Are Essential Oils Safe to Ingest? A Canyon Zen’s Opinion

Are essential oils safe to ingest? A question we got asked quite often and decided to share our opinion.

As Robert B. Tisserand explains in his book “The Art of Aromatherapy”, essential oils have a better effect when used externally.

The International Federation of Aromatherapists in the U.K, do not recommend people to take essential oils internally.

As per Jean Valnet, MD in his book “The Practice of Aromatherapy”, he mentions “[…] Very often an effective method of treatment involves no more than the daily use in the kitchen of garlic, cloves, sage, rosemary, thyme, savory and many other herbs or seasonings […]”

Using the incorrect essential oil can also have some serious consequences like organs failure and even death. In the Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, (which is a great book to have and will be added to our store), 3.5 ML of Eucalyptus Blue Gum (there are over 300 varieties of Eucalyptus), has been reported fatal since your organs cannot process the level of toxicity.

Let’s take another look as to why essential oils should not be taken internally. Every oils, more or less are all antibacterial and antifungal, meaning it will kill bacteria and fungus. When you eat, the food gets digested in your stomach and helped by your gut bacteria; the intestinal flora. As per UCLA Health website (https://connect.uclahealth.org/2021/03/19/want-to-boost-immunity-look-to-the-gut/), 70% of your immune system is located in the gut, where diverse bacteria are. Even News24 have done a report on the gut bacteria: https://www.news24.com/health24/Medical/Flu/Preventing-flu/your-gut-is-the-cornerstone-of-your-immune-system-20160318 and you can find lot more information online as well regarding this subject. So, ingesting those powerful essential oils, will kill those bacteria and can make you very sick and prone to other diseases and illnesses.

Essential oils recognized as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) which is like peppermint, is a very strong antibacterial. To amplify how powerful the essential oils are, it takes 256 pounds of peppermint leaves to make 1 pound of essential oil, it takes 27 square feet of lavender plants to make one 15 ml bottle of oil, it takes 75 lemons to make one 15 ml bottle of oil and it take 60 roses to make a single drop of rose oil. (Quick side note: why it is important to buy essential oils that are ethically harvested, which our supplier does and for example they work with growers in Peru to grow the rose wood tree that is endangered from been overharvested worldwide).

If you need to deal with an internal issue, look at which oil can help with the ailment, and then use the leaves or roots to either turn them into a tea or to swallow them (make sure on the safety of the oil it says it is non-toxic and find information regarding the plant to make sure it is safe). For example, black pepper is really good at helping with food poisoning, the essential oil can be applied to the stomach area and in the back, diffusing it will also help, and take black pepper corn and powder them, mix them in a teaspoon of honey and swallow. The amount you use in the powder is not the same as for the drops of essential oils, it will require more black pepper corns to make one drop. If you have a stomach ache, using the peppermint essential oil on your stomach and on your back will help, using the leaves of the peppermint plant to make a tea will help relieve the pain and without been dangerous.

Essential oils are referred to as aromatherapy oils, and this means healing by inhalation and not by ingestion. 

Our goal at Canyon Zen is to help and assist you, and doing so with integrity, and we hope what we have explained helps answer the question “is it safe to ingest essential oils” and provides you with some insight of how to use the essential oils and the plant part for healing.