Robert Tisserand interviewed on ingestion, dilution and other safety issues

In December 2014 I was interviewed by Labron Allen, a functional medicine nutritionist based in Texas, for his Health Alert radio show. This is a full transcript of the podcast, which you can find here or here. Many thanks to Anne Bankowski for the transcription.

Labron Allen

I’m your host Labron Allen: This is Health Alert. Grab your cup of coffee, find your most comfortable chair and have a listen this Saturday morning.

If you remember last week I promised that I was going to have a special guest, […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:45+00:00August 9th, 2015|Interview, Safety|4 Comments

Frankincense essential oil and cancer: Why EOs and chemotherapy don’t always mix

Hi,
My friend just started taking chemo for colon liver cancer and she was taking therapeutic Sacra Frankincense from Young Living before she started. I read somewhere that you should not take the essential oil with 5FU if you are taking it for skin cancer because it will drive it in the skin deeper and make the chemo 10 times greater. That sounded good to me, but for some reason they say not to use Frankincense with 5FU. Since she has colon liver cancer, and not skin cancer, should she just rub it on her feet and side, stop taking it, […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:45+00:00March 26th, 2015|Q & A, Safety|15 Comments

Lavender mascara?

Adding lavender oil to your mascara has become a thing, on the basis that it will make your eyelashes longer and thicker, and also that it will deter eyelash mites. About half of us have tiny eyelash mites, but they don’t affect at least 95% of those who have them. They do not make your eyelashes thinner or shorter, though an infestation can make eyelashes fall out. Some argue that eyelash mites perform a useful function, by eating dead cells and debris. If the mites do indeed proliferate, the condition is known as demodicosis. This […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:46+00:00February 2nd, 2015|Myth-busting, News, Safety|5 Comments

Bergamot Oil – Toxic To Children?

I was recently contacted by an essential oil business (Plant Therapy) which had several customers ask about the safety of bergamot oil, as they had heard it could be lethal and cause convulsions in children. The sources of this warning appear to be MedicineNet.com and WebMD.com, as both websites have profiles on bergamot oil that include this:

“Do not use bergamot oil in children. There have been serious side effects, including convulsion and death, in children who have taken large amounts of bergamot oil.” MedicineNet.com WebMD.com These are no doubt widely-read websites. The WebMD information is

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:46+00:00January 1st, 2015|Myth-busting, Safety|8 Comments

Estrogens in Plastic Labware

The safety of essential oils in puberty, and hormonal effects in general, are important health concerns. In a 2007 research report by Colorado and North Carolina doctors and scientists, in vitro evidence seemed to support the notion that lavender oil and tea tree oil were responsible for breast growth in three young boys, suggesting an estrogenic action. Although this article has subsequently been cited more than 180 times in scientific literature and is still widely quoted on medical websites, lavender oil has been exonerated and there is still no evidence of any link between the in […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:48+00:00February 14th, 2014|Safety|4 Comments

Tea tree oil quality and constituents

I am writing this in response to a recent discussion on various facebook pages about tea tree oil (TTO), and whether a TTO with 51% terpinen-4-ol would be better than one with 41%, or whether 51% suggested adultration. Most TTO is produced in Australia and China, and this article is about the quality of Australian TTO, since the Chinese oils generally do not conform to the Australian standards, and there is no quality standard for Chinese TTO. The major constituent of TTO is terpinen-4-ol (T-4-ol). Most essential oils contain a single major constituent, and yet the main point of natural […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:58+00:00July 28th, 2013|News, Safety|13 Comments

Lemon on the rocks: keep your essential oils cool

Essential oils are happiest when cold.

If you keep them refrigerated they will last twice as long, especially if you live in a warm climate. Essential oils are expensive, so you want them to stay active as long as possible!

Cold good, oxidation bad
With time, most essential oil constituents oxidize, and heat promotes oxidation. Once oxidation starts it’s difficult to stop, though it is a very slow process – it takes months. So if you accidentally leave your […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:58+00:00July 26th, 2013|Safety|30 Comments

Essential oils and eye safety

There has been much social media discussion recently (February 2012) about the wisdom or otherwise of putting essential oils into your eyes to treat eye problems. This arose from two webpages, here and here. One of these, the Brothers Media website, which hosts an article originally featured at Livestrong.com, states: “More and more people are choosing to use alternative medicines to treat minor illnesses rather than taking a prescription. Putting essential oils in or near the eyes isn’t something that is widely known about, but there are several that can aid in the treatment of […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:25:59+00:00February 23rd, 2013|Myth-busting, Safety|40 Comments

Diaper rash safety

Robert,

Hello there. I am in hopes you can please help me. I currently use the doTERRA line of essential oils and I also have used them to help my 18month old daughter. I have recently used ylang-ylang, roman chamomile, lavender and sandalwood to reduce stress and attempt to balance my hormones that have been out of wack since my pregnancy. Unfortunately, my husband is extremely skeptical as to the healing properties of EO’s as well as the safety of their use. He is concerned about the oils coming through my breast milk and causing issues for our daughter and recently […]

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:26:00+00:00February 13th, 2013|Q & A, Safety|4 Comments

Lavender oil is not estrogenic

Lavender oil does not mimic estrogen nor does it enhance the body’s own estrogens. It is therefore not a ‘hormone disruptor’, cannot cause breast growth in young boys (or girls of any age), and is safe to use by anyone at risk for estrogen-dependent cancer. The lack of estrogenic action is the conclusion of a new report, which used a novel form of ‘uterotrophic’ assay.

This measures the effect of a test substance on the uterus of immature or estrogen-deprived female rats over three days. Any estrogenic action causes a rapid and measurable increase in uterine weight.

By Robert Tisserand|2018-04-24T20:26:00+00:00February 7th, 2013|Myth-busting, Safety|15 Comments

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