The global essential oils market size surpassed $6 billion US in 2015 and is expected to reach $9.8 billion by 2020. While there is a reasonable amount of evidence for benefits such as easing anxiety, there are still far too many exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims being put forth even by the largest companies. Below is a roundup of the evidence, marketing tactics, absurd claims, FDA warnings and outright fabrications.
Weak Evidence
Dr. Tieraona
Low Dog, director of education and fellowship at the Academy of Integrative
Health & Medicine: “There have been some small studies showing that
aromatherapy can be beneficial in certain populations for easing anxiety. However,
when looked at in totality, the evidence is weak for beneficial effects with
inhalation.”
Personal Touch & Placebo Benefits
“But even the authors of these pro-aromatherapy studies say the benefits
they uncovered could be attributable to a lot of different factors. In the
dementia study, to pick one, the researchers say increased social and physical
contact between the sufferers and the caregivers who applied the lemon balm
could explain some of the calming effects.
“Another issue with this kind of research involves something scientists
call “expectancy.” If you believe sniffing rosemary or eucalyptus is going to
perk you up or mellow you out, your expectations can result in placebo benefits
that stem from your brain—not the plant essences you’re inhaling. These sorts
of confounding variables are common in aromatherapy studies…..”
Lack of
Research
“In addition to their intrinsic benefits to plants and being beautifully
fragrant to people, essential oils have been used throughout history in many
cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern scientific study
and trends towards more holistic approaches to wellness are driving a revival
and new discovery of essential oil health applications. They say modern science
is validating ‘the numerous health and wellness benefits of essential oils’ but
they don’t identify those benefits or offer any evidence. No clinical studies
are cited, and there is no research section on their website.”
Rose Essential Oil
“dōTERRA says rose essential oil has traditionally been used to help
with skin problems, depression, stress, anxiety, and is supportive to the
organs in the body. It supposedly works as an aphrodisiac, and has commonly
been used for its antispasmodic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and sedative
properties. The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database disagrees. It
says ‘insufficient reliable evidence to rate’ and lists a number of adverse
reactions and interactions with drugs.”
How MLM
Boosts Sales of Essential Oils
“Why Does MLM (multi-level marketing) Appeal to Distributors? It offers the promise of direct
income from sales; the chance to piggyback on the sales of others; the dream of
making it rich; the opportunity to sell a product they believe in; and a way to
make money in a pleasant way, at home, with their own hours, with a lot of
social contact, and no need to apply for a job.
“Why Do Customers Buy? Imagine a typical customer experience. A friend or acquaintance invites
you into her home, provides refreshments, a party atmosphere, and a social opportunity
to visit with other old acquaintances and meet new friends and neighbors. You
get free samples. People you know and trust tell you about their personal
experiences, providing persuasive testimonials of apparently miraculous
benefits. They vouch for the quality and manufacturing standards of the
products. They offer discounts and the opportunity to join the community of
distributors. It all sounds so good! The hostess has given you refreshments and
goodies, so you feel a social obligation to reciprocate. There is the peer
pressure of all the other attendees who are buying the products, and you don’t
want to look like a Scrooge or an ungrateful oddball. You might end up, like
the person who e-mailed me, spending $60 for something you didn’t want and
don’t believe works.”
Occasionally Harmful
“Forty two
primary reports met our inclusion criteria. In total, 71 patients experienced
adverse effects of aromatherapy. Adverse effects ranged from mild to severe and
included one fatality. The most common adverse effect was dermatitis. Lavender,
peppermint, tea tree oil and ylang-ylang were the most common essential oils
responsible for adverse effects.
“Aromatherapy
has the potential to cause adverse effects some of which are serious. Their
frequency remains unknown. Lack of sufficiently convincing evidence regarding
the effectiveness of aromatherapy combined with its potential to cause adverse
effects questions the usefulness of this modality in any condition.”
