Author: Dr. Jeff Styba
A statement we often hear when talking to someone who does not necessarily understand biology or essential oil chemistry. Other times we listen to it from a proclaimed essential oil expert. What is the correct answer?
The answer is Yes and No, in many different contexts. I am going to break this down for you very simply. If the bottle has a “nutritional facts” or “supplement facts” label, then this is an oil that is meant to be ingested and safe to ingest.
If you do not see this label on your bottle, regardless of “therapeutic grade,” “Organic,”: ”100% Pure,” do not, I repeat, DO NOT ingest the oil. Oil that does not have a supplement facts label, take lemon, for example, is going to be a highly adulterated oil because lemon is an oil meant for ingestion. Most single oils are safe to ingest. However, there are some that are not. For example, eucalyptus, cedarwood, Douglas fir, arborvitae, and wintergreen are some of the oils that are not recommended for internal use.
For oils that are not meant for internal use, you must do your due diligence one step further and make sure the essential oil company you choose publicly releases their testing to be confident that the oil is authentic and not adulterated. You cannot blindly trust the labeling on the bottle, to ascertain whether or not an oil is authentic.
We ingest oils for many reasons and the below commentary, will give you scientific reasoning as to the why behind ingesting.
If you eat plants, you have already been ingesting essential oils all your life, however not at the level of ingesting an essential oil. Oils are much more concentrated than the oil in the plants that we eat. For example, it takes roughly 6000 pounds of Melissa plant material to yield one gallon of oil. Even if you break that down per serving, you would have to ingest a ridiculous amount of Melissa leaves to receive a therapeutic dose of oil.
When we ingest oils the molecules in the oil are absorbed more readily into our bloodstream and nervous system. This occurs for two reasons; our mucosal lining is incredibly vascular, meaning the cells have a generous blood supply. Also, there are many more nerve endings in our mucosal lining than in the upper layers of our skin. With rapid absorption and constant dilution, due to the continual production of mucus, internal use of oils in incredibly effective and safe.
Lastly, if you are like Megan and consider your self a “Veggie Cap Girl/Guy,” then we recommend dropping your oils into a veggie cap and taking as a supplement. By doing this you will not taste the oil, and the oils will be released in your stomach and gut for a whole body effect and maximal absorption.