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Our instant gratification society and panacea mindset can tempt one to desire a quick fix…natural or otherwise. If one does not address the underlying factors that created the imbalance to begin with, any modality, including essential oils, will not have a lasting impact.
To enhance my ongoing series regarding specific essential oils and their influence on hormones, please take a moment to review these five key points.
The Five Key Points for Achieving Balanced Hormones and a Healthy Body Using Essential Oils and Natural Medicine
1. Essential Oils are Multi-Faceted.
Due to their simultaneous impact on our psychology, physiology, and biochemistry, essential oils have multi-factorial actions that address many of the triggers and contributors to hormonal and body imbalances. These are based on their following properties:
- Essential oils have synergy, meaning their effects are more than the sum of their isolated parts. Essential oils’ many constituents can travel to where they will have the most impact and effect all body systems at once with one drop.
- Most oils act as antioxidants which can protect our bodies from chemical stressors. These toxins in our environment are now being linked to many hormonal disorders such as thyroid problems and infertility, as well other brain and body diseases. By protecting our bodies from harm, essential oils can be used proactively.
- Essential oils aromatic properties allow for a direct link to the emotional center within our brain via olfaction. This influences our mood as their biochemical constituents affect our overall physiology, stress response, and the functioning and signaling in our brain.
This is important because beyond physical strain, negative emotions and chronic stress can cause havoc on reproductive health. (source, source, source, source, source)
By balancing our emotional and physical health at the same time, essential oils can alleviate hormonal and physical chaos in a holistic way. Just look at all their actions here. You can read more and/watch more about this on my recent video blog.
2. The Importance of (Essential Oils) Quality.
The last thing you want to do when balancing hormones is to use essential oils, or any other product, that is spiked with synthetic compounds. Many of these unregulated substances have questionable safety and have potential to act as endocrine disruptors. (source, source, source, source, source)
3. Put Safety First!
Keeping the proper use and dosage in mind for any therapeutic modality is important. Please review the resources for essential oils safety here in order to achieve the best outcomes.
4. There is No One Cure-All: Healing is Comprehensive.
Too often, people are covering their problems by natural or synthetic means to manipulate their biochemistry without addressing the underlying dysfunctions. Symptom suppression is necessary for some time but will not ultimately lead to true healing. I discussed this in my two-part series published on Natural Path relating to getting to the root cause of mental disorders on an individual basis. In the same way, we need to use essential oils as one (important) tool to help rebalance our emotions, brain, and body as we incorporate a holistic approach.
It may seem that I’ve touted essential oils as the number one cure-all for everything. Indeed, they are part of the protocol for 99% of my clients; however, in most instances one sniff of an essential oil won’t be the solution by itself. In fact, I’ve seen many purchase a lot of essential oils to find their “answer” only to have them sitting on a shelf and not know what to do with them.
In my practice, essential oils are part of a comprehensive plan that also includes herbals, nutraceuticals, and supplements. I base all my recommendations and suggestions on each person’s biochemical individuality.
When generalizations and basic wellness guides with essential oils and nutrition have only gotten people so far, I dig deep into what the triggers, mediators, contributors, and origins are to my clients’ issues.
5. Stop the Viscous Cycle of Unknowingly Contributing to the Problem
There is research that essential oils can assist our bodies with detoxification, yet at the same time people continue to do things that are contributing to their issues and re-toxing them. For example, many are cleaning their homes and filling their bathrooms with products laced with endocrine-disrupting and harmful chemicals.
If you are confused where to start with supporting your overall health, consider first removing the things associated with body hormonal disharmony and purchasing some safe personal care products. (These are my favorite because they include quality essential oils at diluted levels.)
You’ll be ahead of the eight ball by doing this in general and if you do need to get additional support from a practitioner. I always discuss this concept with my clients in the first or second visit.
Conclusion
Essential oils are a key support tool for many of the women and men in my practice who have struggled for years with their health because of their ability to affect these five key areas. In my final article on rose geranium, I’ll review the specific studies on its impacts on levels of hormones as you keep these points in mind.
To learn more on my naturopathic and functional medicine consultations and scheduling an appointment click here.
Additional Resources
* Please note that the studies from PubMed aren’t specific to any essential oils company.
This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. ( Affiliation link.)
Disclaimer: This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.