Small Sampling of Absurd Healing
Claims Made By Some Companies
Frankincense:
Anxiety, asthma, bronchitis, extreme coughing, scars and stretch marks,
depression, fatigue exhaustion and burnout, fear, grief, happiness and peace,
insecurity, loneliness, panic and panic attacks and stress
Lavender:
Acne, allergies, anxiety, asthma, athlete's foot, bruises, burns,
chicken pox, colic, cuts, cystitis, depression, dermatitis, earache,
flatulence, headache, hypertension, insect bites, insect repellent, itching, labor
pains, migraine, oily skin, rheumatism, scabies, scars, sores, sprains,
strains, stretch marks, vertigo, whooping cough, irritability, panic
attacks and stress
Rose:
Eczema, mature skin, anger, anxiety, frigidity, depression grief,
menopause, happiness and peace, loneliness, panic and panic attacks and stress
Two Warning Letters From The FDA
In 2014 the
FDA sent two warning letters to the mammoth essential oil companies Young
Living and doTerra International. They were warned for promoting their oils to
heal or treat the following conditions:
Viral
infections (including ebola), bacterial infections, cancer, brain injury,
autism, endometriosis, Grave’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, ADD/ADHD, chicken
pox, cold sore, colds, flu, fungal infections, Herpes simplex, MRSA, shingles,
warts, Parkinson’s disease, autism, diabetes, insomnia, heart disease,
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dementia, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and arterial
hypertension.
Certain oils
were claimed to partially or fully kill prostate cancer cells, colon cancer cells,
cervical cancer cells, bladder cancer cells, leukemia cells, melanoma and
fibrosarcoma cells and brain tumor cells.
It’s Not The Science – It’s The
Experience
“Representatives
of both doTerra and Young Living like to highlight the medical benefits of
their products. ‘There are literally thousands of studies on the benefits of
essential oils,’ Hill said. In fact, there have been very few large-scale,
peer-reviewed studies of essential oils’ use on humans, and their conclusions
have been relatively modest. It appears that lavender may improve sleep quality
and duration, and that peppermint may reduce symptoms of headache and
irritable-bowel syndrome. Many more studies have looked at oils’ impact on cell
cultures in a lab, sometimes with encouraging results. Some oils have been
shown to have antimicrobial effects, and to work synergistically with
antibiotics. But the conclusions reached by scientists are beside the point for
many consumers. ‘I’ll use my wife as an example,’ Hill said. ‘She’s not going
to be able to tell you the first thing about chemistry. Put a research paper in
front of her—zero interest. And that’s probably how most people are. What’s
real to them is the experience they’re having.’”
Getting Around FDA Rules
“The Food
and Drug Administration is charged with preventing sellers of
alternative-health products from making unfounded medical claims. Without ample
independent testing, companies can’t assert that their products prevent,
diagnose, treat, or cure disease. They get around this by relying on abstract
words like ‘vitality’ and ‘balance,’ and by talking in vague terms about
general body systems or mild issues that don’t rise to the level of disease.
Young Living and doTerra have attorneys on staff to insure that product
descriptions are within legal bounds.”
Wild, Wild West of MLM Reps
“But
although doTerra supplies educational materials to its Wellness Advocates,
there are no requirements that they review or distribute them. ‘The multilevels
have the whole aromatherapy community worried,’ Peter Holmes, the author of the
textbook Aromatica told me. Both
doTerra and Young Living encourage consumers to drink certain oils, a position
that’s controversial even among alternative-health practitioners. Holmes said
that, while he is unaware of the practices of specific companies, ‘You hear
about completely untrained housewives telling people to ingest up to fifty
drops. That is sheer insanity. That is medically dangerous. It’s a crazy
situation.’”
Unsubstantiated and Dangerous Claims
“This May, a
doTerra representative named Lara held an Essential Oils 101 class at a
barbecue restaurant in Waco, Texas …… She was in the midst of a doTerra
leadership-training program that brought her to a handful of states to lecture
about oils. She told the dozen people assembled that she had become interested
in oils a few years ago, when her three-year-old son started showing symptoms
of autism after receiving the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. ‘My pediatrician
had no help for me,’ she said. But diffusing oils made her son as ‘calm as a
kitten.’ After a few years of treatment with oils, she said, he is on track
developmentally.
