What’s Inside: The question of weight loss using essential oils came up the other day with another homeschool mom because she knew I was learning about them. Sometimes you can learn when you least expect it. We’ll look at 5 ways that essential oils can aid weight loss in detail.
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Can Essential Oils be used for weight loss?
This question, “Can essential oils be used for weight loss?” is a question that comes to homeschooling moms – sometimes we are still trying to shed that extra 10 pounds from sitting around eating bon-bons all day, just like all work-at-home employees.
While researching for my essential oils project, I noticed that the idea came up frequently, because essential oils can be a wonderful part of a healthy lifestyle. So here is what I found.
The essential answer to that essential question: If you are trying to lose 30 pounds in a month, essential oils are not going to do it for you. But they can be used to assist a balanced program of nutrition, fitness and total-body approach.
As Medical News Today says, “There are no quick fixes to weight loss.”
Side note
Disclaimer – I am not a doctor and not offering health advice. I’ve been using essential oils for a number of years, but I recently set out to improve my working knowledge of oils—to answer “How can I get more use from these amazing natural oils?” This article is from one of my tangents in researching essential oils for my “lovable learning project.” I found out so much about the power of essential oils that I wanted to share it.
What about the science?
Recently, interest in essential oils has picked up due to increasing consumer awareness about these plant-based compounds. But because essential oils can’t be patented for big money, there has not been all that much (funded) research to prove one way or the other about the efficacy of essential oils.
Then again, just as herbal medicine and plant-based healing have thousands of years of traditions, there are many anecdotal stories of how essential oils help with various conditions. Essential oils have been used in cosmetics and ointments in ancient Egypt for 5,000+ years. And in ancient China, the “Yellow Emperor’s Book of Internal Medicine” describes the use of aromatic oils.
And interestingly, two recent studies listed in PubMed about sweet orange essential oil found that it did increase weight loss in obese rats. The second study showed that it had improved liver function, so it’s possible that the improved liver function aided in the weight loss. But the effect is the same, isn’t it? You don’t really care all that much how it is working, if it works, right?
If you do want a good look at more of the science and chemistry of essential oils, here are two book recommendations that I really enjoyed:
- Essential Oils to Boost the Brain & Heal the Body by Jodi Cohen is an excellent asset on the mechanisms of the brain/body connection. Cohen has put together an invaluable and well-researched resource along with practical steps to apply daily. I like this one so much that it has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
- The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils: The Science of Advanced Aromatherapy by Kurt Schnaubelt is a fantastically detailed, science-based book on how essential oils work to boost immunity and treat degenerative diseases. This one is for the science geek book lover.
How can essential oils be used in weight loss?
The way these essential oils work is on multiple levels, as with most whole plant solutions. Essential oils can help aid your weight loss goals in several ways:
- By curbing appetite.
- By aiding in sleep.
- By energizing your workouts.
- By improving gut health and detoxification channels.
- By actually metabolizing fat better.
The first three everyone agrees on. The other two have some studies behind them. But let’s look at these one at a time.
1. Essential oils to curb appetite
Even mainstream health websites, like Medical News Today, recognize that essential oils can curb appetite and help sleep.
The best oils for suppressing appetite and cravings are the citrus oils – grapefruit, lemon, bergamot – along with peppermint.
How to curb cravings
Simply open your jar and inhale deeply any of the pure single-oil essences. After 3-4 inhales, close that jar right away to avoid evaporation.
You can also make a blend with a carrier oil or put a drop on a small cloth and inhale the fragrance from the cloth.
2. Best Oil to promote sleep
I’m not going to bother with any of the other calming oils like chamomile – lavender is hands-down-the-best for sleep.
Why talk about sleep when you are trying to lose weight?
If you are getting a healthy night’s rest already, then skip this section.
If you are not getting fully rested, you need to focus on sleep first or concurrently with weight loss. Sleep is when our bodies are designed to detox and heal. Weight loss is easier if you are working on whole body restoration. Some say that good sleep can even move you off of a weight plateau. You’ve probably heard about weight plateaus – where you just stop losing weight because your body has adjusted to a new weight set point.
The topic is too large for this article, but I will gather up all my notes into a separate article if you’d like to learn more.
Let’s just say that there are many reasons for not being able to drop pounds, and poor sleep is one of them.
How to use lavender oil for better sleep
Some people like to inhale lavender during their nightly routine. Others take a soothing bath with lavender oil and bath salts to relax. I personally enjoy a simple reed diffuser on my nightstand with lavender in it. Another thing you can try is massaging pressure points – Cohen, in her Brain book details where to massage specific acupressure spots with lavender oil before bedtime.
