Essential oils offer many benefits for your personal well being and health. It can be a great addition to your already established wellness routine. In addition to proper nutrition, vitamins, and exercise, essential oils can do great wonders to supplement and achieve your healthcare goals.
I am going to go over some great benefits of various essential oils and the purpose that it serves for healing and supporting your immune system. Note none of these listed oils should be applied directly onto the skin. You must use a carrier oil and if you can, it’s recommended to do a skin patch to check for any allergic reactions.
One of the great essential oils used to boost the immune system is lavender. (1) “It’s still used for its antimicrobial and antiviral properties”. Lavender is known by its name, (Lavandula angustifolia), which is part of the Lamiaceae family, and can act as both a calm and stress reliever for your central nervous system. It has also been shown to reduce inflammation in the body. In addition to reducing stress, lavender oil also boosts immunity by increasing the activity of some immune cells. There are a wide variety of benefits of lavender oil that help in supporting and protecting the immune system. It is mentioned that, (1) “Lavender essential oil has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.” These also act as a protective defense in the body. Other ways that lavender helps the immune system, is that it’s antiseptic and antibacterial which can ward off bacterial infections. It also increases phagocytosis, which allows the cells to internalize large bacteria such as dead cells.
In one study according to the “National Library of Medicine”, lavender oil was tested for a particular serious infection to test its effectiveness of usage and how it relates to phagocytosis.They found that (2) “lavender oil has been described to increase phagocytes activity and modified the intracellular bacterial proliferation in human macrophages by increasing reactive oxygen species in the case of Staphylococcus aureus infection”. Let me explain briefly that in the process of phagocytosis, the cell “eats” the particle allowing pathogens and debris to be removed. It does this by surrounding the particle and breaking it down within the cell. This can protect the immune system from harmful bacteria.
Now how exactly is lavender oil created? Lavender oil is extracted from steam distillation. The process starts with fresh or dry flowers. The flowers are then placed in a distillation apparatus which steams passed through the flowers. To make lavender essential oil, you have to distill the lavender buds, capture the steam, and condense the steam into a liquid. The whole process requires heat, pressure, equipment, skill, carefulness and patience. Steam is passed through the plant material collecting all the essence of the lavender flower. The essential oil vaporizes and mixes with the steam when traveling to a condenser. After the steam has traveled through a condenser, it forms back to liquid where it is cooled. The water component hydrosol and oils separate. Then the oil is collected and typically stored in any dark colored glass bottle and set in a cool dark place. There you have it, lavender essential oil is now created and ready for use.
Another great oil that is used for inflammation and the immune system, is eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil is extracted from Eucalyptus leaves. (3) “Leaves of the (Eucalyptus globulus) belong to the Myrtaceae family. This leaf is referred to as “blue gum”. The eucalyptus oil has been conventionally used to treat various lung related diseases due to its biological and pharmacological properties”. Eucalyptus oil is a very powerful essential oil and has been shown to improve many respiratory conditions because it stimulates the immune system and provides antioxidant protection. Eucalyptus oil has shown a huge benefit for those with inflammation, especially in respiratory conditions that of course hinder the immune system’s health. In a clinical study done and reported in the “Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science by Science Direct”, (3) “Clinical studies were performed by a few volunteers who had allergic rhinitis. After the use of eucalyptus for nearly a month, the symptoms of rhinitis and allergies related to rhinitis were significantly reduced”. This study supports that eucalyptus oil is great for both the respiratory and immune system.
As you can see, eucalyptus oil can help with the immune system in many ways. The process of extracting eucalyptus oil is also by steam distillation, just like lavender oil and involves the same process. The eucalyptus is derived from chopped up eucalyptus plants. Once the steam process is completed, the oil and other components rise to the top and cool into a liquid in a condenser. The oil is separated and floats on top, collected and ready to be stored in a cool dark glass bottle or container. Precautions include vomiting, and diarrhea. Be careful of poisoning as it can cause stomach pain, muscle weakness, seizures, coma, and dizziness.
Now, onto one of my most favorite essential oils, lemon oil, which for me has the most pleasant fragrance that I have ever smelled. Lemon oil, which the scientific name is (Citrus limon), is part of the Rutaceae family. It can be used as an essential oil for many immune system benefits. The lemon fruit can be eaten separately on its own, and can be beneficial for detoxification and is a great source of vitamin C. The taste of the lemon is sour, but it tastes great as lemon water, can be used in drinks and for various cooking methods and recipes. However, the lemon essential oil extracted from lemon, should not be eaten or used as an edible form of consumption. Lemon essential oil can offer great benefits for the immune system as it can kill viruses and reduce harmful bacteria. I will get into more detail in a bit. According to clinical studies by “Science Direct,” (3) “ Lemon oil contains citronellol, geraniol, limonene, linalool and neryl acetate, as its major constituents, which could suppress the presence of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 in epithelial cells, thus restricting virus entry into host cells and ultimately inhibiting viral infection”. By inhibiting the viral infection from the properties of lemon oil, it can reduce and protect from viral infection which can help the immune system. Lemon oil also has (3) “different properties, such as anti-inflammatory , antibacterial, antioxidant properties.” Anything that is antibacterial can benefit and protect the immune system from harmful bacteria. Now you can see how lemon oil is a great addition to your health and wellness routine by protecting your system from infection.
The process used to create lemon oil is through either cold pressing or steam distillation. Cold pressing uses a mechanical process that picks and rotates the peel to release oil. The oil is then separated from the water and solids using a centrifuge and polisher . For lemon, the yellow peel contains the highest oil content. Most of the oil resides in the thin layer of the outer shell of the lemon. Lemon oil should be handled with precaution as it can cause skin irritation. Please perform a skin patch using a carrier oil such as almond oil or coconut oil. One thing to make note of, citrus oils primarily use the cold pressing method for extraction. These include but are not limited to fruits such as lime( Citrus aurantifolia), and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) ; both oils are part of the Rutataceae family.
As you can see essential oils are not just for aromatic purposes but have also been shown to help heal your immune system and body. Some of these essential oils can be found through companies that sell the individual oil and use a carrier oil to make blends.
References:
Retrieved : October 31st 2024
Cynthia Cobb- DNP, APRN, September 2024 Medical News Today, “Lavender, and its benefits on mood, sleep and more”.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265922#benefits
Edina Pandur, -November 2023, National Library of Medicine, “Anti-Inflammatory effect of lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia) essential oil prepared during different plant phenophase on THP-1 macrophages”.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8611982/
Vivek Chavda, March 2004, Science Direct, Clinical Traditional Medicine and Pharmacology, Volume 5, Issue 1, “The potential role of essential oils in boosting immunity and easing symptoms COVID-19 symptoms”.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2097382924000064
Blog contributor:
Shari Emami is an award winning author of “Breaking Free From Pain: From Suffering To Strength, My Own Personal Journey With Fibromyalgia And Healing Modalities”,a certified health coach and holistic practitioner, HHP. She has taken coursework at The Aromahead Institute in essential oils and is a current student at Aroma Apothecary Healing Arts Academy. She currently resides in Los Angeles and volunteers for The Humane League. She is a current representative of Eden Botanicals and Jade Bloom. For more information go to www.shariemami.com.