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Essential Oil 101: Everything To Know
About Our All-Natural Extract Oils

Overview of Essential Oils

Ever wondered what essential oils are? Read on about these plant-powered extracts, how they’re made, how to use them, and how to find the right fit for yourself!

What Are Essential Oils?

Miracle oil or a mambo jambo juice? Neither! Essential oils are simply and basically plant extracts that are distilled for their full, nutritious, nature-given properties.

These concentrated oils deliver wonderful scents and a plethora of health benefits that can transform moods, nourish the body and provide healing relief. Bottled relaxation at your fingertips!

How Are Essential Oils Extracted

We cold-press or steam-distill various parts of plants (flowers, barks, leaves or fruit) to get a concentrated batch of extracts, which we then bottle for you. Not all plants are created equal however, and some plants yield more extracts.

Did you know?
It takes up to 242,000 rose petals to distill a 5ml bottle of lovely rose oil! While a 5ml of zesty lemon oil takes just 25 lemons!

Gya Labs Essential Oils

Whether you’re looking for peace of mind, a place of focus, or newfound energy, our curated collection of essential oils has something for everyone.

Single Essential Oils

A diverse collection of natural oils for some self-love and self-care for your everyday.

Organic Essential Oils

Our organic essential oils are sourced from certified-organic farms that maintain strict rules against pesticide use and synthetic fertilizers. 100% Mother Nature-approved!

Essential Oil Blends

Beautiful things happen when 2 or more scents come together. Our essential oils are curated and blended to bring you complex and multifunctional benefits to cover your everyday needs.

How To Use Essential Oils?

Breathe them. Mist them. DIY them. One or two drops of these versatile elixirs can add new dimensions to your everyday life. Their uses are endless!

Diffuse And Transform A Room

Add a few drops into diffusers or candles to give the room a relaxing or health-boosting effect.

Use With Skin-Friendly Carrier Oils

Carrier oils are skin-nourishing and gentle oils used to carry super properties of Essential Oils into your skin, hair and person, for a lovely everyday experience.

Browse Our Gentle Carrier Oils

Blend Them Into DIY Products

Our essential oils can transform an experience, and can be used to elevate skincare and self-care products, home cleansers, bug repellants, candles and so on. Unleash your creativity.

On Pillows And Linens

Essential oils work wonders on your bed cloths, clothes and other fabrics. They allow you to fall right into relaxation, or carry energy along wherever you go.

Top 5 Health Benefits Of Essential Oils

Essential Oils Balance Hormones

Hormones control different processes and functions in the body. Some of the hormones include estrogen, cortisol, testosterone and progesterone. The production or secretion of the hormones in the body results in metabolism, reproduction, sleep-wake cycle, growth and even happiness. These bodily functions perform their tasks smoothly if the hormones are balanced. Overproduction or underproduction of the hormones can cause the body to behave erratically.

A study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience in July 2002 evaluated the effect of overproducing corticotropin-releasing hormone and anxiety levels. (1)

There are several essential oils for hormones that regulate the production of hormones. Some of these oils include Clary sage, sandalwood, geranium and thyme essential oils. These oils when applied on the body regulate or balance estrogen and testosterone and maintain a healthy level. The proper presence of these hormones can maintain sexual health including loss of libido, infertility, and frigidity. Women’s health issues including Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can be mitigated with the use of these oils.

A study conducted in 2017 and published in Neuro Endocrinology Letters stated that olfactory exposure to certain essential oils increased the influence of salivary concentration of estrogen in perimenopausal women. The aromas of geranium and rose otto oils worked the best in this case. (2)

Cortisol is a hormone that determines whether you should be happy or sad. (And here you thought that you control your emotions.) The level of cortisol, and other hormones, determines the symptoms of depression and stress, and the level of testosterone, the male hormone. So, essential oils can not only help beat sexual dysfunctions, but also improves sexual performance. A study published in 2012 shows how essential oil inhalation affects the salivary cortisol level of prehypertensive and hypertensive participants.

Essential Oils Boosts Immune System Function

Essential oils have several medicinal properties. Some of these properties are as follows: - anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial and stimulant. These properties cause the body to function properly and thus take away the load on the immune system. Hence, it boosts the performance of the immune system and makes the immunity stronger. This strong immunity can deal with infections and pathogens much better. But, where do the essential oils get its medicinal properties from? It is from the active ingredients of the oil. The active ingredients or compounds in the oil include some alcohols, monoterpenes, terpenes, aldehydes, esters, ketones and phenols. The essential oils for immunity include: -

  • Cinnamon
  • Eucalyptus
  • Frankincense
  • Peppermint
  • Lemon
  • Ginger
  • Myrrh
  • Oregano
  • Clove
  • Tea tree
  • Rosemary

A study published in April 2005 highlights the immunological benefits of aromatherapy massage with essential oils. (3) Using aromatherapy massage many strains of bacteria and fungus can be treated or prevented. Essential oils are also better at treating certain drug resistant bacteria. Essential oils can be used to treat different infections as a standalone treatment or as a supplementary treatment with other medicines. The peer reviewed Open Microbiology Journal published a research on the efficacy of essential oils in tackling bacterial antibiotic resistance. 

