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Essential Oils are pure plant extracts
distilled from herbs (e.g. basil), flowers (e.g. lavender), petals
(e.g. rose), leaves (e.g. eucalyptus), woods (e.g. cedar), berries
(e.g. juniper) and resins (e.g. frankincense).
The therapeutic powers are concentrated in
the oils and
are useful in treating many conditions.
Method of
Extraction
Most essential oils
are obtained by steam distillation although other methods can be used.
Citrus fruits are cold pressed as the oil from flowers is produced by a
delicate method to produce what’s known as an absolute. Delicate
flowers are unable to withstand high temperatures. After extraction the
resulting essential oil is highly concentrated containing many
therapeutic properties.
The complex mixture
of natural chemicals is what makes essential oils such effective
healing agents. Chemicals containing constituents such as alcohols,
esters, ketones, lactones, terpenes, aldehydes, phenols and
sesquiterpenes combine to make a unique set of therapeutic qualities.
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