When most people think of essential oils they think of aroma therapy, but when
you think of how many plants there are and what properties they have,
it makes a lot of sense that some essential oils do more than just
smell good. Some essential oils can also help our bodies to keep away
or fight off infections.

Antiseptic Essential Oils

Antiseptics are agents that kill bacteria. While some bacteria is healthy, other
bacteria causes illnesses. Antibiotics, which are similar but not
identical to other forms of antiseptics, have been widely used in
recent history to fight off harmful bacteria, but antibiotics can
also be harmful to good bacteria, and harmful bacteria has been
adapting to survive antibiotic treatments.

According to a 2015 article in The Atlantic, most of the serious clinical
studies that have been done on essential oils for antiseptic purposes
have been searching for potential ingredients in hand sanitizers that
will be efficient in medical settings where bacteria have become
immune to other common lines of defense.

The article lists a number of plant extracts that research has found
promising, including

• thyme
• clove
• lemongrass
• lavender
• basil
• chili peppers
• and cinnamon.

Clove,
Rosemary, chili peppers, and lavender were also listed among
essential oils found to have antimicrobial effects in a 2010
meta-analysis published in The Journal of Applied Bioscience, as were
essential oils made from….

• juniper
• olives
• peppermint
• fennel
• lemon leaves
• and lime leaves

Scientists aren’t entirely sure yet how or why essential oils can kill bacteria,
but some have proposed that chemicals in the essential oils can
damage the cell walls of the bacteria. This would also explain why
essential oils included as ingredients in more conventional
antiseptics tend to be more efficient than essential oils by
themselves.

Anti-Viral Essential Oils

Bacteria and viruses both make you sick, but they aren’t the same; they work
in different ways and require different treatments and deterrents.
For example, if the theory that essential oils kill bacteria by
damaging their cell walls is correct, essential oils could not fight
viruses the same way because viruses do not have cell walls.
Fortunately, a number of potentially beneficial anti-viral essential
oils have also been identified.

The same 2010 meta-analysis cited above included sandalwood oil, tea tree oil,
thyme, and ginger as essential oils with anti-viral properties. A
2015 study published in the journal Acute Medicine reported that
eucalyptus showed promising anti-viral traits as well, particularly
in a mouthwash for combating herpes simplex.

Cinnamon, bergamot, thyme, and eucalyptus were also found to have promising
anti-viral properties in both the liquid and the vapor state in a
2014 article published in The American Journal of Essential Oils and
Natural Products. This article particularly looked at combatting the
influenza virus which leads to the common “flu” but which
can also turn deadly.

Other Areas Of Research

Recent research has also explored essential oils as being beneficial
antifungal, and even anticancer agents.

By far the most interest in essential oils has been involving their potential
benefit in combatting depression and anxiety disorders.

Other Ways To Get The Benefits

Many of these studies included other essential oils that are not widely
available commercially, and so they have not been included in this
article.

Many of the essential oils discussed in this article, in addition to being
readily available commercially, come from edible plants. While
essential oils can often not be ingested, eating the plants that they
are derived from can provide some significant effect as well.

Essential oils are concentrated and potent substances, so eating the foods that
produce them may not have as strong or as immediate an effect as
using essential oils. However, eating the foods rather than just the
oils involves taking in nutrients that are not always included in
essential oils. For example, many of the essential oils listed above
come from plants that also include antioxidants and other important
nutrients.