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Aromatherapy and the Chemistry of Essential Oils

1. INTRODUCTION

2. WHAT IS AROMATHERAPY?

3. WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?

4. THERAPEUTIC GRADE OILS

5. CHEMISTRY OF ESSENTIAL OILS

6. THERAPEUTIC EFEECTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS

7.CONCLUSION

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1.INTRODUCTION:

Many ppl feel that if sumtin contains chemicals it must be bad. However, there is no escaping the fact dat every substance dat v encounter contains chemicals. Our fav organically grown Lavender oil is composed of a mixture of upto 300 chemicals. To say that is is harmful cus it contains chemicals is non-sense. An understandin of dese chemicals is fundamental n dis is wot chemistry is about.

A way of pampering yourself, a means to a very relaxing massage, a metaphysical experience induced by the aromatic properties of an essential oil, a pleasant way of maintaining health and vitality, an excursion into the unknown and unproven that shouldn't be undertaken, a considered alternative health treatment that focuses on the total or holistic health of an individual.

Yeah! That’s AROMATHERAPY

2.WHAT IS AROMATHERAPY?

Aromatherapy is the practice of using volatile plant oils, including essential oils, for psychological and physical well-being.

3. What are essential oils?Essential oils are the liquid extracts from aromatic plants trees and grasses. Essential oils are highly volatile and evaporate quickly if left in the open air. When left in the open air, the oils create an aromatic scent, as reflected in the name aromatherapy.

Essential oils may be found in different parts of the aromatic plants, for example, in petals (rose oil), leaves (eucalyptus oils), grass roots (vetiver oil), and fruit rind (lemon oil).The plants accumulate these essences in their oil glands. The more oil glands a plant has, the greater the quantity of the essential oil that can be extracted.Clearly this impacts on the cost of manufacturing, as those plants with the lower count of oil glands will tend to require greater quantities of the plant material to produce the essential oil.

The powerful potential of aromatic molecules on health

Many times people bring an essential oil home from your health food store, eagerly anticipating a wonderful, healing experience, only to be disappointed? They think aromatherapy was supposed to be God's gift to mankind, or something."

If that's your experience too, you're by no means alone.  But there's a reason for this:

Effective aromatherapy begins with truly great oils.  If da oils are not of therapeutic-grade one simply won't see the results one is hoping for.

4.Therapeutic grade oil:

A therapeutic-grade essential oil is one that is both complete in its chemical constituents, giving it a rich, deep aroma, and kinetically alive and able to raise the frequency of the human body, restoring balance and normal function to weak body systems.  This is important, because the oil's fragrance, frequency and chemistry all contribute to its unique therapeutic effects.  If any of these properties is compromised, as a result of poor production practices, an essential oil cannot rightly be called therapeutic-grade.

And, while a therapeutic-grade essential oil will be noted for its fragrance and frequency, it's the powerful potential of the oil's aromatic molecules — its chemistry — that sets aromatherapy apart as a truly superior health-promoting practice.

How essential oils are believed to work

Each essential oil contains as much as 100 chemical components, which together exert a strong effect on the whole person. Depending on which component is predominating in an oil, the oils act differently. For example, some oils are relaxing, some soothes you down, some relieves your pain, etc. Then there are oils such as lemon and lavender, which adapt to what your body needs, and adapt to that situation. (These are called "adaptogenic"). The mechanism in

which these essential oils act on us is not very well understood. What is understood is that they affect our mind and emotions. They leave no harmful residues. They enter into the body either by absorption or inhalation.

Because of their small molecular structure, especially their fat-soluble nature, essential oils can penetrate the skin more freely than other types of plant oils, for example, vegetable oils

A fragrance company in Japan conducted studies to determine the effects of smell on people. They have pumped different fragrances in an area where a number of keyboard entry operators were stationed and monitored the number of mistakes made as a function of the smell in the air. The results were as follows:

When exposed to lavender oil fragrance (a relaxant), the keyboard typing errors dropped 20 percent.When exposed to jasmine (an uplifting fragrance), the errors dropped 33 percentWhen exposed to lemon fragrance (a sharp, refreshing stimulant), the mistakes fell by a whopping 54 percent!

So now to understand how dese oils actually uplift da performance lets get into the mechanism of these oils…

5. Chemistry of Essential Oils Every essential oil has a unique chemical composition, determined by the plant variety and the geographical location at which the plants are grown. An example of this is eucalyptus oil, of which there are several varieties used in aromatherapy.

It is the chemistry of the oil that determines the fragrance, the color, the degree of volatility, and the ways in which that oil interacts with the human body. The chemistry of essential oils typically includes a number of differing organic compounds, such as terpenes, alcohols, aldehydes and esters. It is these chemical combinations that determine the fragrance, the color, the degree of volatility, and the therapeutic properties of theessential oil.

Because of the variety of compounds that exist in a single essential oil, it is possible for it to have multiple properties. For example, some research into manuka tree and its essential oil highlights a number of properties, anti-allergenic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, anti-microbial, deodorant, skin care, and tissue restoration properties. .

To understand why essential oils can have therapeutic effects, we need to understand the chemistry of essential oils:

Acids kill bacterial and viral infections, reduce inflammation, and moisturize the skin. Examples: birch and niaouli.

Alcohols are a natural tonic. They kill bacterial and viral infections and are skin toners. Examples: clary sage, geranium, neroli, patchouli, peppermint, rose, and sandalwood.

