There are a myriad of alternative and natural remedies available in the market today: CBD, Acupuncture, Yoga, Meditation, and Aromatherapy. Everyone has their go-to remedy for different things: pain, inflammation, PMS, acne, etc. Aromatherapy is one of the most popular ones so we want to cover the top five essential oils for your health and give you an overview of how they work.
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is the holistic health practice of achieving therapeutic benefit using mainly your olfactory sense. With the aid of essential oils, inhaling these scents can be absorbed by our olfactory nerve and sent to the brain triggering a therapeutic effect.
The most common way of achieving this is by putting essential oils in a diffuser and letting the scent cover up the room. But combining the essential oil with a massage base is also a great way of getting the potential benefits of essential oils. These applications aim to assist the body’s natural abilities to heal, rest, and recover from stress and illness.
What are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are extracted from different aromatic and medicinal plants combined with a carrier oil. History has a lot of evidence suggesting that people from ancient times have used essential oils for bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antiparasitics, insecticidal, medicinal, and cosmetic applications.
Studies are citing the positive effects of essential oils. Essential oils from aromatic medicinal plants are shown to exhibit exceptional antimicrobial effects against viruses, filamentous fungi, yeast, and bacteria.
What are the Top Five Essential Oils for Your Health?
Lavender.
Easily the most popular and widely used essential oil, lavender is the perfect relaxing scent to have in your aromatherapy stash if you’re experiencing stress and anxiety. Lavender is known to have positive effects on sleep and it also treats headaches.
Frankincense.
Known as the king of oils, Frankincense provides a wide variety of potential benefits such as anti-inflammatory, gut relief, asthma management, moisturizer, antibacterial, oral health, and many more!
Orange.
For sure, many of us love the scent of a freshly peeled orange! Known for being the “happy oil”, the perfectly citrusy and uplifting aroma of sweet orange essential oil helps support a happy mood. It may also help manage anxiety and pain. But not a lot of people know that citrus essential oils like grapefruit and orange are great at suppressing appetite which is great for people trying to lose weight.
Peppermint.
This oil is perfect for massage since its cooling effect is great in relieving muscle pain. It has also been found to manage IBS symptoms and improve skin conditions.
Oregano.
An unlikely partner for aromatherapy because of its strong-spicy scent but this essential oil packs a punch. It has antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. It’s great in treating skin diseases and bacterial infections as well. This can also treat fevers and respiratory issues.
Essential Oils and CBD
CBD and other cannabinoids are also very popular natural remedies. Combining CBD with essential oils can boost both therapeutic and medicinal properties giving you the best of both remedies.
Hemp produces terpenes in the same way as cannabinoids such as CBD and CBG. These terpenes are what give the plant the aromas and flavors. Early research has shown that terpenes have therapeutic effects. Essential oils also contain different terpenes and in combination with cannabidiol can be the perfect natural remedy for you. The best way to use the best of both worlds is using it as a topical. A CBD lotion or muscle gel can help you with skin conditions like eczema or acne; it can also help to alleviate muscle pain and any type of inflammation.
Conclusion
More studies are still needed to be conducted to definitively say that it can be used as a treatment. But anecdotal evidence is undeniable and it should be worth exploring more.
Ultimately, seek the advice of a medical professional as they know much better and you’ll get more information on natural treatments and remedies.
