Ailing under stress and pollution can be daunting even for regularly healthy individuals. With psychosomatic disorders, depression and stress-related medical conditions as clear winners in today’s modern and ‘virtual’ or e-World, aromatherapy could be the way forward.
The benefit of essential natural oils is not new and has been propagated by healing practitioners. It is the Far-Eastern tradition and healing potencies of pure essential oils that finds parallel place with modern allopathic medicines. Whether for therapeutic or cosmetic use, understanding purity standards of therapeutic essential oils, its advantages and drawbacks are equally essential.
Essential Oils
Oils that are naturally occurring and free from chemical adjuncts find application in several cosmetic and therapeutic medicaments. Oils such as those extracted from natural sources have been known to heal skin, hair and other external conditions but, others also help to balance internal physiological problems. Extracts of peppermint, lavender, sesame and rose find common usage. But, how do we understand purity of such extracts?
With a plethora of brand claiming to be 100 % authentic, there is a need to look for criteria for selecting your oil concentrate for effective efficacy. You need to understand that:
* Essential oils are obtained from plant parts, either from roots, barks, seeds, stems, leaves, flowers or fruits by the process of steam distillation or carbon-di-oxide extraction.
* The oil obtained is actually the volatile liquid components of plant parts. How purity of the end-oil product depends on the method of extraction.
* The potency of extracted oil is dependent on environmental factors such as the area it is grown, the soil sown and fertilizer type (organic vs. chemical).
* The period in which the plant is harvested, distillation and bottling processes also determine grades of essential oils.
* Be aware of commercial products that use excessive solvents to extract the oils which might adulterate the oil potency. Therefore, make sure to procure your essential oil from certified producers.
Manufacturers of certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils do not have scientific or legal standards to fall back on when grading their oil extracts. However, the Association French Normalization Organization Regulation (AFNOR) standards or ISO certification (ISO standards) is the only agency that offers the best reliable chemical constituent indicating parameters to judge whether the extracted oil is therapeutic or otherwise.
With no stringent rules that governs oil extraction methods, obtaining the best grade therapeutic benefit in oils, is time consuming and expensive. The expense incurred in procuring plants such as pine, geranium, lavender, clove, black pepper or lemon balm is worth the cost; if extracted authentically.
Look for percentage of the organic component in the concentrated extract to ensure high therapeutic value of the essential oil used in medicinal products.
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