Why Do Essential Oils Work?
By Edward Close, PhD, PE and Jacquelyn Close, RA
As a scientist, I ask a lot of questions and have a natural curiosity about why things work the way they do. For years I have quietly read and listened to many others talk about essential oils and what these tiny miracles of God's creation do. Indeed, I and my family have experienced many benefits from their usage, however, I have never been fully satisfied with the answers or explanations about why essential oils work in the human body.
I have heard Dr. Gary Young say that essential oils are the life blood
of the plants, but while blood is essential to human life, and I can
see that essential oils serve a similar purpose in plants as blood
does in the human body, we are not plants. So what is the connection?
Why should oils extracted from plant material be so beneficial to
human beings?
Gary Young points out that essential oils are highly concentrated,
they serve to carry vital nutrients to cells, they cleanse cells and
receptor sites and oxygenate the blood. That is intriguing and I can
see that due to their ability to transport oxygen into the system,
essential oils may have similar effects as hyperbaric chambers in
providing freely available oxygen to cells and tissue. Hyperbaric
chambers are used to reduce pain and promote rapid healing of wounds and sores by increasing the oxygen available to the cells, which in
turn keeps the cells alive and well. I have seen similar results when
using oils on wounds our son received during a motorcycle accident.
The science is not
there yet, but this certainly helped me understand the potential
reason for why they work for humans.
My life-long friend, Dr. David Stewart, told me that essential oils
have tiny molecules that penetrate the skin and their organic chemical
compositions are intriguingly complex. I understand from the chemistry
that the compounds of essential oils can be utilized by humans to
accomplish certain tasks, but that still did not quite satisfy my
curiosity or fully answer the question:
Why do Essential Oils Work and Work So Well for Humans?
To my surprise, studying mold and mold-related illness, and
understanding why oils have such a dramatic affect on mold, fungi, and
bacteria has supplied the answer to this long-puzzling question.
Perhaps you are not fully aware of what fungi, or molds and especially
toxic molds, do to the human body.
Mold Health Symptoms
Fungi can cause health problems to both humans and animals by several
different biological mechanisms: infections, allergenic or
hypersensitivity reactions, irritant reactions, toxic reactions, and
in certain cases they can even cause death. In fact there were 16
infants who died in an area near Cleveland, Ohio, and the only
commonality found among the cases was that all the houses where the
infants had lived contained high levels of a toxic mold called
stachybotrys chartarum.
According to a 2004 University of Connecticut Health Center report,
the following symptoms have been found through scientific
investigation to result from exposure to mold and toxic molds:
Allergies, asthma, bleeding lungs, breathing difficulties, cancer,
central nervous system problems, recurring colds, chronic coughing,
coughing up with blood, dandruff problems (chronic) that do not go
away despite use of anti-dandruff shampoos, death, dermatitis, skin
rashes, diarrhea, Eye and vision problems, fatigue (chronic,
excessive, or continued), general malaise, flu symptoms (chronic),
sudden hair loss, headaches, hemorrhagic pneumonitis, hives, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, irritability, itching (of the nose,
mouth, eyes, throat, skin or any other area), kidney failure, learning
difficulties, mental dysfunction, personality changes, memory loss or
memory difficulties, open skin sores and lacerations, peripheral
nervous system effects, redness of the sclera (white of your eyes),
runny nose (rhinitis) or thick, green slime coming out of nose (from
sinus cavities), seizures, sinus congestion, sinus problems, chronic
sinusitis, skin redness, sleep disorders, sneezing fits, sore throat,
tremors (shaking), verbal dysfunction (trouble in speaking), vertigo
(feelings of dizziness, lightheadedness, faintness and unsteadiness),
and vomiting.
We are surrounded by mold and fungi. They are found everywhere on
planet Earth. The geologic record informs us that molds have existed
perhaps a billion years longer than humans. Mold is a hardy,
long-lived, secure life form that
was originally thought to be a part of the plant kingdom. Then, it was
discovered that fungi, or molds, are not bacteria, not viruses, not
plants, and not animals. They are entirely different. In the 1960s,
scientists recognized molds as their own kingdom -- the Fungi Kingdom.
So, if they are everywhere, what can we do?
Horror stories of toxic mold exposure abound and yet the very things recommended to address the problems of mold are either prohibitively
expensive or they are just as toxic and hazardous to human health,
even potentially lethal, and often they simply do not work.
Consider this...When a living organism dies, plant or animal, mold
long with numerous other micro organisms attack the body in order to
break it down into various organic compounds, some of which the
organisms, these scavengers, use as food. This is a natural process
that continually recycles life and materials found on planet earth.
The difference between fungi and the scavengers we usually think of,
such as vultures, is that fungi (molds) do not care whether you are
alive or dead, they are attacking you all the time. Right now, in
fact. They are doing what they do best, trying to reduce you to
useable food stuff!
Fungi do the same thing with plants. Plant materials are primarily
cellulose -- the most delectable of foods to fungi. If plants did not
have a way to ward off these fungi and also bacterial attacks, they
would have become extinct ages ago. And what is it that has preserved
the plants? It is the essential oils.
Essential oils were created, at least in part, to serve as or to
strengthen the plant's immune system. One of an essential oil's
primary responsibilities is destruction of fungi and bacteria that
would otherwise destroy the plant.
The real point here is that these wondrous essential oils were
designed specifically to attack, kill and destroy the organisms that
damage or hinder the full expression of a joyous, healthful life and
they are designed to minimize and prevent damage to higher order
living organisms. That is why oils are so beneficial to humans, that
is why they work so well for humans, they destroy the organisms that
would do us harm and they apparently do not destroy the organisms that
are there to help us.
In recent scientific investigations, I have collected data on the
results of using Young Living's essential oil blend called ThievesTM
to kill toxic mold. Within the next few months that data, which was
collected from several sites infested with toxic molds, will be
available through a DVD and a book providing scientific evidence that
diffusing this wonderful blend of oils created by Dr. Gary Young is
the best defense available today against mold and toxic molds. Soon you will be able to show people, not just tell them, that the ThievesTM oil blend destroys toxic mold. And, as most of us who have used these oils already know, these special oils are not harmful
to humans or pets but instead offer great support to health and
wellness. As for the health benefits, well they say the "proof is in the
pudding," and in my case the pudding is my health. I will soon be 70
years old and I am healthier today than I was 10 years ago or even 20
years ago. My wife, Jacqui, and I have used Young Living oils,
exclusively, for about 7 years now because of the benefits we have
received from them. We diffuse essential oils in our home and in our
offices and I am happy to tell you that I have not had the flu or a
debilitating cold in all that time. God is great! And so are Young
Living's Essential Oils.
---
Edward Close has a PhD in environmental science and engineering. He is
a Professional Engineer in the State of Missouri, and has worked in
the environmental industry since 1965.
Jacquelyn Close is a Registered Aromatherapist and a Fully Certified
CARE Instructor.
She has used and taught Alternative and Complimentary Techniques (ACT)
for health and wellness since 1975.
