Everyday there are thousands of processes going on in our bodies to maintain a healthy balance. A beautiful synergy of signals and warning systems alerting us to make a change. Some good examples are hunger and our internal thermostats regulating our body temperature. When these balances break down through stress, injury or illness we need a leg up or a boost. Nature provides us with this much need boost through plants. There are many ways to use plants. Topically with massage, creams, balms, oils, teas or herbal compresses. Inhalation of the beautiful therapeutic aromas, just smell a rose or breath in a forest to discover this. Internally as foods or medicine.
What are essential oils?
Essential Oils (EO's) are secondary metabolites produced by plants and secreted into pockets, to help maintain their own healthy balance; protect from predators, disease, attract birds and bees. They can be found in the flowers, leaves, wood, resins and roots of plants. EO's are made up an extremely complex chemistry that will mimic or work in cohesion with our own internal complex chemistry and processes. They will inhibit and destroy strains of bacteria, virus, parasites and fungus. They are medicines working on many levels of our bodies systems at once with perfection. There are two main methods of extracting these, distillation and cold extraction of citrus fruits.
Through distillation the non water soluble lighter lipid components of the plant material are separated from water soluble components. The lipids become the essential oils, and hare high volatile (evaporate readily). EO's are highly concentrated substances and require a lot of plant material to produce a small amount of oil.
Essential oils are;
not water soluble
volatile substances (evaporate readily)
extremely complex made up of hundreds of chemicals. Often over 200 different constituents.
work to protect our bodies as they work to protect plants
