Essential Oils: Can we live with or without them?

Can something make us feel better just by smelling nice? And if it can do that, could we get even more benefits from rubbing it on our skin or even eating it?

By Liz Garton

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years, but more recently we are seeing them used as home remedies for ailments, as skin care and even in recipes.

The latter is a trend that is seriously concerning some experts.

"It's not something that's really designed to be ingested," food and nutrition writer Niki Bezzant told Healthy or Hoax host Stacey Morrison. "(Even) aroma therapists are quite alarmed about this development."

Bezzant said registered aromatherapists would very, very rarely recommend the use of oils to be ingested. And if they did, that would be only for a very short time and for very specific health concern.

Niki Bezzant said an investigation in Australia last year resulted in an article warning about the dangers of ingesting essential oils.

"They quoted the New South Wales Poisons Information Center, who say essential oils should not be consumed even in tiny amounts. And you can cause seizures, nausea, vomiting and chronic exposure can potentially cause organ damage.

"So a lot of the stuff about putting drops of oil into your water or putting drops of oil into your peppermint slice or whatever, we would be really, really wise to stay away from," said Bezzant.

The proliferation of multi-level marketing of essential oils online and through social media is problematic in many ways too.

"So they recruit people who can work from home and can promote and sell the oils to their friends. We're getting completely unqualified people recommending the use of these oils in ways that is not necessarily safe or in any way healthy."

"If someone's trying to sell you something, just really be very, very wary of any kind of health or therapeutic claims that they make."

MedSafe New Zealand has some specific warnings and there are some serious complications if you get it wrong.

Using essential oils

Jo Newsham is a Christchurch-based life coach and mother to three young children. But years (twenty-odd) ago she trained as a massage therapist and aromatherapist.

"I don't actively sell essential oils, but I do use them in my treatments as a form of therapy," she said.

She also uses essential oils in her everyday life.

"I will use tea tree if we've got a little cut or a graze. If we've got sniffles I will use eucalyptus and peppermint. I know exactly what's in there, there's no synthetic chemicals…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details