Can essential oils be ingested safely or should they only be used topically or in diffusers? Some brands claim their essential oils are ‘food grade’ and safe for oral consumption while other oils are advertised strictly for topical or inhalation/diffuser use only. With many essential oil companies on the market and even more essential oil ‘advice’ over social media, it can be difficult to sift through all the available information and understand how essential oils should safely be used.
Luckily for you, we have done the research for you – keep reading to find out more about essential oils and how they are best used!
What are essential oils?
Essential oils, also known as volatile oils, are derived from a number of different plants and are responsible for the plant’s aroma. Due to their strong scents, essential oils are often used in perfumes, cosmetics and room fresheners. They are also used in some types of pesticides and particular essential oils have a long history of medicinal use, too.
The Ancient Egyptians have used
essential oils since as
early as 4500 BC as part of their ointments and cosmetics. In traditional
Chinese and Indian medicine,
essential oil use can be traced back between 3000
and 2000 BC where oils of plants like cinnamon,
ginger, myrrh and sandalwood
were used for healing.
The benefits and uses of
essential oils form a practice called aromatherapy. A
qualified aromatherapist will use and prescribe specific
essential oils as a
treatment to improve the health of their clients.
Essential oils act as the immune system of a plant - their specialised aroma helps to ward off pests and predators. Their aroma also attracts pollinators, such as insects and birds. The oils are extracted from the leaves, petals, stems, seeds, rind and even the roots of various plants. Aromatic plants (plants that have an identifiable aroma or smell) generally contain their essential oil in different concentrations in various parts of the plant. For example, roses predominately secrete their oil in the flowers while ginger produces more oil in its rhizome.
Thousands of different compounds make up each essential oil. These compounds are unique to each plant or family of plants. They are known by names like limonene and menthol and play specific therapeutic and energetic roles in plants. They are commonly used in cosmetics and beauty products too (check the ingredients panel of your body wash, cleanser and moisturiser – you’ll probably find some of these compounds listed!).
The extraction of essential oils from plants is a fairly expensive process because of the large amount of raw material required to produce just a few millilitres of oil. To obtain a single drop of essential oil of rose, you would need approximately 60 roses!
Can I ingest essential oils?
In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regard the aromatherapy category as a topical and inhalation therapy and, only registered clinicians are qualified to prescribe the oral ingestion of essential oils. Some essential oils form part of a number of Australian, TGA-approved supplements. Lavender oil for example is added to some sleep formulas and peppermint oil is often added to products that aid digestion.
Many people assume essential oils are harmless and in fact, helpful as they are natural and have a long history of use. In most cases, this is simply not true. Especially in sensitive individuals, essential oils can cause skin rashes when applied topically (especially straight from the bottle without being diluted) and some can even be poisonous when ingested orally. Some companies claim their essential oils as ‘therapeutic grade’ or ‘food grade’ but these terms simply do not exist as part of the TGA guidelines for essential oils.
What are the best ways to use essential oils?
There are plenty of safe ways to enjoy the benefits of essential oils. Using them in a diffuser is an example, there are many studies to show the benefits of the inhalation of various essential oils for things like increased focus and concentration, decongestant benefits and calming benefits, too. You may also like to add a drop of essential oil to your shampoo, conditioner, body wash or body moisturiser. Our general rule of thumb for safe, topical use of our Australian NaturalCare Essential Oils is 1:40 i.e. 1mL of essential oil to 40mL body moisturiser.
Essential oils should only be ingested if they have been prescribed to you by a registered clinician or as part of a TGA-approved supplement. The safety of essential oils differs for children, pregnant women and those with known allergies so it is necessary to consult with your doctor or health care professional prior to using essential oils, whether it be topical, for inhalation or oral ingestion.
Due to the large number of different chemical compounds found in essential oils, it is likely that their activity isn’t just specific to certain body processes, but to a large number of locations in our cells. There is still a lack of knowledge on how some essential oils specifically work in the human body, so topical use and inhalation, as well as ingestion of essential oils only as part of a TGA-approved supplement, are currently the safest ways to enjoy their aroma and health benefits.
References
Elshafie, H.S., Camele, I. (2017), An Over View of the Biological Effects of Some Mediterranean Essential Oils on Human Health, BioMed Research International, doi: 10.1155/2017/92686468
Oil Garden (2020), Certifications and Industry Standards, cited on 19.5.2020, accessed < https://www.oilgarden.com.au/certifications-industry-standards/>