“Lara
distributed a handout that listed various ailments and their oil treatments:
eucalyptus for bronchitis, lavender for third-degree burns, cypress for
mononucleosis, rosemary for respiratory syncytial virus. Diffusion ‘kills
microorganisms in the air which helps stop the spread of sickness,’ the
pamphlet read. Oils ‘repair our bodies at a cellular level so when you are not
sure which oils to use, don’t be afraid to use several oils and the body will
gain a myriad of benefits.’ Lara told the people in the room that doTerra had
oils that were ‘very antiviral’ and could knock out bronchitis in twenty-four
hours. She shared essential-oil success stories—her migraines gone, her
friend’s rheumatoid arthritis reversing, a colleague’s mother’s cancer in
remission. A blond woman at the back of the room raised her hand. ‘Cancer?’
she said, sounding both skeptical and hopeful. She explained that her
sister-in-law had recently been treated for breast cancer, and was taking a
pill to prevent its recurrence, but the side effects were terrible. The blond
woman was hoping for a more natural solution.”
New Age Beliefs
“Besides personal experience, the only kind of research aroma-therapists
seem interested in is in reading what other aroma-therapists have said or
believed about plants or oils. The practitioners and salespersons of aroma-therapeutic
products seem singularly uninterested in scientific testing of their claims,
many of which are empirical and could be easily tested. Of course, there are
many aroma-therapists who make non-testable claims, such as claims regarding
how certain oils will affect their ‘subtle body,’ bring balance to their chakra,
restore harmony to their energy flow, return one to one's center, or contribute
to spiritual growth. Aromatherapy is said to restore or enhance mental,
emotional, physical, or spiritual health. Such claims are essentially
non-testable. They are part of New Age mythology and can't really engender any
meaningful discussion or debate.”
False Claims
of Boosting the Immune System
One of the most prevalent claims by aroma-therapists is that essential
oils boost or support the immune system. Simple and basic human biology
contradicts this. William M. Meller, MD (Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine,
Medical Center at Santa Barbara, CA) calls the immune system "the body's homeland security":
“The immune
system is a system of cells and proteins that are ‘scattered throughout the
body — in the blood, lymph nodes, bone marrow, spleen, and even appendix. It's
made up of white blood cells and the tissues that make and harbor them.’ Immune
cells try to protect the body from foreign invasions by such things as germs.
Immune cells attack and dispense with the offenders. The security forces
created by the immune defense system are called antibodies,
‘highly specific proteins programmed to recognize and remember a specific virus
or bacteria forever.’ Yes, forever.
“Our immune
system never rests. In the mouth and gut it neutralizes germs that hitchhike in
on food. In the lungs it screens the air we breathe. In the skin it wards off
invaders trying to enter through dirty cuts and scrapes. The fact that we get
so few infections, despite countless daily exposures, testifies to the
vigilance of our immune forces.”
Bottom Line From Robert T. Carroll,
Ph.D.
“In any
case, I would not reject aromatherapy out of hand, however. When I have a cold
and a stuffy nose, I'll use Vicks VapoRub, a mixture of camphor, menthol, and
eucalyptus oil. Strictly speaking, I suppose I am a practicing aroma-therapist.
However, when I look at what people who call themselves aroma-therapists claim,
I have to conclude that aromatherapy is a mostly a pseudoscientific alternative
medical therapy. It is a mixture of folklore, trial and error, anecdote,
testimonial, New Age spiritualism, and fantasy. What aromatherapy lacks is a
knack for sniffing out non-sense. And while some oils can kill bacteria, as can
some soaps, it may not be in your best interest to kill every bacterium you
can. Some of those billions of little creatures are actually doing your body
some good!
"Finally, some of our strongest anti-biotics don't work very well on
the deadliest strains of bacteria. What are the odds that some plant oil
applied to the lower back is going to do what our strongest drugs can't do? I'd
say the odds are not great, but if you believe in magic, go right ahead and oil
up. Anyway, the scientific research on essential oils as anti-biotics and
anti-virals for serious conditions is in its infancy. Essential oils can kill
bugs in the lab, but will they be effective in real-life situations? There's
always some pleasure in feeling you're doing something good for your body, even
if you aren't. Call it placebo pleasure, if you like. If you could bottle it,
you'd be rich. What a concept!”
There are a few anecdotal benefits….
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Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.
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