Curious to see who uses Essential oils for weight loss

I put lavender, rosemary, peppermint essential oils in my epsom salt bath soaks. I don't know about any effects on weight loss (I doubt there are any), but it does make me feel relaxed and care-free.

I use essential oils mostly for cleaning the house. Please, never ingest essential oils. It's a dangerous practise, and the reason companies like Young Living and Doterra promote it is because using essential oils externally only means that it takes longer for the bottle to run out, so they make less money.

AnvilHead wrote: »

Doterra is a MLM scheme, just like Beachbody, Visalus, Advocare, Itworks, etc. A friend's wife sells it and I've had to block her on Facebook due to her incessant sales/recruitment pitches.

Yep, it seems like Doterra is the latest trendy way to lose friends and family members by shoving overpriced dishonestly marketed products at them.

OP, the only way to lose weight is to eat in a calorie deficit. This stuff might make you feel better, but it's not helping anyone lose weight, and anything other than the comfort/calming affects of scent is a placebo. And I've never looked much into Doterra, but you should check and see if there are any health complaints, because as others have said essential oils are not intended for consumption. Chances are the shakes don't even actually contain essential oils, or just contain a microscopic amount so it can be listed.

I'll bet you are also eating better and maybe exercising more. THAT'S what is making you feel better, your hard work, so take credit for it!

Some light reading if you're interested. Considering Doterra allies so strongly with the "natural health" movement, I find it ironic they paid a large fine for trafficking in an endangered species

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/essential-oils-company-sentenced-lacey-act-and-endangered-species-act-violations-pay-760000

https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm415809.htm

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/doterra-multilevel-marketing-of-essential-oils/

All those "snake oil" claims about EOs are rubbish. They smell nice. Some may have certain properties like being antifungal or astringents. But good lord I'd never eat them! Generally, if a certain product claims to be able to fix all your life's ailments, it is too good to be true.

I use EOs semi regularly, but majority are not to be ingested orally. I can't diffuse them either, because I have pets and kids (many are unsafe).

I love essential oils.


But, by what mechanism would they bring about weight loss? In other words, how does that work, exactly?

I've never heard of them for weight loss. I do use them for some things quite regularly. Most are topical or aromatherapy uses. I do use peppermint oil as a remedy for stomach problems such as bloating or indigestion. You can usually ingest any that are from a food source such as peppermint, lemon, clove, etc. As long as they are 100% pure essential oils. Not fragrance oils. There is a difference. Some brands sell themselves as essential oils, but if you look at the bottle you'll find they've been diluted by a carrier oil like Jojoba or that they're just a fragrance. I usually buy the NOW Foods, or AuraCacia ones from the health food store. Way cheaper then Young Living or DoTerra, and comparable quality. While there may be some vitamins or something in those shakes making you feel better, I have a feeling they are not going to be good for long term weight loss. The shakes aren't going to teach you how to control portions or keep the weight off long term. Since DoTerra and Young Living are both MLM's it is in their best interest to keep you buying their shakes. Look into the ingredients and proceed with caution. Chances are there isn't anything in there that you can't find at your local health food store, or the supposed benefits are being oversold. While I believe essential oils have their uses, they are not a cure-all like the sales people want you to believe. I treat them like any other alternative or herbal remedy. I research everything to make sure it won't react with anything I'm taking, and look to see if there are any risks like allergic reactions, or harming more then helping people. I never use them as a replacement for modern medicine either. If it's something that I need to go to the doctor for, I go to the doctor.

Crafty_camper123 wrote: »

Psychgrrl wrote: »

Elphaba1313 wrote: »

Doterra is like a cult these days. I hate all MLMs but this one is particularly dangerous with some of it's ridiculous claims. But that aside - essential oils will not help you lose weight. Eating less than you expend will mean you lose weight.

Exactly! One of my friends sells it and just posted about using the oils instead of "chemical" flea/tick treatments. So dangerous as lavender is NOT going to keep those little buggers off pets!

I wouldn't use them to get RID of fleas or ticks that are already there, but peppermint can help repel them. (But Lavender won't ) I use eucalyptus and citronella EO to repel mosquitoes. It works pretty well. Might not be as effective as deep woods deet or something, but repels most of them. It's nice to use in the evening to walk the dogs and I don't want to spend the rest of my evening stinking like bug spray. The "naturals" lines of bug repellant is based on EO's. They are pretty effective. I'm definitely not a fanatical oil sales rep, but they are more then just smelly fragrance. A lot of the chemicals and medications we use today were derived from plants. EO's contain those same compounds. Which is why some people can react so strongly to them if they have allergies to certain types of plants. It's also why it's important to research any interactions with medications before using them. They are essentially concentrated herbal extracts.

There's a big difference between using a bit on your clothes or shoes (or skin I guess) and putting them on a pet that will likely ingest it through the process of grooming themselves. They can also cause unpleasant skin reactions on pets.