling.  You are ready for the next step. Have you considered the use of essential oils?

You are aware that essential oils are used to pamper, clean, and calm. But did you know there is clinical evidence to support the pharmacological properties of essential oils? Essential oils are the most ancient of medicines. Essential oils are a form of plant medicine. Plants have been used for thousands of years to scent, disinfect, and heal.1

Essential oils are natural substances created by plants. These oils are aromatic compounds that give plants their distinctive aromas. You may have had a recipe that called for fresh basil. After handling the basil you noticed that your fingers smelled wonderful. That wonderful smell was caused by the transfer of very concentrated oil to your fingers. This oil is extracted from plants and herbs for use in several kinds of healing.

How Do Essential Oils Work?

Essential oils use the cells that are part of your olfactory system—your sense of smell—to reach your brain to help you address areas of concern. After the essential oils have diffused and float in the air they reach the inside of your nose. Here they dissolve in the mucus inside the top of each side of your nostrils. Specialized receptor cells lie in wait under the mucus membrane. These receptor cells can detect more than 10,000 different odors! That’s a lot of smells! In the back of your nose, your olfactory bulb receives the scent of information. The olfactory bulb is directly connected to your brain. Once in your brain, these molecules can affect all parts of the brain, including your fight or flight response. This is why certain smells can either cause you to relax or cause a flight response. The amazing thing is this response can happen quickly. This is what makes essential oils so effective!

Toxic Mold, Breathing, and Essential Oils

As you know there are many ways you can be exposed to toxic mold—from flooded areas to water-damaged buildings to old schools you attended when you were young.  As we enter tornado and hurricane season, we are fighting a never-ending battle against water-damaged buildings, a breeding ground for mycotoxins.

You may be being exposed to toxic mold right now in your office. Did you know there are over 250 kinds of mold that can grow in the body and cause toxic illness.2 And many of these molds enter our body each time you breathe? You breathe somewhere between 17,000 and 30,000 breaths a day. Each one of those breaths is an opportunity to breathe in the mold. That’s a lot of opportunities! The toxic mold spores travel through your olfactory bulb into your brain. Often patients come to me with conditions they have tried to heal by treating the symptoms of itchy eyes, running nose, cough, wheezing, etc. In the time of this pandemic, mold exposure may appear at the beginning of symptoms of COVID-19. If you want to know more about mold and COVID-19 we have an entire article devoted to the subject.

Since essential oils also use your olfactory system you can use them to help combat your exposure to mold. Essential oils can offer relief while you are detoxing your body from mold exposure and heavy metals. When you inhale certain essential oils, especially ones that are rich in antioxidants, you are fighting free radicals on a cellular level.

You can purify your home and your body with essential oils. The oils listed below are clinically proven to assist with support for someone exposed to mold and also for good general health.

Top Essential Oils For Toxic Mold Exposure

  1. Lemongrass, Fennel, and Caraway. These essential oils have been shown to help stop the growth of mold.3 Adding these to your diet is beneficial since mycotoxins could be microscopically showing up in your food.
  2. Lemon Balm, Sage, Coriander, Thyme, Cinnamon, and Peppermint. All of these have been shown to be beneficial in stopping some mycotoxins.4
  3. Lemon and Clove. These have studies backing them that show how they can help mold from spreading.5
  4. Thyme. This herb has been used for centuries. Now science backs up the benefits of using this essential oil.6 Thyme essential oil is rich in thymol—a terpene that is an especially active anti-spasmodic that can help reduce coughs.7
  5. Tea Tree Oil. Also known as Melaleuca, Tea Tree Oil is a powerful anti-fungal. It is often used for treating small mold issues on fabrics and countertops. Add it to a spray bottle with some water and spray your shower walls. It can also be used to heal skin irritations.
  6. Clove. Clove extract and clove oil have studies showing they stop fungus.7 This essential oil is also beneficial for the immune system.

    How to Use Essential Oils

    The most common way to use an essential oil is diffusion. Using a specialized diffuser or reed diffuser you can add essential oils to your environment. Diffusing these scents cleanses and purifies the air and may kill mold spores that are present. And your house or office will smell amazing. A great combination is a cinnamon and clove. It produces a warm, comforting aroma that we wall want in our homes.

    Feeling a little blue, try diffusing some citrus oils. They can be mood uplifting for both the mind and body. Lime even has some special benefits. It has actually been shown to help with cardiovascular disease.8 Grapefruit, lemon, and another citrus can help detoxify the home and body.9

    Be sure to use diffusers in place of scented candles. Using scented candles could actually be putting more toxins in your home.

    Another common way to enjoy essential oils is to dilute them in neutral oils such as fractionated coconut oil, jojoba oil, or almond oil. These oils are concentrated, so reach out to Carpathia Collaborative on how to effectively dilute these oils.

    No matter how you add essential oils to your life, be sure to use well-researched oils. With so much extensive research out there, you are likely to find one that helps your specific condition. Not sure which essential oils will be the best for you, give Carpathia Collaborative a call.

    Does the Brand Matter?

    Yes. You want a high-quality essential oil that is sourced appropriately and free of chemical additives. Carpathia Collaborative only recommends two brands—Young Living and doTerra. Both brands are high-quality and have been sourced appropriately. You want a product where the growing, harvesting, and distillation process has been done in a compliant manner. This yields a potent and pure oil so you get the medicinal properties you’re looking for. The second reason these brands are recommended is that they don’t have any chemical additives. And they have been packaged so as to not damage the product. While there are many brands of essential oils on the market, they don’t offer the same quality.

    Remember a high-quality essential oil is 50-70 times more concentrated than the herb itself. A little goes a long way. As with all things, be careful.  Eucalyptus oil is safe when inhaled. But it should never be taken orally without the guidance of a practitioner at Carpathia Collaborative. It can actually be poisonous if taken in the wrong amount.4

    One Final Benefit

    Essential oils can replace common cleaning products, perfumes, and even car deodorizers. This is great news if you have a sensitivity to chemical smells that are often used in these products. In addition, essential oils in a spray bottle are much cheaper than using these harmful chemicals that can make you ill. For a more holistic way to replace these products call our office for information.

    If you are ready to start making essential oils part of your new natural and holistic lifestyle, give Carpathia Collaborative a call and we will help you get started.

    For more information on essential oils check out The Best of the Essential Oils Revolution — sharing information from every field, including aromatherapy, direct sales, medicine, and research to help you learn about the possibility of regaining your health using essential oils. This unique, multi-media event features a women’s health video series, advanced training presentations, AND expert interviews — the best-of-the-best of past Essential Oils Revolution events (since 2015)! All reasons not to miss The Best of the Essential Oils Revolution, online and FREE from May 18-24, 2020

    References:

    1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25001990
    2.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22952104
    3.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4025292/
    4. https://www.poison.org/articles/2014-jun/essential-oils
    5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28758221
    6.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3598923/
    7.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25255251
    8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17209812
    9. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03235408.2012.713799
    10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770194/
    11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01224/full