Essential Oils – One of Nature’s Antibiotics
Essential oils, the mainstay of aromatherapy, are well known and much appreciated for their ability to uplift emotions, energise a tired body, help induce restful sleep, as well as improve the condition of the skin. Not so well known is the fact that some essential oils are ‘natural antibiotics’ and that over the course of the last two decades a considerable amount of research has taken place in universities around the world; with results being written up into scientific papers and published in journals. As Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial spirochete, there is a very good probability that essential oils can be successfully used. As of this date, I am not aware of any university research with essential oils against Borrelia but I have first-hand, scientific evidence that some superbugs can be killed by essential oils.
From 2005 – 2009 I was personally involved with a university microbiology team and together we set out to identify essential oils with enough power to kill superbugs – bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics – and that is what I would like to tell you about. The trials started with several essential oils tested against a range of micro-organisms, but eventually, with the high cost of university research, a decision was made to focus on the common bacterium – staphylococcus Aureus/MRSA. This harmless bacterium that lives on our skin has evolved and mutated, from the end of the Second World War when it could easily be killed with penicillin, to become a superbug, resistant to antibiotics and claiming the lives of thousands of people every year. It only becomes a problem when the skin is damaged, either by accident, surgery or a skin condition such as eczema. When staph Aureus enters the body and cannot be killed by antibiotics, it is known as MRSA in the UK and MERSA in the USA. The university microbiologists I worked with found that the three most powerful essential oils to kill off the MRSA superbug were:-
TEA TREE
THYME LINALOL
BENCHMARK THYME
Each of these three aromatic oils, in a 5% dilution, were individually tested against superbugs and have each been proven, in scientific tests, to be bactericidal against MRSA. Whilst effective at killing the superbug, these oils are safe to use on the skin and may be used regularly. MRSA bacteria double in number every 24 hours, so if a wound is colonised with MRSA and cannot be killed with antibiotics, then the bacteria will eventually invade the bloodstream: with fatal consequence. Borrelia burgdorferi are said, by some internet sites, to double in number every 12 – 24 hours, whilst other sites state that Borrelia doubles in number every seven days. Until evidence provides a definitive answer to the query, I will just say that Borrelia is able to double in number, at least once a week. Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes are unique in the way that they affect humans and animals – being able to hide in tissues and organs and be undetectable in the bloodstream – and yet they are still bacteria. I do not have scientific evidence that essential oils are effective against Borrelia and other microorganisms involved with Lyme disease, as it would cost many thousands of dollars to set up university trials.
I am a firm believer in the power of essential oils, using them whenever I pick up an infection. This means that I have not taken an antibiotic for more than 35 years. So I am going to stick my neck out and say “if the MRSA superbug can be killed off with essential oils then there is every reason to suppose that Borrelia burgdorferi can also be killed”.
Antibacterial essential oils are easy to administer. They just need to be diluted in a good quality fatty oil (or jojoba which is a liquid wax) and rubbed into the skin – so anybody can treat themselves – very easily and inexpensively.
Maggie first became interested in alternative medicine back in the early 1970s when it was called ‘fringe medicine’. Her involvement with essential oils began shortly afterwards and became the mainstay of her medicine chest during pregnancy, childbirth and the rearing of three children with all the usual childhood diseases.
She was one of the first UK published writers on the subject of aromatherapy. Her first book, Aromatherapy for Women, published in 1985, went on to become an international bestseller, selling in excess of 700,000 copies worldwide. Four other books followed, commissioned by mainstream publishing houses.
With the publication of Aromatherapy for Women in Japan, her partners there successfully introduced aromatherapy to the Japanese market. In 1989, Maggie was the first to speak on the subject, returning many times to lecture in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. Her essential oil and herbal essence products created and led the market in Japan for more than 10 years.