Aldehydes are a calmative that reduce inflammation and kill bacterial infections. Examples: cinnamon, lemongrass, melissa, and many citrus oils.

Coumarins thin the blood and are calming and uplifting. Examples: angelica and bergamot.

Esters are antispasmodic; they soothe muscle spasms and irritated skin and kill fungal infections. Examples: bergamot, geranium, lavender.

Hydrocarbons (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and diterpenes) reduce bacterial infections and inflammation, and are often mentally simulating. Examples: cypress, German chamomile, ginger, lemon, pine, and sandalwood.

Ketones promote wound healing. Examples: caraway, rosemary, and sage. Phenols are antibacterial and stimulate blood flow. Examples: basil, clove, and

oregano.

6.Therapeutic effects of essential oils

As of 1995, chemists have identified more than 3,000 aromatic molecules.  Each of these has specific therapeutic activities upon the body.  However, the practice of aromatherapy isn't as simple as applying an oil that contains a specific chemical constituent, in order to achieve a particular therapeutic effect.

Why?

Because the complexity of an essential oil, with the interplay of its many constituents, means that there is no straight line between the activity of one of its components and the effects of the complete oil.

Many of these chemical compounds have been identified, and new ones are being discovered; but many remain unknown, and the relationships between them are not well understood.  However, these molecules can be grouped together into families, each with its own therapeutic properties.  Representative of this is the following chart.

Key Chemical Constituents in Essential Oils and Their Effects

Constituent

Representative Oil Effect

Ketones Sage Mucolytic

Aldehydes Lemongrass Calming

Esters Lavender Balancing

Ethers Tarragon Balancing

Alcohols Ravensara Toning

Phenols Savory Stimulant

Terpenes Pine Stimulant

NAME OF THE CHEM COMPONENT

PROP OF CHEM COMP ESSENTIAL OILS DAT CONTAIN CHEMICALS

Aldehydes. anti-inflammatory,calming, sedative and anti-viral

Characteristic lemon-like smell, such as lemon grass, lemon balm, citronella, eucalyptus, Cinnamon

Alcohols bactericidal (kills bacteria), stimulant, energizing, vitalizing, antiviral, diuretic. Our pancreas produce 32 kinds of alcohol for use in human metabolism.

Rose, petitgrain, rosewood, peppermint, myrtle, tea tree, sandalwood, patchouli, and ginger

Phenols strongly bactericidal, tonic, stimulates immune system, invigorating, warming. Can produce slight liver toxicity if taken high doses for extended periods of time. Used in lip balms and cough drops

Clove, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, savory, cumin.

Ketones wound healing, mucolytic (eases the secretion of mucous), stimulates new cell growth. used as a nail polish.

Camphor, rosemary, sage, eucalyptus globulus and hyssop

Terpenes Very stimulating, potential skin irritants, anti-viral properties

Lemon, orange, bergamot, black pepper, pine oils, nut meg and angelica.

Sesquiterpenes anti-phlogistic (moves fluids), anti-inflammatory, sedative, anti-viral, anti-carcinogenic, bacteriostatic and immune stimulant

Blue chamomiles, immortelle, tansy, yarrow and tagetes.

Esters anti-fungal, sedative, calming, spasmolytic, fungicidal, anti-inflammatory.

Roman chamomile, lavender, clary sage, petitgrain, bergamot.

Lactones (part of ester group) anti-inflammatory, mucolitic arnica, elecampane

Ethers harmonizing to the nervous system. antiseptic, stimulant, expectorant (increases secretions), spasmolytic, and diuretic.

, clove, anise, basil, tarragon, parsley, and sassafras

Chemically, essential oils are very heterogeneous, giving the same oil many diverse effects within the body.  A single essential oil can play many different therapeutic roles.  This is very different than the effects of synthetic chemicals, which have only a single action.

Although dese essential oils r complex in nature, its dis complexity dat helps em in preserving da body’s natural balance.

Because of their chemical complexity,essential oils don't disturb the body's natural balance — or homeostasis.  If one constituent exerts too strong an effect in one direction, another constituent may block or counteract it.

For example: certain aromatic molecules in an oil may be very stimulating — both psychologically and physically.  But, the same essential oil may also contain constituents that are calming and sedating, helping to overcome anxiety or hyperactivity.

And, because the oils are natural substances, they tend to go only where they're needed, and provide only the action needed to help restore the body's natural balance.  The same oil may have significantly different effects on a person from one application to the next, depending on his/her need at that moment.  This quality of essential oils makes aromatherapy very safe and, incidentally, makes choosing the right oil less problematic.

This is in stark contrast to synthetic chemicals, which often interrupt the body's homeostasis, forcing an action based upon the chemical's make-up, not on what the body needs.

Another interesting point: While it's possible to duplicate these chemical constituents in the laboratory and blend them together into a concoction that smells like an essential oil, scientists have yet to duplicate the therapeutic effects of a truly therapeutic-grade essential oil.

The eugenol molecule found in clove oil.

cinnamon molecule.

ginger

Cinnamon gets its characteristic odor from cinnamaldehyde, which contains an aldehyde functional group. Commercial cinnamon is ground up bark of cinnamon trees. Cinnamon oil, which can be used to make cinnamon toothpicks or atomic fireballs (the candy), is nearly pure cinnamaldehyde.