What Are Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils?

May 13, 2009 by Curt Siters

Although essential oils have been used for thousands of years, only now has science developed the ability to research them on a cellular level. C. Norman Shealy, M.D. Ph.D., wrote that "Quantum physicist have confirmed the reality of the basic vibratory essence of life." He also noted that "life energy is not static; it is kinetic." Experiments using a high–resolution microscope that magnifies greater than 1,000 times and utilizes dark-field technology have shown an incredible difference between Young Living Essential Oils and other brands.

Only Young Living’s essential oils showed light, vibration, and rapid motion as captured in live-motion videos. This pulsing movement seems to indicate active coenzymes, minerals, oxygenating molecules, and more. While science is still determining what to call this type of energy (life-force, Brownian motion, kinetic energy or biological energy field), more intriguing ideas have been investigated. The research is ongoing.

We firmly believe that the chemistry and kinetic energy of essential oils have the ability too help maintain and improve the body’s life force for optimal health. As we begin to understand the power of essential oils in the realm of holistic healthcare, we will appreciate the necessity for obtaining the purest oil possible. No matter how costly pure essential oils may seem, there can be no substitutes.

One of the many factors that determine the purity of essential oil is the chemical constituents. These constituents can be affected by a vast number of variables, including the part(s) of the plant from which the oil was produced, the soil condition, fertilizer (organic or chemical), geographical region, climate, altitude, harvesting methods, distillation process and many other important factors. The key to producing a therapeutic-grade essential oil is to preserve as many of the delicate aromatic compounds within the essential oils as possible. Fragile aromatic chemicals are easily destroyed by high temperature and pressure as well as contact with chemically reactive metals, such as copper or aluminum. This is why all therapeutic-grade essential oil should be distilled in stainless steel cooking chambers at low pressure and low temperature. The plant material should also be free of pesticides, herbicides, and other agrichemicals. These can react with the essential oil during distillation to produce toxic compounds.

Adulterated and mislabeled essential oils present a danger for consumers. One woman who had heard of the ability of lavender oil to heal burns use lavender oil from a local health food store when she spilled boiling water on her arm. But the pain intensified and the burn worsened, so she later complained that lavender oil was worthless for healing burns. When her "lavender" oil was analyzed, it was found to be lavandin, a hybrid lavender that is chemically very different from pure lavandula angustifolia. Lavendin contains high levels of camphor and can burn the skin. In contrast true lavender contains virtually no camphor and has burn-healing agents not found in lavandin.

Currently the United States has no agency to guarantee the purity of essential oils. However the French government has created AFNOR to certify different grades of essential from perfume through therapeutic. If the essential oil you have or use is not Young Living or does not have AFNOR on the label don't use it. Young Living has always met AFNOR standards.

There are huge chemical companies on the east coast of the U.S. that specialize in the duplication of every essential oil that exists and creating "essential oils" that don't exist or are impossible to distill with our current level of knowledge. For every kilogram of pure essential oil that is produced, it is estimated there are between 10 and 100 kilograms of synthetic oil created.

Young Living has adopted the European standard, widely regarded as the "gold standards" for testing essential oils. Young Living is continually expanding its analytical chemical library in order to perform more thorough chemical analysis. Properly analyzing an essential oil by gas chromatography is a complex undertaking. The analyst examines the entire fingerprint of the oil to determine its purity and potency, measuring how various compounds in the oil occur in relation to each other. Young Living analyzes each batch of its essential oils at an AFNOR certified laboratory.

Adulteration of essential oils will become more and more common as the supply of top quality essential oils dwindles and demand explodes. Anyone seeking the true benefits of aromatherapy and essential oils must use the purest oils available. Inferior quality or adulterated oils most likely will not produce therapeutic results and could possibly be toxic.