Why Essential Oils Can Help You Lose Weight

essential-oils-help-you-lose-weight-woman-in-baggy-jeans-showing-weight-loss

Losing weight can be a big struggle for many and there’s often no shortcut. A healthy eating plan and exercise regimen are vital for any weight loss journey, but there are other things you can do for your body and mind to help you lose weight.

Believe it or not, adding essential oils to your routine can seriously aid in your weight loss journey. Whether it was your new year resolution to get healthy or you want to drop a few pounds before a big event, essential oils can help you lose weight and keep it off for good.

What are essential oils?

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years across many cultures, including the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and Indians. They have been used for anything from curing headaches and aiding sleep, to helping change your mood.

Essential oils are distilled and pressed from plants, leaving a pure form of the plant. These can be applied topically on the skin, used in aromatherapy, or in some cases, carefully ingested.

How do they aid weight loss?

Essential oils used in aromatherapy can stimulate certain areas of the brain, which can help your mental and physical health. Using essential oils to sleep better, for example, gives you more energy the next day for your workout. An essential oil that aids digestion can benefit your diet.

Essential oils are known to help:

  • reduce feelings of anxiety and depression
  • relieve tension
  • ease aches and pains in the body
  • improve digestion
  • increase energy
  • curb food cravings

Which essential oils work for weight loss?

Experts say you can use these essential oils for weight loss, and they each work in a variety of ways. Researchers have found that inhaling certain oils through aromatherapy throughout the day can suppress your appetite. Food smells like rosemary, grapefruit and orange can trigger the taste receptors in your brain and suppress your desire to taste, and therefore eat.

Other essential oils like juniper and sage, are linked to anti-obesity and can be used topically to aid in your weight loss.

How to use essential oils

The best way to get the effects from essential oils is to use them with a diffuser. Oil diffusers release a fine mist of water and oil around the room, so you can get the benefits of aromatherapy in a soothing manner. Some diffusers require being plugged in, while others are chargeable.

When first setting up your diffuser, you might want to place a fowl underneath in case of any excess water leaking during use.

Other diffusers include candle diffusers, where a tea light candle heats the essential oil and creates a fragrant mist, and reed diffusers, where the reeds absorb the essential oils and create a fragrance as you walk by. Reed diffusers are best if you plan on using the same scent for an extended period of time. However, oil and candle diffusers are better if you are thinking of changing up your scents regularly.

You can also apply essential oils topically. Be sure to test a patch of your skin for a reaction before applying.

Are essential oils safe?

Essential oils are totally safe to use, but you should still use precaution. If used incorrectly, essential oils could make you feel sick.

Most essential oils should not be ingested. They are often extremely potent and can cause stomach pain, and it is easy to take “too much” of certain extracts and cause complications. Instead, use a diffuser to get the aromatic properties of the oils. The FDA does keep a list of essential oils that are generally safe for consumption. However, you should use caution and monitor yourself for ill effects.

Written by Megan Taylor
Megan is a beauty expert who is passionate about all things makeup and glam! Her love for makeup has brought her to become a beauty pro at Glamour Garden Cosmetics.