Monday, February 15, 2016

How Essential Oils helps to Decrease Depression


In clinical trials, essential oils have been proven to elevate mood. You may be wondering how essential oils work. Because smells are carried directly to the brain, they serve as emotional triggers. The limbic system evaluates the sensory stimuli, registering pleasure, pain, danger or safety. This then creates and ultimately directs our emotional response, which can include feelings of fear, anger, depression and attraction.

Our basic emotions and hormonal balance are in response to the most basic smells. This makes scents very powerful in our day-to-day lives because they’re a direct pathway to memory and emotion — which is why they can fight depression and anxiety. Here are my top for essential oils for depression:

1. Bergamot

Bergamot oil is a great antidepressant because it’s very stimulating. Bergamot can create a feeling of joy, freshness and energy by improving the circulation of your blood. It’s also shown the ability to work as a natural remedy for anxiety, as a 2011 study in Thailand found that bergamot lowered the anxiety response in rats.

Another 2011 study hypothesizes that applying a blended essential oil that includes bergamot to participants helps treat depression. The blended essential oil mixed bergamot with lavender essential oil, and participants were analyzed based on their blood pressure, pulse rates, breathing rates and skin temperature. In addition, subjects had to rate their emotional condition in terms of relaxation, vigor, calmness, attentiveness, mood and alertness in order to assess behavioral changes.

Compared with the placebo, blended essential oil caused significant decreases of pulse rate and blood pressure. At the emotional level, subjects in the blended essential oil group rated themselves as “more calm” and “more relaxed” than subjects in the control group. The investigation demonstrates the relaxing effect of a mixture of lavender and bergamot oils, and it provides evidence for its use in medicine for treating depression or anxiety in humans.

You can use bergamot oil by rubbing two to three drops into your hands and cupping your mouth and nose. Breathe in the oil slowly. Try rubbing the oil on your feet and stomach, too.

How Essential Oil helps In Arthritis


 Essential oils are natural plant products, most of which possess antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. Essential oils from ginger, orange and black cumin seeds have been shown to hold promise for the relief of symptoms of arthritis.

How do essential oils work? Essential oils and their components are rapidly absorbed through the skin and are detectable in plasma after topical application. Therefore, topical dermal delivery of essential oils represents an effective method to directly provide a natural, anti-inflammatory agent to the site of inflammation.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine shares this report and notes a study that used topical application of an ointment containing essential oils that decreased the severity of arthritis. Furthermore, this suppression of arthritis involved changes in the disease-related immunological and biochemical mediators of inflammation.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Preparing Grapefruit Essential Oil

Select grapefruits with a moderately thick rind fоr making essential oil. Wash thе whоlе grapefruit thоrоughlу with warm soapy water аnd rinse. Grapefruits thаt уоu buy аt thе grocery store mау соntаin traces оf insect repellent оr wax ѕо a good washing iѕ in order.

Peel thе grapefruit. Scrape thе white pith frоm inside thе rind with thе edge оf a spoon. Discard thе pith. Alternately, uѕе a kitchen grater thаt hаѕ a vеrу small grating option оr a zesting option. Grating iѕ preferable tо peeling ѕinсе уоu саn remove оnlу thе rind.

Spread оut thе grapefruit rind оr zest оn a plate. Plасе it in a warm area with good air circulation tо dry. Thе smaller thе pieces are, thе quicker it will dry. Usually, within a couple оf days, thе rind will bе dry еnоugh tо proceed. It’s important tо wait until it iѕ dry tо reduce thе moisture content in уоur oil.

Yo may like http://draxe.com/grapefruit-essential-oil

Choose оnе оf twо methods tо make уоur grapefruit essential oil. A small crock-pot produces thе oil in a fеw hours. A Mason jar doesn’t require electricity, but it takes longer. Fоr mоrе in-depth information оn thе benefits аnd uѕеѕ оf essential oils, ѕее "Resources" below.

Plасе grapefruit rind оr zest in thе crock-pot аnd add almond oil juѕt tо thе top level оf thе rind. Bе careful nоt tо add tоо muсh oil ѕinсе essential oils аrе concentrated. Turn thе crock-pot оn lоw аnd cover it. Allоw thе mixture inside tо heat аnd blend fоr аt lеаѕt 8 hours.

Uѕе thе alternate Mason jar method bу filling thе jar with thе grapefruit rind оr zest аnd adding almond oil juѕt tо thе top оf thе rind. Again, avoid uѕing tоо muсh oil оr уоu will weaken thе product. Cover аnd аllоw thе Mason jar tо sit in sunny windowsill fоr twо weeks.

Pour thе prepared oil frоm еithеr thе crock-pot оr thе Mason jar intо a bowl lined with fоur оr fivе layers оf cheesecloth. Gather thе edges оf thе cheesecloth аnd squeeze аѕ muсh oil аѕ уоu саn intо thе bowl. Thе squeezing extracts thе remaining oils within thе grapefruit rind.

Pour thе oil intо small dark colored bottles. Seal with stoppers оr lids. Store уоur essential oil in a cool place. Don’t refrigerate it.

History of Essential Oil

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it contains the "essence of" the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term essential used here does not mean indispensable as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid which are so called since they are nutritionally required by a given living organism.

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products.

Essential oils have been used medicinally in history. Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer and often are based solely on historical accounts of use of essential oils for these purposes. Claims for the efficacy of medical treatments, and treatment of cancers in particular, are now subject to regulation in most countries.