Essential Oils Versus Prescription Drugs
In this country alone, more people die from doctor’s prescriptions every ten days than were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While pharmaceutical medicines can offer a wide range of benefits, the damage they do to our bodies make them a controversial topic. Regardless of how careful a doctor is while prescribing medicines to patients, and how aware patients are while taking those prescribed medicines, fatalities still happen.
Essential oils are a healthier alternative to prescription drugs because they do not come with additional negative side effects, as they are nature’s way of healing the body. While there is definitely a need for traditional medicine, whether that be for pain relief, antibiotics, or drugs for serious illnesses like cancer, there are also home remedies, being essential oils, that can take the place of those conventional treatments. Essential oils are the highly concentrated version of the natural oils in plants and can be used for a wide range of physical and emotional wellness applications. According to USA Today, they are “the complex mixtures of anywhere from 20 to 100 different compounds, extracted from the roots, leaves, seeds, or blossoms of plants.” They are nature’s way of healing the body and have been used for over 6,000 years by a variety of cultures. Essential oils have been around for centuries among many different cultures, whether the use be for curing the ill or for sacred purposes. The earliest known evidence of essential oils has been dated back to 18,000 B.C.E. in France. Cave paintings show that the oils were used to medicinal reasons. Evidence in Egypt shows that in 4,500 B.C.E., they used oils for aroma therapy, fragrances, and ointments. Throughout history, essential oils have made their way, affecting the lands of Asia, Europe, Russia, and more, benefitting the lives of many. It is no surprise of the impact oils have one people’s mental, physical, and emotional health because of the nature of their making. While essential oils detoxify and purify receptor sites, drugs toxify, block and complicate receptor sites.
A common misunderstanding with prescription medicine is that they are dangerous because of how they are administered. However, that is not the case, as the danger is in the drug themselves. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control stated that more than 100,000 Americans die every year, not illegal drugs, not from drug overdoses, not from over-the-counter drugs, and not from drug abuses, but from properly prescribed, properly taken prescriptions.” Because essential oils are natural and organic substances, your body can easily get rid of them when their purpose has been served. That is not the case with antibiotics because of the unknown and unnatural substances within them. Legally, pharmaceutical companies cannot patent any natural product. With that being said, in order for those business to make money, they must create an unnatural matter to sell to patients.
Your body can handle and eliminate a limited amount of artificial medications. Unfortunately, once it passes that point, your liver and kidney and more internal organs do not know what to do with the man-made substance. The FDA states when taking medicines, one must decide what risks you can take and will accept in order to get the benefits you want. However, it should not be like that when looking to maintain good health, and that is why essential oils are the healthier and smarter alternative. Medicines offer many benefits, such as relieving pain, lowering blood pressure, or even calming one’s nerves. On the other hand, the risks of medicines are the chances that something unwanted or unexpected could happen to you when you use them. “When a medicine’s benefits outweigh its known risks, the FDA considers it safe enough to approve.” With that being said, there is still room left for consequences. Some of the risks can include harmful interaction between the medicine and a food, beverage, or another medicine, there is a possibility that the medicine just may not work as expected, or the medicine could cause additional problems.
An “overdose” on essential oils would lead to drying out of the skin, rather than the seizures or internal bleeding that can come with overdosing on prescription medicines. It is completely safe to mix and match different oils with one another, but that is something you have to be cautious about with drugs. The combination of multiple drugs could potentially produce an overdose or result in the drug remaining in your system for too long. People often like to use blends of oils to reach certain benefits, such as the respiratory blend. That particular blend mixes peppermint, tea tree, lemon, eucalyptus, laurel leaf, and ravensara oils to soothe your breathing and alleviate congestion. You may also use essential oils at any point of the day, and as often as you would like. You do not have to be careful about mixing different oils together, or even with food and beverages. However, just like with anything else, it is best to research thoroughly before using them to find out which oils are best for your needs.
There are three ways to use essential oils, and those are topically, aromatically, and internally. USA Today states, “Aromatherapy has become a trendy way to treat a wide range of conditions, including insomnia, anxiety, and pain (Severson).” There are even some essential oils that have antibacterial properties. While there is definitely a need for traditional medicine, whether that be for pain relief, antibiotics, or drugs for serious illnesses, there are also home remedies, being essential oils, that can take the place of those conventional treatments. Studies have shown that essential oils have an impact on brainwaves and can also change behavior.
According to Essential Oils Us.com, there is strong evidence that essential oils can act as an antioxidant agent or have a medicinal effect on various tissues. The most common illnesses that people struggle with today are anxiety and depression, flus and colds, concentration problems, and stomach aches. All of which have medications that can tend to those struggles, but what most people do not know is that there are also essential oils that can help too. Ibuprofen or Advil is taken most frequently for headaches and pains. People who take anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen may have a higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke than people who do not take those medications (Ibuprofen). Additionally, it could cause ulcers, bleeding, or holes in the stomach or intestine. A more natural and safe substitute would be to use peppermint oil as a topical substitute by rubbing it on your temples or wrists to help relieve migraines, headaches, and stomach aches. Additionally, replacing melatonin with lavender oil when you cannot sleep at night can have the same effect. Tea tree oil is as effective as the commercially used benzoyl peroxide to reduce acne, and for a common cold, diffusing eucalyptus oil will help open up sinuses and heal faster. Dr. Josh Axe, doctor of natural medicine, said that when concentrating the oils of the plants in order to produce the essential oil, you are literally separating the most powerful and healing compounds of a pant into a single oil.
