Skip to main content

Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils?

One day, my friend asked me to recommend her a “therapeutic grade” essential oils’ brand.

What does she means?

Is she looking for the essential oil that has therapeutic effect on her?

Or she is concerning on the product safety?

Or she is looking for high quality and non-adulteration products?

According to Stewart (2005)…

“A therapeutic grade essential oil is defined here as one that is specially distilled from plants that are cultivated organically or grown wild in a clean environment (not gathered along a busy highway). Plants should be from proper botanical genus, species, and cultivar. No chemical fertilizers are added to the soil, and crop cultivation is free of herbicides and pesticides. Essential oils should be extracted by steam distillation at minimum temperatures and pressures, as was done in ancient times. No chemical solvents are used in the extraction process.”

In my teacher Jade Shutes article, she does mention that this “therapeutic grade” concept was introduced into the market during 90’s by some clever marketer. She opposed the idea of “therapeutic grade” grading system.

In Tisserand's article, “such terms as pharmaceutical grade, therapeutic grade or food grade have no meaning in relation to the quality of essential oils for aromatherapy… there is no independent, industry standard that is known as “therapeutic grade.”

For me “therapeutic grade” is a concept, this terms is very attractive and it conveys the message that the essential oils were carefully sourced specifically for use for holistic aromatherapy treatment. Just like the term “100% natural” term, it conveys the products contains 100% natural materials which are carefully sourced, it is safe and it done no harm to me and the environment. But are there really 100% natural?

As a consumer, instead of fully believe the “therapeutic grade” label it tells you, please keep an open mind and ask the following questions to the seller or yourself if they claimed themselves as therapeutic grade:

What are the criteria for obtaining the “therapeutic grade” certification? Or standards use to label as “therapeutic grade” essential.
  1. Who are the bodies governed this standard in the market? For example, there are legislation and organizations that regulate the organic products such as National Organic Program (NOP, United States), Natural Products Association (NPA, United States), Organic Consumers Association, for example.
  2. Or you can also asked, what is the difference between the so call “therapeutic grade” and “non-therapeutic grade” essential oil?
  3. If you are satisfied with their answers, why not give it a tried and do your own comparison and judgments.


Currently, they are no standards or regulation that governed the selling of essential oils in most of the countries. The “therapeutic grade” label is just one of the marketing gimmicks. Before making any purchase, please make an effort to know the company you buy from. You still can assess them based on the “therapeutic grade” concept provided by Stewart.

We all want to purchase a good quality essential oils and afraid making a mistake on it. Therefore, seller used this term to distinguish his or her products with other sellers. Of course, some sellers use it intentionally to mislead the buyers. As I always said, be an educated consumer. Soil conditions, climate, growing conditions, harvesting, extraction methods, bottling, storage, and logistic… all play a part in resulting the quality and chemistry of the essential oils.

References

Shutes, J. The Quality of Essential Oils By Jade Shutes. http://www.naha.org/assets/uploads/The_Quality_of_Essential_Oils_Journal.pdf
Tisserand, R. (2010) Therapeutic grade oils – read all about it! http://roberttisserand.com/2010/04/therapeutic-grade-oils-read-all-about-it/
Stewart, D (2005). The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple: God’s Love Manifest in Molecules. Care Publications.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Essential Oils Should be Avoided by Persons with G6PD Deficiency?

It is now very common to hear people say about G6PD deficiency, such as  “My child has G6PD deficiency… what foods to avoid?” Yes, G6PD deficiency is prevalence in worldwide, affecting 10% of the world population with approximately 400 million people. In Malaysia, around 1 in 10 children are G6PD deficiency. What is G6PD deficiency? 6-phosphate dehydrogenase  (G6PD) deficiency is a common genetic enzyme deficiency.  This enzyme deficiency will increase the vulnerability of red blood cells to oxidative stress . If the G6PD deficiency person is infected or expoused to oxidative stimuli drugs or chemical agents,  the red blood cells will damaged in large scale and it will lead to acute haemolysis.  Excessive bilirubin produced during acute haemolysis will cause liver overloaded and resulted in jaundice. G6PD deficiency has another name called  favism , I believe the name is derived from fava beans where acute heomolysis can be triggered by consumpti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aromatherapy Course Malaysia

BASIC AROMATHERAPY HANDS ON WORKSHOP MALAYSIA DESCRIPTION Essential oil is natural, so it must be safe? Can essential oil use directly on skin? How many drops of essential oils I should use? This course will answer the above questions by providing you the basic information and knowledge about the world of aromatherapy. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN? What is Aromatherapy? Basic Principles of Aromatherapy What is Essential Oils and Why its Works? 10 Essential Oils Profile Essential Oil Safety Methods of Application Practical Blending and Creating with Oils WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE? 1 x Lunch 1 x Manual 1 x Certificate of Attendance 1 x Basic Aromatherapy Kits Worth RM248 10 x Essential Oils (2ml) each 1 x Carrier Oil 1 x Beaker 1 x Roller Bottle (10ml) 1 x Amber Glass Bottle (10ml) 1 x Amber Glass Bottle (30ml) 1 x Spray Bottle SPEAKER Ms. Jamie Pong The Professional Aromatherapy Diploma, The International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA), UK Diplo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bee Stings Treatment with Essential Oils

During a weekend, my parents and I traveled to Fraser Hills for two days one night herb camp. During the camp, my mum gets a stung by a bee. She felt a sharp pain at her index finger when she tried to chase away the bee. The bee died after it stung. My mum removed the sting immediately and her friend asked her to apply Mopiko ointment on the stung area. After sometimes, her index finger became swelling and red . The herb teacher told her to apply garlic on her index finger. She tried it but my mum dislike the smell of the garlic. Essential Oils Treatment Then I suggested her to put one to two drops of lavender essential oil neat on her swelling area for three times a day (this is the only essential oil I brought during the trip). For one and a half day, her stung area recovered, and she is very happy with that. From that day onward, she became my ambassador for lavender oil. You can also mix with vinegar when preparing the remedy. Vinegar is alkaline; it can help to n...
Post a Comment
Read more