“Plants are made of structural materials and phytochemicals. These chemicals have properties that not only benefit the plant but benefit people, too,” explains Dr. Lin.
It takes a tremendous amount of plant material to make essential oils, which can make some of them expensive. For example:
About 250 pounds of lavender flower make 1 pound of lavender essential oil.
About 5,000 pounds of rose petals or lemon balm make 1 pound of rose or lemon balm essential oil.
“Because it takes so much of the plant to make an essential oil, it’s a powerful botanical medicine,”
Benefits of essential oils
Essential oils can be used in aromatherapy, a kind of complementary medicine that uses smell to improve your health or applied topically to the skin.
Studies have shown that essential oils may help:
Boost mood.
Improve job performance through reduced stress and increased attentiveness.
Improve sleep.
Kill bacteria, funguses and viruses.
Reduce anxiety and pain.
Reduce inflammation.
Reduce nausea.
Relieve headaches.
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