A research published in December 2016 evaluated the antimicrobial properties of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), i.e. essential oils, against human pathogens. It was found that oregano essential oils with carvacrol and thyme had good antiviral and antibacterial properties that could combat pathogens and boost the immune system on the sides. (4)

Another study in Chinese Medicine in 2014 shows the efficacy of both frankincense essential oil and sandalwood essential oil in destroying and inhibiting cancer cells. (5) Another research showed the strong immunostimulant activity of frankincense essential oil. This study was published in 2003. (6) Frankincense oil again showed its ability in killing cancer cells in another study published in 2012. (7)

However, more research and human based trials are needed to find out the use of essential oils in cancer treatment.

Essential Oils For Digestion and Bloating

The role of essential oils in improving digestion is well known. Many essential oils have stomachic properties that can offer relief from indigestion constipation, diarrhea, stomach spasms and bloatedness. Besides being a stomach, essential oils also have carminative and antispasmodic properties. These qualities are also useful in treating conditions including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The primary function of essential oils with stomachic properties is to stimulate digestive enzymes and ensure that the food is digested. It removes excess gas from the stomach and prevents gas accumulation. Better digestion with little stomach disturbance or discomfort results in better absorption of nutrients. Some of the popular essential oils for digestion are: -

  • Clove essential oil
  • Ginger Essential Oil
  • Fennel Essential Oil
  • Peppermint essential oil
  • Lemon essential oil

Some of the popular essential oils for bloated stomach are: -

  • Ginger essential oil
  • Cumin essential oil
  • Garlic essential oil
  • Cinnamon essential oil
  • Spearmint essential oil

Besides the above mentioned essential oils for digestion, some other available options are lemongrass, black pepper, juniper berry and marjoram essential oils.

Ginger roots and paste has been used in culinary practices not just for its flavor and fragrance, but also for its medicinal benefits for the stomach. Ginger essential oil does the same for the stomach. It boosts digestion and thus avoids constipation. A research published online in January 2011 and in the World Journal of Gastroenterology concluded that ginger oil improved the gastric emptying and antral contractions for people with indigestion problems with no apparent causes.

Peppermint essential oil is also useful in boosting digestion. In fact, Digestive Diseases and Sciences in 2016 published a study by Dr Brooks D. Cash and team that showed that sustained use of peppermint oil could provide relief from symptoms of IBS. (8)

Energy Boosting Essential Oils

What are some of the essential oils that boost energy levels? Some of the energy boosting essential oils are: -

  • Lime essential oil
  • Lemon essential oil
  • Bergamot essential oil
  • Pine essential oil
  • Grapefruit essential oil
  • Lemongrass essential oil
  • Eucalyptus essential oil
  • Rosemary essential oil

If you look at the list above, you will see that most energy boosting essential oils are from the citrus family. Essential oils with this ability also improve athletic performance. These oils increase the availability of oxygen to the brain, which makes a person feel energized. In March 2013, the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published a study which evaluated the effect of peppermint oil on exercise performance. It concluded that better brain oxygen concentration and relaxation of bronchial or windpipe muscles were some reasons for better performance. (9)

Essential Oils For Improved Brain Function

Several studies have concluded that essential oils are a great supplementary treatment for neurodegenerative diseases including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Many oils have neuroprotective activities. Inhalation of the aromatic oils also boosted cognitive performance, which shows that essential oil improves brain function. Two studies highlight the effects of essential oils in boosting cognitive functions. The first study published in August 2018 found the ability of peppermint essential oil and the second study published in January 2020 found the ability of Rosemary essential oil. (10

Essential oils not only stimulate the brain’s capability, but also improve memory and recollection power. Essential oils with stimulating and sedative properties are used to boost brain function. Generally, a blend of both types of oils is used. Some of the oils that boost brain functions and memory are: -

  • Peppermint essential oil
  • Rosemary essential oil
  • Frankincense essential oil
  • Eucalyptus essential oil
  • Bergamot essential oil
  • Lavender essential oil
  • Lemon essential oil
  • Sage essential oil

These types of essential oils are diffused in a student's study room; it is also diffused to train children with ADHD. In a study published in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2003, it was found that 6 weeks of therapy with sage oil could improve attention span and reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia.(11)

Extraction Of Essential Oils

Essential oils are concentrated herbal oils that contain plant compounds and aromatic compounds that give it its properties that resolve health conditions. It is also used in cosmetics such as in making perfume. If you need to know about essential oils from plants then you should start with the essential oil extraction process. Essential oils are extracted from plant material. Regardless of the extraction process, the amount of essential oil obtained from many pounds or kilos of plant matter is very less. The extraction method includes the following:

Steam Distillation

This is the most popular method of essential oil extraction as the final product has high-quality botanical constituents. Here the steam vapor from boiling water vaporizes the plant and the steam is later condensed into a condenser to get the oil.

Solvent Extraction

Here the active compound including hexane and ethanol are used to isolate the liquid oil from the plant. This method is used on plants that yield very low amount of oils. This process also extracts the non-volatile content of the plants, which are filtered.

CO2 Extraction

The supercritical CO2 extraction yields good quality product. Here, carbon dioxide is used as the solvent and it operates at a lower temperature than steam distillation process.

Maceration

This process of extraction is also referred as infusion. In this process the carrier oils are used to extract the goodness from the raw plant source. It is considered an environmentally friendly way to get the herbal extracts.

Things To Know About All-Natural Extract Oils Before Using

  • Do not apply essential oils directly to the skin, it may cause skin irritation.
  • Do not ingest the oil.
  • In case of any skin disease, consult a dermatologist before using essential oils
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women must talk to their doctors before using any essential oil.
  • Inhaling the aroma may cause nausea in pregnant women.
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