PART II: Are essential oils safe for ingestion?

Essential oils are safe, non-toxic, free of side effects…and, as we will see,  sometimes most healing and restorative when used internally.

The short answer is yes…depending. 

In the first installment on the safety of ingesting essential oils, I decided to give you some context on this important question of safety. We worry about lavender essence in our poundcake, but as a society have become comfortable with wrecking our entire gut and depleting our immune systems by popping antibiotics and smearing harmful antibacterial soaps and sanitizers over our skin.

These things lead to cancer!

On the flip side, Oregano might give you herb-burp. For a few minutes. 

(Incidentally, you can help prevent herb-burp by taking it with a bit of olive or coconut oil.).

The Lemon Lavender Cake below, though, will go down niiice and easy. Maybe too easy. Be sure and eat a healthy meal first or if you’re anything like me, the cake will disappear suddenly and you’ll wonder who ate it?!  Good thing lavender is soothing and stress relieving. I’ll be more likely to enjoy it slowly enough to share.

you’ve been “ingesting” essential oils your whole life!

For example, drinking a cup of soothing mint tea is essential oil ingestion.

Mint leaves get their refreshing, invigorating aroma from the “essence” or essential oil flowing through it. 

When you steep mint leaves in hot water, the heat breaks down the plant fiber so the  internal essence can flow out into the water (your “solvent”). Thus, it is infused right there in your teacup and you have yourself a wonderful “mint tea,” or infusion of mint essential oil in your water.

Same thing.

Only…essential oils are 50-70x more potent, which, in the realm of essential oils…is synonymous with therapeutic (so 50-70x more therapeutic).

The essential oil is responsible for the flavor, the fragrance and many benefits of herbs, plants, and flowers.

Likewise, when you take a full harvest of mint leaves and collect enough  essence through ancient process called “distillation,” you get the essence untouched and undiluted, similar to your teacup only more concentrated.

I love this scripture and how it applies here:

“God delights in concealing things; scientists delight in discovering things.”
—Proverbs 25:2 The Message Translation

It’s tickles me to know that these beautiful essences were placed there, hidden like gems for our discovery.

God knows He created us to tinker and play, solve riddles, dig and discover.

In one of my online Essentials of Essential Oils classes, we talk just a little about the thousands of years of essential oils’ medicinal usage. You and I might be newer to them, but mothers, fathers, aunties, doctors and especially Mexican and Puerto Rican grandmas have been enjoying essential oils for millennia.

(Gramma ever make you drink oregano tea for flu? Or give you cayenne cough syrup for sore throat? Mine did!)

Internal Usage of doterra Essential Oils is safe

Handled correctly and untainted by GMO’s, insecticides or other general tamperings (yes I just made that word up)…

…many oils are not only safe but recommended for internal usage.

However, if the plant or distilled essence is mishandled, contaminated, or just plain wimpy from poor farming (ehem…potted plants in auntie’s kitchen facing main avenue), then no…you shouldn’t take it internally or any other way.

If you pick up a bottle of, say, lemon or lavender essential oil and it says “not safe for ingestion,” I would caution you to reconsider using the oil at all. There is no reason an essence distilled from lemons or lavender plants should be unsafe for ingestion…unless the substance inside that bottle contains fillers, perfumes, pesticides, dangerous solvents or other contaminants.

Of course, some essential oils are recommended for topical and/or aromatic applications, which just means you only need to put it on the skin or inhale through the nose to receive the amazing benefits.

Below is a video excerpted from my online class, Essential Oils Made Easy. It’s not long and will leave you better informed than most of your facebook friends.

Leave a comment if you have any questions or thoughts to add!

I pray your health would get better every week, every month, every year as you integrate essential oils into your life and get to know, literally, what makes your body tick!