Essential Oils And Their Health Effects
Getting started with essential oils can be overwhelming – but can be so powerful! Essential oils are often used in aromatherapy, which is a form of alternative medicine.
However, some of the health claims associated with them are controversial.
This article explains what you need to know about essential oils and their health effects.
In this guide, we will explain what Essential Oil Diffusers are, how they works and how such devices are useful for beauty, overall well-being and emotional health.
There are so many swell diffusers that they can be be a stylish addition to any room interior. In this review, we have collected 10 top models from $17 to $80 worthy of your attention.
What You Will Learn from This Guide:
- Do you need an aromatherapy oil diffuser?
- What Types of Essential Oil Diffusers Are There?
- Things to consider when shopping for an essential oil diffuser
- Top-10 Best Essential Oil Diffusers
- Best Aromatherapy Diffusers for Small Rooms
- Best Aromatherapy Diffusers for Medium-Sized and Big Rooms
- FAQ
Do you need an aromatherapy oil diffuser? Yes, you do, especially, if you have trouble sleeping, need to boost your immunity, work on your cognitive functions and emotional health. Essential oils have been used for centuries to promote better sleep, fight diseases, and even repel insects, rodents, etc.
These are some key facts that confirm the potency and effectiveness of essential oils:
- The research proves the efficacy of aromatherapy in putting elderly people to sleep faster and maintaining sleep for longer. Another systematic review of the effect of inhaled essential oils on sleep in healthy people suggested a positive effect of essential oils on sleep.
- The study on Eucalyptus essential oil confirmed its efficacy as an immunoregulatory agent, besides its known antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
- The study on the benefits of aromatherapy massage revealed its positive effects on decreasing anxiety and reducing serum cortisol level.
- The research into neuroprotective and anti-aging potentials of essential oils concluded that essential oils possessed those potentials and were effective in dementia, epilepsy, anxiety and other neurological disorders, especially in treating Alzheimer’s disease.
- The repelling nature of some essential oils was confirmed by numerous studies, one of them, for example, looked specifically into repelling Simulium species, and found that plants based essential oils were suitable candidates as blackflies repellents. Another comparative study on 38 essential oils against mosquitos confirmed that undiluted oils showed the highest protection with clove oil giving the longest duration of repellency.
What Types of Essential Oil Diffusers Are There?
There are quite a lot of different essential oil diffusers available for purchase, but most of them can be divided into four basic categories:
Evaporative diffusers, like this one from Guardian Technologies, as the name suggests, work by turning oil into gas through evaporation, usually with the help of built-in small fans.
Unfortunately, these devices, are not very potent, they won’t distribute the scent evenly, and the lighter components of the oil would evaporate much faster than the heavier ones.
Ultrasonic diffusers or humidifiers, like this one from HealthSmart, distribute the oil in a perfect cooling mist. By using electronic frequencies ultrasonic devices break up the molecules for further distribution.
And in order to function, they’ll require some water, and need to be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent clogging and corrosion. The nice part is the humidifying effect these devices bring but on the downside, not all oils can be used with this type, and the distribution of oil scent can be somewhat ineffective.
Nebulizing diffusers, like this one from Aromis, always look exceptionally beautiful and polished, like a piece of expensive jewelry.
They are also considered one of the best types of diffusers for a number of reasons like there’s no harmful plastic to burn, no need for heat or water, and some of the most expensive options come with different helpful accouterments such as a timer.
These diffusers also tend to distribute oil effectively throughout the room.
Heat diffusers, like this one from Ivenf, are usually the most inexpensive and simple devices on the market.
They work either with a help of a flame or electricity to turn oil into gas. This is exactly the type of an oil burner I use at home, and while it’s a cheap way to get a good scent throughout an apartment, it has some serious disadvantages.
Speaking from experience, you can forget to put out the flame, creating a fire hazard. Happened to me a few times. Also, there was one time when the oil inside the little plate above the flame literally burst out and stained my mom’s favorite cardboard.
Besides, that thing is a pain in the neck to clean and take care of. So, I would suggest investing a little more for something that would work more effectively and hassle-free.
Things to consider when shopping for an essential oil diffuser
There are a few important features to consider before committing yourself to purchase a diffuser:
- First and foremost, it’s the size of the room you intend to use a diffuser for. Choose a nebulizing diffuser, if your apartment or the room you’d like to cover is huge.
- Then it’s the need for water or heat. Of course, it’s pretty much obvious, that if you have to dilute the oil with water, it becomes less potent.
- Power or vapor output. The greater the output, the more effective is the oil distribution. Some of the expensive models will allow you to actually control the amount of vapor you want your diffuser to produce. Otherwise, you can control the scent yourself by diluting or increasing the concentration of oil in water.
- I don’t like too much plastic and I seriously think, there’s enough of it in the environment already, so my advice is to look for high-quality ceramics or glass. However, if you’d like to choose a humidifying ultrasonic device, then look for polypropylene or another strengthened polymer material.
- Level of noise. Look for one with noise level less than 23 dB if you’re noise sensitive.
- If you’re a techie person, you might appreciate other features like timer, and ambient lighting to create a romantic atmosphere at just the right time if you know what I mean.
Top-10 Best Essential Oil Diffusers
Best Aromatherapy Diffusers for Small Rooms
We’ll start with the smallest and most cut-rate 100-120 ml diffusers which will come in handy for flavoring small spaces such as bedrooms, bathrooms, hotel rooms, home offices, offices. Among the best ones there are two very similar products in terms of price, unobtrusive design, and by functions. It’s up to you to decide which one you’ll pick.
URPOWER 2nd Version Essential Oil Diffuser, 100ml Aroma Essential Oil Cool Mist Humidifier
Here before you is a #1 Best Seller in the Single Room Humidifiers category on rated 4.6 stars out of 5. This plastic diffuser is so light and compact that its weight and size are comparable to those of an iPhone.
The product will humidify the air in the house and to prevent over-drying of the skin and mucous membranes. According to the manufacturer URPOWER, this diffuser is able to release more “fog” than the previous version of the product.
When you add a favorite essential oil scent, it will also freshen the room and create the right mood, a creative, a romantic or a relaxing one… Read over 5700 customer reviews to know how others used this device.
The gadget’s capacity is only 100 ml, so it will only be able to work continuously for up to 6 hours. The input power is AC100-240V 50/60 Hz.
The power cable length is 70 inches. The illumination provides 7 colors and can optionally enter the kaleidoscope mode with either the infinite color change or with a color of your choice. Auto shut-off is available: if the device runs out of liquid, it will turn off.
Aromatherapy Diffuser | Wood & Glass | Professional Grade | Aromis
This beautifully exquisite piece of glass is a fantastic representative of nebulizing diffusers. Having such an elegant and smoothly delicate shape makes it an absolute must-have option for every interior design lover.
It’s classy yet modern. The wooden base adds authenticity and finesse to the structure, while glass ads style and graceful opulence.
Besides its polished design, the nebulizer doesn’t require any heat or water to function, which preserves the natural qualities and genuine healing properties of the essential oils without diluting or destroying the chemical substance.
There’re various other features available, like adjustable aroma intensity, timer, and an auto-shut off. Suitable for places up to 900 sq ft.
Essential oils are organic compounds extracted from plants with tremendous healing properties. Using essential oils for healing purposes is often called aromatherapy.
For over 5,000 years, many different cultures have used these healing plant oils for a variety of health conditions. They are often used for relaxation, beauty care, home cleaning and most often used as natural medicine.
Learn more about essential oils as medicine here
Recommended resources:
Comments
Post a Comment