IMPORTANT NOTE: The information in this newsletter is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, or substitute for professional medical assistance. It is provided as information only for your better understanding of holistic health. In case of medical need, please consult an appropriate licensed professional.

A question I often get asked is about allergies and sensitivities to essential oils.

According to David Stewart’s book, The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple: There are a couple of ways one can be sensitive to essential oils, although an allergic reaction is not one of them. 

Allergies are erroneous immune responses to proteins, peptides, and amino acids - all nitrogen compounds, none of which are found in essential oils. You can have an allergic reaction to a vegetable oil such as olive, corn, peanut, walnut, almond, etc, since these are cold pressed and can contain small amounts of proteins. For example, occasionally a person can develop an allergy to an oil blend such as Valor, which is sold by Young Living. The allergy is not due to the essential oils of spruce, frankincense, rosewood, and blue tansy in the blend - it is due to the almond oil in the blend. Read your labels. What may appear to be an allergic reaction to a blend of essential oils may be due to a carrier oil contained in the blend.

onycha, jasmine, and neroli. Strictly speaking, they too are not true essential oils. Technically, they should be called absolutes, not essential oils. One can have a true allergic reaction to these because, like the citrus oils, they have not passed through a distillation process and can contain traces of proteins, peptides, or amino acids. Because of the nature of distillation by heat, steam, and water, that true essential oils must undergo, they do not contain the necessary compounds to trigger allergies because these compounds do not pass through the distillation process. Hence, sensitivities to essential oils, in the sense of allergic reactions, are not possible.

Allergic sensitivities are due to the body developing antibodies in response to certain nitrogenous molecules. No one has ever found antibodies in humans from essential oils. So if one has a reaction to an essential oil, it is something else. Not an allergy.

internally via capsules or applied to the skin directly with caution or diluted with a fatty oil. If burning or irritation occurs to the skin from such oils, prompt application of a vegetable oil layered over the essential oil will take care of the problem in short order. The same thing applies if you get an essential oil in your eyes or if you swallow a hot oil, like oregano, and it burns your mouth and throat. Don't use water, use a vegetable oil for immediate relief. Pour it directly in the eyes or take it orally if your mouth or throat are affected.

As for sensitivities to essential oils that produces a skin rash or other allergic-like symptoms such as headaches or nausea, this is always a detox reaction. While allergic reactions get worse and worse with each exposure to the offending substance (allergen), detox reactions eventually get less and less severe with each exposure to an essential oil until it disappears completely once the toxins are cleared from the system. When one has a detox reaction from an essential oil (which is a good thing), they need to back off from using oils for a while and increase their water intake and, perhaps, get into a cleansing routine for a month or so, going light on the use of essential oils for a while. What is happening in this kind of sensitivity is that the oils are detoxing too rapidly for the colon and kidneys to handle so the toxins come out through the skin as the third avenue for excretion. It is better to keep the rate of detox down to levels that are flushed out through the kidneys and colon, if possible.

A PAT on the back is a wonderful thing,
It gives a man courage to whistle and sing;
When hope is departing, the outlook is grim,
A pat on the back then says volumes to him.
It whispers: 'Keep at it! You're doing all right,
Just dig in your toes and get busy and fight,
There's one man behind you, go to it, old man,
One pal who is sure that you can.'

A pat on the back from a stranger or friend
When your jaw starts to sag and your knees start to bend
Will bring you right up with new courage and grit
And you'll keep in the fight when you were going to quit,
You'll feel it, you'll hear it—yes, actually hear it
For hours saying 'dig in, old fellow. Don't fear it,
That isn't as hard as it looks. Be a man,
There's a fellow back here who believes that you can.'

Just a pat on the back. And for days and for days,
No matter how far you may roam, it still stays
By your side, and no matter how hard be your fight
It's whispering always: 'You'll come out all right.
There's a fellow back here who's believing in you,
Expecting each minute to see you come through
With your colors still flying and leading your clan!'
And the first thing you know you are saying: 'I can.'

Oh, a pat on the back is a wonderful thing,
The touch of it's magic; I've known it to bring
Back hopes that were fleeting, and strength that seemed gone
And smiles that had vanished and urge a man on
When it seemed that he couldn't one step advance more
Till he conquered. And that's what I'm writing this for;
If you see a poor brother whose nerve's out of whack,
Just step up and give him a pat on the back.

There are currently no workshops scheduled at the Lavender House for this summer. I would love to hear from you if have a request for a workshop for the next time availability opens up to have one!