It’s always good to circle back and touch upon some of the fundamentals when it comes to safe and effective oil usage.

Remember that there absolutely IS such a thing as too much oil and big amounts are not better.

Our bodies respond better to less oil used more frequently. It allows for the metabolic processing of oils, does not overload the liver, and provides us with improved and sustained therapeutic outcomes.

As I discussed in my video the other night for my team, when it comes to topical use, peak uptake in the bloodstream of essential oils on average occurs at the 20-minute mark and from there it slowly peeters out. There is typically none left in our system past one hour.

What this tells us is that we have a great capacity to apply a small amount of oil frequently. For acute situations, we could apply them every 30 minutes if we needed but for most situations, every hour or so is just fine for standard sustained outcomes.

Remember that not all oils process in the same timeframe. Our thicker and more sticky oils such as Vetiver, Patchouli, Spikenard or Sandalwood which all have an abundance of Sesquiterpenes, have a slower processing time and therefore will linger in our body for longer so that’s something to take into account. Every oil will have a different half life in the body. What I’ve given you here are some basic parameters to help guide you. 

doTerra have made studying the half life and metabolism of oils their focus this past year and intend on having some new research and insights to share with us at the 2020 Global Convention. I cannot wait! This is all part of their intention to be the most respected, most researched and most trusted essential oil brand in the medical and health professional community.

As you can see from the graph below, topical application (alongside inhalation) produces the most sustained period of therapeutic activity. Oral and internal use are ALL about short, sharp, systematic, effective outcomes.

Oils used via these methods are absorbed into our bloodstream efficiently, create change rather quickly, are metabolised by the liver and then exit our body in a short period of time.

Oils that travel through our digestive system via internal (not oral) use will always be degraded by our digestive juices unless we are taking them in an enteric-coated capsule. Whilst this isn’t a bad thing, it does limit the oils opportunity to create change to the digestive system itself vs oral use bypasses this all together and has a more wide-reaching impact across all systems in the body.

Inhalation is the most subtle method of use for sure but it is no less powerful. From inhalation alone – we can modulate our skin permeability, impact the production of hormones, change biochemistry and influence the release of neurotransmitters to change cognitive function and mood just from one big sniff.

I hope this is helpful info!

Have you got questions about methods of use that I can help you with??

x Bec