Benefits of essential oils for health, beauty and healing

The last few decades have seen the extensive use of essential oils in conventional medicine systems and aromatherapy. Even the scientists and doctors swear by the benefits of essential oils and their application in the healing of complex diseases like HIV, cancer, asthma, heart strokes, bronchitis, and more. With many discoveries and inventions, there are now 90 or more essential oils in existence.

Most of the essential oils are capable of blending well with each other in terms of odor and function, which enables the herbalists to create a vast collection of the combinations of aromatic essential oils.​​​ You can go through the list of essential oils given below for their benefits. Usually, these oils are of very strong nature and may bring about side effects if not taken properly and in prescribed doses. Moreover, these oils have different effects on different people. Thus, you must use them under the supervision of a medical practitioner.

1. Angelica Essential Oil 

Angelica Essential Oil 

Characteristics: This oil is usually known for being anti-spasmodic, depurative, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, digestive, hepatic, expectorant, febrifuge, emmenagogue, nervine, stimulant, tonic and stomachic.

Health benefits: This oil reduces gasses, relaxes spasms, purifies the blood, improves digestion, promotes perspiration, removes toxins, and increase urination. Angelica relieves hindered menstruation, benefits liver, expels catarrh and phlegm, reduces fever, benefits stomach, tones up the body, and heals nervous disorders.

2. Anise Essential Oil 

Anise Essential Oil 

Characteristics: Conventionally, Anise has been in use as an anti-hysteric, anti-epileptic, anti-rheumatic, anti-spasmodic, antiseptic, aperient, cordial, carminative, decongestant, digestive, insecticide, expectorant, sedative, vermifuge and stimulant.

Health benefits: Anise is commonly utilized to treat arthritis and rheumatism, relaxing nervous afflictions.

3. Basil Essential Oil 

Characteristics: This oil is anti-spasmodic, carminative, analgesic, ophthalmic and antibacterial.

Health benefits: Basil is used for treating respiratory problems, skin problems, infections, blood circulations, stress disorder, vomiting and pain.

4. Bay Essential Oil 

Characteristics: Bay is used as an antibiotic, antiseptic, anti-neuralgic, anti-spasmodic, astringent, analgesic, emenagogue, cholagogues, insecticide, febrifuge, sedative, sudorific, tonic, and stomachic.

Health benefits: This oil defends the body against septic, gives relaxation form neuralgia pain, restrains microbial growth, relieves pain, relaxes spasm, tightens muscles and gums, prevents hair loss and increases appetite. Basil is also used to treat hemorrhage, promotes bile secretion, relieves hindered menstruation, and reduces fever. This oil repels and kills insects, benefits stomach and sedates nervous afflictions and inflammations. It is also used to increase perspiration and eliminate waste products and toxins from the body.

5. Benzoin Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Benazoin is a carminative, cordial, antidepressant, deodorant, disinfectant, diuretic, expectorant, relaxant, antiseptic, vulnerary, anti inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, sedative, and astringent.

Health benefits: Benzoin is good for fighting depression and uplifting moods. It also helps to eliminate the build-up of gas, warms respiratory system, cures infections, lowers body odor, promotes urination, relaxes the body and removes toxins from the body. It also stops hemorrhaging, strengthens gums, improves circulation, cures inflammation, and helps treat arthritis. It calms anxiety and relaxes tension.

6. Birch Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Birch is a disinfectant, tonic, stimulant, analgesic, antidepressant, detoxifier, antirheumatic, and antiarthritic. Moreover, it is an antiseptic, diuretic, astringent, febrifuge, insecticide, a depurative, and germicide.

Health benefits: It fights depression, promotes urination, reduces pain, prevents wounds from turning septic, kills germs, purifies blood and reduces fever.

7. Bitter almond Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Bitter almond oil is used as a febrifuge, vermifuge, bactericide, fungicide, germicide, sedative, aperient, anesthetic, diuretic, antispasmodic, for healing hydrophobia and anti-intoxicant.

Health benefits: Bitter almond essential oil is widely used for reducing fever, killing worms, killing bacteria, fungi, and germs, reduces inflammation, and sedation. It can also be used to cause numbness and also as a desensitizing and anesthetic agent. It increases urination, and removes excess salt, water, toxins, fats, etc. from the body. It counters the outcomes of intoxicants, cures hydrophobia resulting from rabies, and cures spasms.

8. Black Pepper Essential Oil
Characteristics: Black pepper oil is a digestive, carminative, diaphoretic,   aperient, antispasmodic, antiarthritic, antibacterial, an antioxidant and antirheumatic.

Health benefits: Black pepper oil helps in digestion, removes toxins, increases perspiration, removes gasses from intestines and prevents premature aging, and counteracts free radicals which can damage the body in numerous ways.

9. Chamomile Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Chamomile has a wide range of uses. It is traditionally used as an antispasmodic, antibiotic, antiseptic, antidepressant, antiphlogistic, carminative, antineuralgic, cholagogues, emenagogue, analgesic, cicatrizant, febrifuge, hepatic, nervine, digestive, sedative, tonic, bactericidal, stomachic, anti-inflammatory, sudorific,   anti-infectious, vulnerary, and vermifuge.