Again, as with weight loss, using essential oils for improving sleep is only part of your arsenal to improve health. With sleep, you also have to maintain your circadian rhythms and make sure your aren’t exposed to too much blue light at night and a half dozen other things.
Remember, this is your body and you have to listen to it. In natural remedies, if you are offered a half-dozen options, your most important resource may not be the same as someone else’s. Are you losing sleep because of excessive stress or because you live next to a fire station? Lavender will calm stress, but ear plugs are a better solution for the fire station.
3. Essential oils to energize workouts
I think energizing your workouts is a fun way to use oils. If you’re working out, you want to enjoy it or you are less likely to keep at it. Scents can help make it more enjoyable. And they can stimulate and energize you.
Energizing scents while exercising
Try diffusing any of these (or a blend) to add a new dimension to your workouts. Or you can dab a drop on your wrists or temples. Coincidentally, all of the citrus oils are generally categorized as “uplifting” or “energizing,” so you’ll see a number of the same oils as those categorized as promoting weight loss.
Note: Never put undiluted oils on your skin. If you are dabbing onto your skin, always dilute first and then do a skin sensitivity test. See here for dilution ratio chart.
- Grapefruit
- Peppermint
- Lemon
- Orange
4. Essential oils for gut health or detoxification
Another way to support your weight loss program is to clean house and rebuild your gut. Many issues stem from poor digestion.
Why would clearing detox channels aid in weight loss?
If your normal elimination channels cannot get rid of wastes, your body will try to neutralize toxins by storing in fat cells. Then you get stuck (okay, that is a major over-simplification, but you get the idea.)
According to Cohen from her Brain book, “It takes a lot of energy to heal.” If your brain gets stuck in a chronic stress state, then it doesn’t work on repairing cells. “Essential oils can help your brain shift out of a stress response, freeing up energy and resources that your body can then use to heal, feel happier, and drop extra pounds.”
The opposite of a chronic stress response is activating the parasympathetic nervous system controlled by the vagus nerve. This is especially pertinent just before eating – you want to be in a relaxed state for best digestion. Fight or flight response makes for indigestion. So no more meals on the run!
More resources about the vagus nerve are in that other post with all my references.
To shift into a parasympathetic state, use a blend of clove bud and lime essential oils (diluted).
5. Metabolizing fat
For fat burning, we go back to, you guessed it – Grapefruit oil! The compounds in grapefruit oil are good for metabolizing fat with a “fat burning” massage. If you add it all up, grapefruit suppresses appetite, increases metabolism, reduces stress and uplifts mood. It’s your all-around weight loss go-to oil.
Fat burning massage
Massaging the belly with essential oils can help burn fat according to a recent study. And the people in the study who lost weight with the oils also had improved body image – probably because oils effect mood!
Anyway, gently rub your belly with diluted oils. Mimic the study by using grapefruit or a combination of oils diluted to 3%. The participants massaged their bellies twice a day for 5 days a week for 6 weeks using grapefruit, cypress and 2 other oils diluted to 3%.
Mama Z’s (from Natural Living Family) recipe for a belly massage includes equal parts of grapefruit, peppermint, lime and cinnamon in a carrier oil.
Where can I get essential oils?
You want trusted sources of essential oils. DoTerra is an excellent brand especially if you know a local representative. Amazon also sells it. Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy, Amrita Aromatherapy, Now Foods, Young Living, and Aura Cacia are brands I’ve used. I’ve also used Natures Alchemy and BioMed Balance available from Azure Standard. They also carry carrier oils like jojoba, almond, and apricot.
Key Take-away
If you want a lovely way to add to your lifestyle of fitness and healthy choices, essential oils can help you shed some extra pounds while balancing and uplifting your mood.
FAQ
Grapefruit essential oil is a powerhouse for aiding in a weight loss program. The other citrus oils may be helpful also – lime, orange, bergamot, and lemon. Peppermint is another favorite. And the warming scents, like cinnamon and clove, can help boost metabolism. Never use the warming scents directly on the skin—be sure to use carrier oils.
The study listed in this post used grapefruit and cypress as the main oils to reduce belly fat. Most people recommend a synergistic combination of oils blended in a carrier oil.
Grapefruit essential oil seems to be the most highly recommended oil that tops the list for fat burning.
Cinnamon, ginger, and peppermint all help in this area. They can curb appetite and aid digestion.
