This is what separates the doTERRA quality to its cheap and chemically ridden counterparts…..

In a capitalists society, it’s easy to be fooled that when we see a bargain, it’s always worth the value. We can purchase 100% pure essential oil for $4…..what a win!

Majority of consumers do not know that each of those $4 bottles probably comes with a 500% profit margin and is nothing but a 15ml bottle of phthalates, hormone disrupters and other neurotoxins. But at least they smell nice right? Or do they….most of us would end up with a headache in a matter of minutes after smelling these oils. That’s because synthetics will always present a side effect.

Synthetic essential oils are not recognised by our bodies in the same way that pure unadulterated essential oils are. Isolating single compounds from plants removes safety checks and balances innately developed and evolved over thousands of years in the plant. If we think about Aspirin in this context, we have an isolated compound (Methyl Salicylate) taken from Wintergreen or Birch which has been synthetically manufactured and replicated in a lab. The result is a product that yes, delivers relief but now without those inbuilt safety checks that the plant designed in order for her medicine to be used without harm or side effects as we know them.

When naturally occurring compounds are left whole, a synergistic and therapeutically enhancing effect is produced as each of these unique compounds acts upon a different receptor target involved in health and human disease. While seemingly inactive compounds in the plant may exert little or no direct activity on the root cause of disease, they assist the active compounds in a synergistic, additive, modifying, or antagonistic manner.

These so called inactive or ‘junk’ compounds actually enhance bio-activity, stimulate natural and adaptive defence mechanisms, modulate adverse effects, inhibit resistance, or speed up/ slow down metabolism. Therefore, utilising the chemistry of the whole plant is actually critical to achieving the desired outcomes we seek safely for our wellbeing.

Here’s a couple of examples of typical adulteration for you –

Melissa essential oil is one of the most prized and expensive oils to produce. Companies can create something that looks and smells like Melissa by using it’s super cheap counterpart Lemongrass oil + two other synthetic chemicals = Melissa.

Rosemary is another oil often subjected to adulteration. Companies will use isolated compounds from Eucalyptus and Orange oils which are found also in Rosemary to reconstruct the aroma of Rosemary. Is it Rosemary though? The life supporting qualities of Rosemary as we know it are missing because the compounds that make Rosemary a whole and complete organism are missing. The original evolutionary design that makes Rosemary essential oil the representation of the plant is lost.

Synergy is everything. Every little molecule found in a plant is there for a reason. They are checkpoints and safeguards for a plant that keep it in balance and allow an essential oil to be effective whilst being safe. No single component or mixture of components will be able to replicate the power of the whole plant.

As adulterated essential oils do not originate from a living plant but from a man made laboratory, they do not express nature…..they express the characteristics of that lab. An essential oil should always reflect the stresses of the environment in which it was grown. Much like Viticulture refers to the ‘terroir’ of a wine, we can see the same reflected in doTerra’s oils and that is such a beautiful thing because nature is never static, she is always moving, changing and so is her biology.

This is why there may be some variability to the aroma and colour of an oil from time to time. The plant is reflecting to us a change in the seasons and environment. Standardisation of an essential oil is the process of eliminating Mother Natures flow, her natural variability. Adjusting the make up of an essential oil so that it conforms to a specific composition is a demand that comes only from the Industrial essential oil industry.

The marketplace has adopted a ‘drive the price down’ economy and as a result, the likelihood of us being subjected to these everyday deceptive practices is high. An ocean of processed and adulterated essential oils lies between the seeker. As Dr Kurt Schnaubelt states – “Authentic oils initiate processes designed by evolution arising at the level of the whole plant organism. Adulterated oils initiate processes arising as a result of smart engineering and the corporate objective to cut cost”.

You may have seen recently that there was a company claiming to be the same quality as doTerra. doTerra responded with cease and desist and evidence that the oil company in question had adulterated oils. In the same way Ferrari would be pissed if you slapped a black prancing horse logo on a Toyota and tried selling it to the public, doTerra very pointedly disproved them.

Here’s the reality – of the 8 top essential oil companies, 5 of them don’t do any further testing into the purity and integrity of that oil upon receiving that oil into it’s hands and before it hits the shelves for consumers to buy.

They are relying solely on the word of those Middle Men Oil Brokers to guarantee it’s purity. doTerra has no middle men. It’s oils are supplied direct from the farmer and therefore afford us complete traceability. Testing is completed at every stage of that plants lifecycle.

From the time that seed is planted in the ground through to it’s harvest, it’s distillation, it’s arrival at doTerra HQ, pre bottling, post bottling and before it hits our shopping portals. Over 50 different tests are conducted on those oils before it is allowed into the consumers hands and that is not a cheap undertaking. This level of testing is a critical undertaking if consumer safety is to be considered and therefore no company should be cutting corners when it comes to testing of their oils.

If a company is concerned about profitability though what’s the first thing they will do? Cut corners on testing their oils for safety or use synthetics. The sad truth is that companies are spending more money on getting better at hiding their adulteration practices instead of getting better at their sourcing practices.

Unfortunately it’s our earth, the farmers in poor countries and the environment that takes the fall for these poor, profit first practices. Environmental stewardship and showing care for humanity is everything if we are to source and use essential oils sustainably for years to come. I choose doTerra because I am a conscious consumer first and foremost. I want to know that these oils which I take into my body daily have been sourced ethically and responsibly.

I know that if those foundational practices are sound, the safety and purity of those oils will follow.

x Bec