Essential Oils

Essential Oils
Essential oils cannot be made easily at home. They are the pure plant oil, usually extracted by chemicals or hot steam. Hundreds of pounds of fresh plant material may produce only ounces of essential oil.
Essential oils are intended for external use. They can be fatally poisonous if taken internally in quantity. They are also highly irritating to the mucus surfaces of the body (genitals, mouth, eyes, etc.) and may cause allergic skin reactions in some people. Be certain to keep all essential oils well out of the reach of children.
How does the body work? A basic tenet of the Wise Woman Tradition as I have taught it for more than forty years is that our gut determines our health. It is now widely acknowledged that gut flora determines our physical health, our emotional health, and even our spiritual well-being.
Gut flora is the term we use to collectively identify the thousands of different yeasts, bacteria, and micro-organisms that live in our large and small intestines.
All essential oils are antifungal (kill yeasts), antibacterial (kill bacteria), and anti-microbial (kill small things). In short, all essential oils kill gut flora. They kill gut flora when inhaled, put on the body, or used orally. Lack of gut flora interferes with the immune system, makes the cells more resistant to insulin, and raises cholesterol, to name but a few of the problems associated with damage to gut flora.
Aspirin is made by extracting, concentrating, and purifying a plant compound found in willow. Essential oils are made by extracting, concentrating, and purifying the volatile oils found in plants. The processes are the same; the result is the same; there is no way to deny that essential oils are drugs, not herbal medicines. As such, they have detrimental side effects, and – while useful to kill pathogens – are not recommended for everyday use, even as “aromatherapy.”
Instead: Use natural scent therapy. Use scented plants infused in oils ...
Learn more here:
http://www.wisewomanmentor.com/wise-woman-ezine/4178949
And here, Making Infused Oils:
http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/July09/breasthealth.htm