Experience really does mean a better product!

I'd like to introduce Dr. Doug Corrigan to you!  Doug may look young but he has a tremendous amount of experience and is uber smart!  Doug holds a Master's Degree in Physics and a Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  He has an awesome Facebook page with his wife, Amy.  You can see the page HERE.  

The article below is Part 1 about the distillation process of essential oils and explains why a company like Young Living produces a quality product because of their experience!  Now many oil companies can claim this!! Enjoy your reading and getting your 'geek on'.    Stay tuned for Part 2 soon!

THE DISTILLATION PROCESS MATTERS - PART 1 (PLEASE SHARE)

Does your essential oil company pay attention to the distillation process used to produce your essential oils? Are you wondering if this even matters?

If you're curious, keep reading. There are a number of different processes that can be used to extract the essential oils from the plant. One of the most common processes is steam distillation. In the process of steam distillation, steam is passed over the plant biomass, causing the volatile essential oil constituents to enter into the vapor phase. This hot vapor mixture of water and essential oil molecules is then cooled down until it converts back into a liquid, and then collected in a container. The two phases of water and essential oils separate, making it easy to separate the water and oil from one another. 

Recall that essential oils are complex mixtures of many different molecules, each having a different boiling point. Because of this difference, some molecules will distill more quickly than others. Some molecules will come off first, some will come off in the middle of the process, and some will come off last.

The three major variables that manufactures have control over are 1) pressure, 2) temperature, and 3) time. Each variable is critical to determining the final composition, and quality of the final product. 

To give you an example, in the graph below I show you how distillation time affects the composition of the oil. I show you the level of 1,8 Cineole, Camphor, Borneol, Terpineol, Caryophyllene, and Cadinene in the distillate broken down into buckets of time. This is for the steam distillation of Rosemary oil. 

You can see from the graph that in the first five minutes, almost all of the 1,8 Cineole is released from the plant material. Very little comes off after that initial 5 minute period. Caryophyllene is released mostly in the middle of the time window. 

Now look at Cadinene. Very little comes off in the first 5 minutes. Most of the Cadinene is released between 20 and 30 minutes. Many of the trace/minor components take a longer time to distill off. These tend to be the higher molecular weight compounds like sesquiterpenes and triterpenes. These components are very important to the overall therapeutic quality of the oil. To learn more about this, check out my educational modules on synergy. 

So, if you distill for too short a period of time, some components will be missing. You might ask, why not just distill for a long period of time to make sure everything comes off? Well, the process of distillation is a harsh process. The plant material is being exposed to high temperature, pressure, and water. These conditions can cause the essential oil molecules to hydrolyze and oxidize (chemical transformation processes). Therefore, if you distill for too long of a period of time, you will basically end up with a container filled with molecules that are ineffective, or in some cases, hazardous. You will have a great yield, but the therapeutic value of the oil will be diminished, or even transformed into something that may irritate your skin or cause other problems. 

So, if you don't distill long enough, you will miss essential components. If you distill for too long of a period, you will destroy the molecules. Therefore, there is a "sweet spot" of time that optimizes the entire compositional profile while not harming the molecules. It's important to realize that this optimum time window changes from oil to oil; therefore, it's necessary to experimentally determine this window for each oil. Young Living has spent years perfecting this process for each oil. I feel very confident in making the statement that there is no other company in the world that understands and pays attention to the distillation process more than Young Living. 

A large majority of the producers of essential oils do not optimize their distillation process for therapeutic value. Instead, they optimize the process for yield. Why? They can offer the oils at lower cost and/or increase their profits by optimizing for yield. This means increasing the temperature, pressure, and time to extract as much of the essential oils from the biomass. Unfortunately, these conditions chemically alter the molecules in the essential oil. 

A majority of the essential oil companies that are springing up do not even own their own distillation equipment. They simply buy the oil from brokers, bottle it, and put their branded label on the bottle.

Are you wondering why cheap essential oils don't work, or why they cause rampant skin irritation problems? Well, the distillation process is one of the major culprits. 

