What are Aromatherapy Health Benefits?

Mind is All

You've heard of aromatherapy, but are wondering if it's for real? Have any doctors or scientists looked into aromatherapy? The answer is yes: there have been studies on aromatherapy, with exciting conclusions.

Aromatherapy is when you use smells to improve your body and mental state. You can actually evoke very specific physical and emotional reactions with scent. This is because the sense of smell is so primal; when you smell something, a very primal space in your brain reacts without you putting  alot of thought into it. This is why we have such strong reactions to smells, especially if they are linked to experiences we've had.

One medical study proved that lavender evokes specific reactions in the body. Lavender slows your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. You can request for lavender essential oil to be added to your massage oil, which is something professional massage therapists often do. Many geriactric units are starting to use lavender to calm and soothe dementia patients. You can also use geranium essential oil, which is similar in effect.

Another interesting aromatherapy find is that peppermint is quite a potent scent. Peppermint sharpens your mental focus, enabling you to concentrate and feel alert. One study evaluated kids who chewed gum while testing; the kids who chewed peppermint gum outscored the kids who chewed other flavors.

A lot of people use grapefruit essential oil because it is supposed to work as an appetite suppressant. In one study, it was discovered that men who were asked to guess a woman’s age after meeting her guessed her as younger if she was wearing grapefruit essential oils than if she wasn’t wearing any scent.

However, not all aromatherapy is equal. Synthetic scents do not have the same effect as essential oils. And grade of the essential oil matters; always choose a high grade essential oil for maximum effectiveness. You can buy the expensive high grade essential oil and then use just a teensy bit in a base oil like almond oil or in a lotion.