Why Essential Oils Need to be Therapeutic Grade to Benefit Your Health

Chances are you’ve used an essential oil at some stage or at some point in your life, probably the most common one I come across is lavender, let’s say, in your diffuser. It made your room smell lovely but that’s pretty much it. What if I told you essential oils could do so much more than that? That they could improve your digestion, support your muscles by easing physical tension and even provide amazing anti-inflammatory benefits when taken internally?

Would you believe me?

Let me just say first and foremost this doesn’t apply to all essential oils. There are in-fact different ‘grades’ of essential oils which will determine their effectiveness and safety. You definitely should not be taking your $2 lavender oil internally, or any way for that matter. These oils are usually filled with fragrance, synthetics and fillers so that the company can make more profit for less work. How do companies even get away with that? Well, there’s no governing body that monitors essential oils. So any company can pretty much print whatever they want on their bottles. This is why it is so important to be educated with the industry and know it is okay to question the labels. 

“But my oils are definitely organic”

There are definitely organic essential oils out there. This generally means there are no chemicals, fillers or fragrance in the oils. That’s great, and honestly pretty unique. However, I want you to understand how some essential oils can be even more effective than organic grade oils. 

Essential oils are carefully distilled plant extracts that encompass a variety of healing properties. These properties are so potent, that essential oils are actually 50-70% stronger than the source of which they came from. Let me give you an example, when sourced and harvested correctly, 1 drop of peppermint essential oil is equivalent to 28 cups of peppermint tea. Pretty crazy right? 

The thing is, there are so many factors that impact the potency and purity of these plants, hence their effectiveness. So it is crucial to look at environmental factors. Understanding where the particular plant thrives the best can completely change the effectiveness. Meaning, if you grew your own lavender field in Australia, and you don’t add any fillers or fragrance in the oil or chemicals in the soil (you don’t add any chemical in the soil, nor fillers or fragrance post-harvest, you would definitely have organic lavender oil. But, if you did the same in let’s say in France or Bulgaria, you would find a much more potent and pure lavender essential oil, as this is where lavender oil thrives the best, therefore maximising the effectiveness.

So as you can see, this becomes a global scouting for best thriving plants and oil sources. Now, imagine if you could combine the most magical essential oil with prospering communities who harvest these oils. 

That is what companies, such as doTERRA have done, and the results have been incredible.

When they choose to sell an essential oil, they ask themselves two questions. One, where does that plant naturally thrive the best, and two, how can we help the community there? This is why these oils have been sourced from over 40 countries, half of them developing countries. doTERRA committed to supplying the highest quality essential oils while making a positive difference in the lives of farmers, harvesters, distillers and their communities. 

Just in the last year, doTERRA have repaired 279 homes in Haiti, started 6 new hospitals and medical clinics, built 9 new schools and implemented 9 clean water projects. This is honestly only a glimpse into the impact they are making.

You can find out more about doTERRA’s humanitarian projects here.

In future, when you see or hear about essential oils, I want you to remember those amazing little bottles of magic not only provide amazing support to your body physically and emotionally, but are changing the lives of millions across the world. It feels so empowering to have a collection of oils as tools that truly work, and won’t cause any harm (aka side effects!).