Make sure your company is a master of the distillation process. If they aren't, tell them goodbye.

Essential Oil Explosion!

You know what I heard the other day.  It is projected that the Essential Oil industry is expected to double in the next 5 years. Let that sink in!  By 2020, the industry could reach $50 billion in sales. This mean that if you aren't currently using essential oils, it is likely that you will be in the next 5 years.

Just like I searched for chemical free ways to live my life, more and more consumers are demanding healthier products. Just like me, they are seeing the benefits of essential oils in achieving this healthy lifestyle.

So there will be a ton of companies who want to get in on the essential oil ride to give you what you'll want.  What many of the companies won't understand is that putting a $9.99 bottle of essential oil in someone's hand is NOT fulfilling the need they are asking to be met.

When you see a company that is selling oils on the cheap, that is exactly what you are getting.  A cheap oil.  So, what exactly do you get when you purchase a $9.99 bottle of essential oil?

Here are a couple of examples on how new companies will be able to get that price per bottle down to make it cheap for you.

1. They buy plants from farmers on the cheap. You should ask the question then of "How do you get cheap plants?"  Your local farmer could probably answer that one. Spray the plants with chemicals to keep bugs off and weeds out so you don't have to pay people to tend the fields.  So, it stands to reason that if the farmer is tending to his plants with sustainable growing and harvesting methods that their product would be more expensive.   If the company selling the oil doesn't have control of the farm growing their product, you shouldn't buy from them.

2. They purchase their distilled oils from companies that dump in chemicals during the distillation process.  Distillation is the process of getting the oils out of the plant.  As you know, time is money so speeding up the time it takes to get the oils out of the plants can be done by adding chemicals.  The chemicals can also draw out more oil from the plant material.  Companies that do this don't realize that distillation is serious science. Without the science, you actually change the way the oil works AND you can actually cause harm to the human body.   Altering the chemical constituents of the oil will change the way it works for you as well. When the distillation process isn't correctly monitored or completed correctly, the oil will not work the same as properly distilled oils.  If the company selling the oil doesn't distill the oil themselves, you shouldn't buy from them.

3.  Adulteration is another method commonly practiced to 'stretch' the essential oil.  This is where the company adds a carrier oil like grapeseed, fractionated coconut, jojoba or another oil to extend the essential oil to increase the amount of oil they have to bottle.  Would you be happy to pay half the price for a Pepsi only to find out that only half of the syrup was used?  Yuck!   Adulterated oil will not give you the same 'action' as a pure unadulterated oil.  Sometimes you'll have to use 4 - 6 drops of a cheap oil to get the same result as only one drop of a pure essential oil.  Not really as cheap as you thought.  If the company dilutes their oil, you shouldn't buy from them.

4.  There are some companies that will tell you their oils are wonderful then say "Not for topical use". This is a RED flag that should say STOP!!!   Why would you even diffuse this oil?  The essential oil makes its way into your system when it is diffused.  If the oil says you should not use topically, that should suggest to you that it is adulterated and probably laden with chemicals.  If the company's oils say "Do Not Use Topically",  you should not buy from them.

Please don't waste your money and risk your health by purchasing oils that are cheap.  You'll get exactly what you paid for!

Young Living is the ONLY essential oil company that owns its own farms and partners with trusted growers. They are the only company that controls the process from the seed to the bottle. They are the only company with over 20 years of experience with essential oils. No one else even comes CLOSE to this sort of knowledge when producing oils.   Click HERE to read about their Seed to Seal promise.  Seed to Seal is NOT their slogan, it is their CALLING!

So when you are ready for oils, save yourself the time, frustration, and energy. Young Living has the best essential oils. (Mic Drop).....Boom!  And as for diffusers?  We have them too and they work!  So, if you are interested in oils and/or a diffuser, please send us a message.  We'll show you several different ways you can start the oily life.  We don't want you to do ridiculous things like pay $9.99 for a bottle of questionable essential oil (regardless of the scent!).  That company shown above?? If you need a pillow or a towel get it there, but leave essential oils to the pros!