Health benefits: Chamomile is well known to protect wounds from turning infected and septic, cures spasms, curbs infections and biotic growth, uplifts mood and fights depression, soothes inflammation caused due to fever, and cures neuralgic pain through reduction of swelling in affected vessels. It also encourages bile discharge, eliminates gasses, diminishes scars, cures hindered menstruation and makes them regular, reduces fever, cures pain, and benefits the liver. Moreover, chamomile tranquilizes hyper-reactions and inflammation, improves the health of nervous system, aids digestion, increases perspiration, kills bacteria, and fights infections. Chamomile is one among the most famous and useful essential oils.

10. Camphor Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Camphor oil is an antispasmodic, stimulant, decongestant,
antiseptic, anesthetic, sedative, anti-neuralgic, nerve pacifier, anti-inflammatory, an insecticide, and disinfectant.

Health benefits: It defends wounds from infections, cures spasms, behaves as a local anesthetic, desensitizes senses, calms down nervous afflictions, soothes inflammation, cures neuralgic pain, kills insects, and fights infections.

11. Cardamom Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Cardamom is anti-spasmodic oil. It reduces nausea and counteracts the outcomes of chemotherapy. It is utilized as an antiseptic, aphrodisiac, astringent, antimicrobial, digestive, stomachic, diuretic agent and stimulant.

Health benefits: The oil is used to fight nausea, cure spasms, protect incisions and wounds, increase libido, controls microbial growth, contract gums, sustains stomach health and promote digestion.

12. Cedarwood Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Cedarwood oil is an antiseptic, antiseborrhoeic, antispasmodic, astringent, tonic, emenagogue, expectorant, sedative, a fungicide and insecticidal.

Health benefits: It is utilized to help heal seborrhoea, treats wounds; makes gums tissues, muscles, blood vessels and skin contract; fight spasms, increases urination, removes toxins, salt, fat and excess water from the body. Cedarwood also regulates the cycle of menstruation, cures colds and coughs, kills insects, nervous disturbances, sedates inflammation and prevents fungal growth and bacterial infections.

13. Cinnamon Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Cinnamon is antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-clotting, astringent, stimulating, carminative and cooling.

Health benefits: Cinnamon oil is used as a tonic for brain and respiratory system; helps cure skin infections, issues of blood circulation, blood impurity, wound healing, infections, birth control, pain relief, breastfeeding, menstrual issues, diabetes, heart disorders, indigestion, colon cancer, and bad breath.

14. Clove Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Clove oil is antimicrobial, antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, stimulating, and aphrodisiac in character.

Health benefits: It is used in dental problems such as toothaches, cavities, etc. It is also used to cure skin problems, stress, respiratory problems, headaches, indigestion, nausea, earaches, issues of blood circulation, blood purification, weakness of immune system, diabetes, premature ejaculation, sties and cholera.

15. Coriander essential oil
Characteristics: Coriander oil has been used from past many centuries as an aphrodisiac, analgesic, antispasmodic, depurative, carminative, deodorant, digestive, lipolytic, fungicide, stomachic, stimulant.

Health benefits: it reduces pain, reduces spasm, increases libido, removes excess gas, lowers body odor, purifies blood, promotes digestion, prevents growth of fungi and resulting infection. Moreover, it stimulates the process of hydrolysis to break down fat, sustains good health, and benefits stomach.

16. Cumin Essential Oil 
Characteristics: Cumin oil is bactericidal, digestive, carminative, diuretic, antispasmodic, antiseptic, detoxifying, stimulant, nervine, tonic, and emenagogue in character.

Health benefits: Cumin oil is well known to slow down bacterial infection, kills bacteria, removes surplus intestinal gas, increases urination, promotes digestion, and defends wounds from turning septic.  Cumin oil reduces spasms, regulates menstruation, removes waste products and toxins from the body, and improves the response of nervous system to various outside stimuli.

17. Lavender Essential Oil
Characteristics: Lavender is one among the most adaptable oils. It is an antidepressant, analgesic, cicatrizant, expectorant, antiseptic, nervine, and vulnerary in nature.

Health benefits: Lavender is famous for its soothing effect on mind and body. It works well on cuts, bruised, skin irritation, etc. Doctors and therapists also use Lavender oil for lowering the levels of hormones relating to stress in the blood. That is why, beauty advertisements always suggest putting a few drops in the bath to make you relax while sleeping. You can also put a few drops of lavender oil on the hands and rub them. Inhale your hands to have a soothing effect on your inner soul. You can also put a few drops on the pillow before sleeping. Lavender oil is also beneficial for the respiratory tract in some kinds of coughs, influenza and cold. It makes you breathe more comfortably when sinuses and lungs are obstructed with phlegm. It also defends the respiratory system against viruses born from air. The cicatrizing characteristic of this oil is beneficial in the treatment of scabies, eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis.