The Month of Love as Medicine

Hello dear friends.

In our last video, we highlighted the importance of designating February as heart health month. Specifically, we discussed how Valentine’s Day enhanced our cardiac function through the concept of love as medicine.

This global celebration focusing on the appreciation of those we care about can strengthen our heart in two ways. First, thriving relationships are linked to better cardiovascular wellness. Second, the neurobiology of this heartfelt emotion shifts our physiology and mental state in a positive direction.

 

Essential Oils as Heart Medicine

Similar to how love impacts our mood through influencing our neurological signals and our emotional brain, essential oils do as well. Therefore, these precious aromatic allies can literally stimulate this feeling, benefiting our cardiovascular health.

Essential oils can also aid the heart through their ability to provide mind-body–soul stress relief and their biochemical properties. For example, their molecules can act as anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidants, promote circulatory flow, mediate neurotransmitters and hormones, boost immune response, and more.

In this video, I will expand on this topic and discuss which specific essential oils I use in my practice for holistic heart health support and why. Specifically, I’m going to highlight six single oils and two oil blends that I find most useful for integrative cardiovascular care for my clients.

Considering heart disease is still the leading cause of death, essential oils are an important holistic remedy that we can use to strengthen our beloved organ and aid in better cardiac function.

As always, all the references and links to sources will be provided within this blog post and in the resource section.

So, let’s get started.

 

Six Essential Oils for Heart Health

1. Ylang Ylang

Ylang ylang is an alluring essential oil made famous by the perfume industry because of its enticing aroma. Ylang ylang not only has romantic olfactory properties that enhance social connection, it also supports the physical heart. Clinical trials have found that it can balance blood pressure, sooth stress and anxiety, and calm nervous system tone.

 

2. Sacred Frankincense (Boswellia sacra)

Frankincense is one of my favorite essential oils for balancing the mind-body. This is due to its powerful effects and multifaceted uses.

Boswellia sacra, Sacred Frankincense, is a species of frankincense that has a high pinene content. Pinenes are resiliency-enhancing and stress-relieving phytnocides that also enhance the body’s defense and repair system. These compounds have become popularized due to their attribution to the benefits received from the act of “forest bathing,” a traditional Japanese practice of immersing oneself in nature.

As a result, Sacred Frankincense can decrease inflammation, balance the immune response, and mitigate overwhelm. Each of these are important aspects for maintaining healthy blood flow.

 

3. Patchouli Oil

Depending on your preferences, the smell of patchouli can either be appealing or undesirable. Regardless, this distinct aromatic oil has many benefits. These include promoting healthy skin, enhancing defense and repair, maintaining cellular heath, and offering neurological support (related to its sesquiterpene content).

Patchouli has traditionally been used in Chinese medicine for gastrointestinal issues. It has various mechanisms of actions to explain this, including providing gut microbiome support. In fact, a rodent study reported it had prebiotic-like effects, increasing helpful microbes and decreasing unwanted ones, as found in fecal samples. Along with its nervous system support, these aspects address important factors in cardiovascular care. This is especially true with the new research on the gut-heart axis.

 

4. Rosemary Oil (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Rosemary oil is best known for aiding memory, cognitive performance, and stimulating the nervous system. For this reason, it has been used for relieving low blood pressure.

In a small study with 20 people assessing rosemary oil, researchers sought to confirm its effect on the autonomic nervous system function using various measurements. The results confirmed, “the stimulatory effects of rosemary oil and provide(d) supporting evidence that brain wave activity, autonomic nervous system activity, as well as mood states are all affected by the inhalation of the rosemary oil.”

If you are looking for these energizing properties, you would want to ensure the rosemary chemotype (a species’ dominant constituents) has higher amounts of 1,8 cineole and monoterpenes. You may want to avoid this chemotype with high blood pressure.

 

5. Coriander oil

In my opinion, coriander is one of the sleeper oils. It contains the calming constituent found in lavender, linalool, along with B-sitersterol, which can aid in cholesterol levels. This oil has been described to be an aphrodisiac, analgesic, and possesses antimicrobial properties. It also has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and digestive properties, and promotes circulatory flow. All these aspects make coriander oil a powerful ally for the underlying mind-body triggers of heart issues.

 

6. Bergamot Oil

Bergamot essential oil (BEO) is another popular essential oil I use in practice to aid in calming the minds and bodies of my naturopathic clients. Clinical studies have supported its overall positive role in reducing stress, alleviating cardiovascular excitement, improving nervous system tone (as measured by heart rate variability), and decreasing anxiety symptoms. (A table from a review on BEO that outlines seven studies on these topics can be found here.)

 

Two Essential Oil Blends for Heart Health

Besides using single oils, oil blends can also be very effective. This is due to the synergy of all the aromatics working together. The following are my most popular essential oil blends recommendations for supporting the heart.

 

1. Stress Relief Blend

Stress Relief blend is appropriately named for its ability to calm the mind and body and combat the negative ramifications of stress on the heart. Below is a list of the essential oils it contains and their characteristic properties in this blend. These include:

  • Lime- a citrus oil for elevating the mood.
  • Cedarwood – a comforting oil that supports sleep and neurological health.
  • Lavender –an oil to relieve anxiety, ease the nervous system, and combat the detrimental effects of excessive stress. These aspects can be very beneficial to balance heart rate and blood pressure.
  • Copaiba – a strange-sounding oil that interacts with the endocannabinoid system, a system that regulates major functions of the body. Copaiba is relaxing to the mind, and benefits the brain, skeletal system, and much more.
  • Ocotea – an oil that has a warm, soothing scent. It has many properties based on its diversity of chemical compounds. Ocotea quixos is known as “American cinnamon.” It contains cinnamaldehyde, which has some evidence for supporting blood sugar. This can be very helpful during overwhelming times, as blood sugar is impacted by stressful triggers and can affect blood flow.
  • Vanilla – this is not a true essential oil, but an extract or oleoresin. It has preliminary evidence for elevating the mood. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. (I personally look for ethically sourced, pure vanilla oleoresin for best quality.)

 

2. Joyful Blend

This Joyful blend of essential oils uplifts the mood and can lighten the spirit. It was one of the key mixtures I used in my case study published in Townsend Letter for Annie’s anxiety symptoms.

This blend of essential oils benefits the nervous, digestive, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems. It is also powerful for alleviating stress. I use it with my naturopathic medicine clients to enhance their feelings of self-love, self-care, self-worth, and to promote more human connection in their lives.

The Joyful Blend includes the following oils:

  • Bergamot
  • Ylang ylang
  • Rose Geranium, which offers hormonal and mood balancing properties.
  • Lemon
  • Coriander
  • Tangerine
  • Jasmine oil to balance the brain’s electrophysiology and calm stress.
  • Roman chamomile to relax the mind and support overall health.
  • Palmarosa, which provides general overall wellness enhancement.
  • Rose, which inspires romance, connection, joy, and healthy hormones.

 

Summary of Essential Oils for Heart Health

Essential oils are wonderful allies to aid our heart. They not only inspire feelings of love, but they also enhance connection and address the various triggers that lead to imbalances in cardiac function. As a result, the essential oils of ylang ylang, Sacred Frankincense, patchouli, rosemary, coriander, bergamot, Stress Relief blend, and Joyful blend can be powerful tools to support overall mind-body-heart health.

I hope this information was useful for you in how to holistically care for your heart using aromatherapy.

I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to learn how to nourish and nurture your mind, body, heart, and soul.

I would love to hear from you on what your favorite essential oils for heart health. Feel free to post them in the comment section. Also, please share what I can do to support you more. Your feedback helps to guide my focus on topics for my blogs and social media.

Sending you many blessings and much love.

 

Resources

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Disclaimer: 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.)

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.

Thanks Pixabay and Canva.