Aromatherapy Workbook. Shirley Price
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nail polish remover, etc.)
However, a synthetic smell cannot, in my opinion, help a health problem without leading to side effects, as is often the case with synthetic drugs. There are scientists today who would argue with this and I believe such people are forgetting certain principles.
When science removes the therapeutic molecules or components from plants or essential oils, the administered result seems to give side effects. It is now appreciated that in the whole plant, or whole essential oil, there are many apparently useless components, including several that we cannot identify. These are believed to be ‘quenchers’ of the side effects which therapeutic agents in isolation could, and indeed do, cause. A good example of this is cinnamon bark oil. Cinnamic aldehyde, a major constituent of this oil, was found to be a severe irritant and the oil was therefore branded as an irritant. However, the complete oil, when tested, was found to be an irritant only on certain people – and to a much lesser degree.9 The other components or constituents of the whole oil were quenching the irritant quality of the aldehyde, no-one knowing exactly which ones or how. (The whole oil may, however, be a sensitizer for some people – see chapters 3 and 6.)
If an essential oil can be made using synthetic versions of the chemicals that are known to occur naturally in the plant, the unidentifiable ones will be absent, therefore the result will not be a complete and whole essential oil. Thus it will most likely produce side-effects, as do other unnatural drugs. Nature always knows best!
There are scientists who believe that essential oils made in the laboratory will have exactly the same therapeutic effect as those made by Mother Nature; it is true that tea tree, the simplest essential oil, can be made in a laboratory and may help a health problem (though perhaps producing side effects with prolonged use). If asked whether there is any difference between synthetic and distilled tea tree, the scientist is bound to admit that there is a slight measurable difference in the carbon atoms, therefore giving a clue as to whether the oil is synthetic or not. He will also tell us that despite this, the properties are exactly the same! With more complicated oils, there are many unidentified components present in very small quantities, which cannot be imitated; hence such an oil would not be ‘whole’ as we know the meaning of the word.
This brings us to the question of vital force in essential oils. Almost every aromatherapist believes in this subtle, invisible, intangible quality that is not susceptible to any scientific proof. ‘Life force’ is thought to be due to some indefinable process (perhaps comparable to photosynthesis) whereby some part of the electro-magnetic energy of the sun’s rays is converted into an energy which is stored in the essential oil cells in the plant.
The scientific community will quote the dictionary definition of vital force; ‘the force on which the phenomena of life in animals and plants depend – distinct from chemical and mechanical forces operating in them’. In other words, once a plant is harvested it is dead.
The only difference between a living human being and a body in the immediate moment of death is this ‘vital’ or ‘life’ force. At that particular moment, nothing else has changed. The spirit or soul is a different matter for consideration; many religions, including Christianity, believe this lives on. In my opinion, the spirit of a plant (its energy) ‘lives on’ in its synergy (it is no longer living) and it is this special and unique mix of natural chemicals – which no human has been able to put together – which gives an essential oil its subtle, invisible, intangible, vibrant quality.
Quality
I have to be honest and admit that synthetic and adulterated oils will ‘work’ to a certain extent (in the latter there could be a high percentage of the natural oil present). It is the quality which is different. Optimum quality is paramount not only in order to get the best results, but also to avoid the risk of possible harmful side effects. A bonus is that less essential oil is then needed in order to be effective, a fact often forgotten by people who buy oils on the false economy of price. Organic oils are best of all (see below).
Despite the fact that we obtain most oils direct from the farming community, tests are carried out to determine the levels of the constituent components, as these are not the same each year. Because of this, an oil may not have exactly the same aroma each time you buy it.
Gas-Liquid Chromatography
It is possible to ‘read’ the formula of an essential oil using various techniques, the most common being the gas-liquid chromatograph (GLC). In this apparatus a minute amount of essential oil is injected into a temperature controlled, extremely fine, coiled, tubular column. The time taken (called the retention time) for each component to emerge from the other end of the column is different, depending on the molecule size. The quantity released is recorded, showing a peak on the trace (proportional to the quantity). This is a comparative test, not an absolute one, the retention time of known constituents having already been determined, to aid in the analysis.
As every batch of oil will vary in its percentages of components, one reading of each oil is kept as a ‘standard’. This standard can then be directly compared to that of another essential oil from the same plant.
This technique shows any added adulterant having a retention time not evident on the standard. However it is possible to adulterate an oil low in a certain constituent, simply by taking that constituent from another, usually cheaper, essential oil, to ‘correct’ its reading. Sometimes a synthetic replica of a component is used, and occasionally, where a high concentration of one ingredient is desired, the oil will have a percentage of its terpenes removed, as in peppermint oil (see chapter 4). Aromatherapists should be wary of such an oil as this ‘concentrates’ the active components. Alternatively an ingredient may be augmented, as in the case of eucalyptol added to eucalyptus oil.
FIGURE 2.3: Gas-liquid chromatographs
Of all tests carried out on essential oils, the most common, apart from the GLC, are infra red, optical rotation, specific gravity, mass spectrometry (very expensive, but excellent) solubility in alcohols and ester content.
Organically Grown Oils
The term ‘organic’ has different meanings to different people. To the aromatherapist it probably conjures up a vision of aromatic and medicinal plants growing in unpolluted conditions. To the chemist, it simply means a substance which contains the carbon molecule, for example, sugar. The French term biologique or ‘biological’ is probably a safer term to use when referring to organic plant production.
Many of us would like to see a return to organic growing for everything – it is better for the soil, better for the environment and generally results in a superior product. However, organic growing methods entail heavy labour costs, sometimes yielding less attractive results – compared (sadly) with chemically assisted supermarket-type produce. The improvement in flavour of organic fruits and vegetables should make up for the – often – smaller size and sometimes less attractive appearance!
Often, produce claiming to be organic is not, and it is necessary for British produce to have a certificate, e.g. from the Soil Association, as proof, which can be asked for by any discerning or suspicious shopper.
The same principle applies to the growing and buying of organic essential oils, the certificates being awarded by the country in which the plants are grown, e.g. Natur et Progrès, Biofranc, etc. in France, Demeter in Germany, and so on.
It is obviously better for a plant to utilize the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) in the soil than to be fed with chemically produced NPK. The farmers in Egypt, where some of our oils come from, occasionally use potassium sulphate and ammonium sulphate from local natural deposits beside the lake. Pesticides