Meet the TINCTURE natural antiviral essential oils
Germs are everywhere, all the time and many of them are great for us to come into contact with. But, of course, there are many out there that we’d rather steer well clear of for a happy, healthy home. One of the many troubles with bleach and other harsh chemicals is that they kill everything, good and bad, people to bacteria. Although keeping up with a high level of hygiene is of utmost importance to us here at TINCTURE, we’re just as concerned with keeping you, your loved ones and our planet safe from those toxic ingredients in whatever way we can.
However, when it comes to using natural products in a time of health crisis, such as now with Covid-19 taking hold all over the world, it can be hard not to fall victim to feeling as though those damaging chemicals we’ve all grown up with seeing fill supermarket shelves are the only effective option. It can be hard to believe that something plant-derived, like our essential oil superheroes, could possibly be tough enough to stand up to the task of blitzing bacteria and viruses on surfaces throughout the house. But it’s not just us that puts our faith in the natural world – there are many studies out there to support the efficacy of essential oils on virus, bacteria and more.
As quoted from a Tisserand Institute article, written by Dr Shannon Becker, PHD:
“Most influenza strains have become resistant to the available influenza medications, and there is a pressing need to develop new treatments. It is unclear whether influenza can develop resistance to complex chemical mixtures like essential oils, but it may be possible that influenza strains can develop resistance to particular chemical constituents such as trans-cinnamaldehyde. However, since essential oils and their components often act in multiple steps of the viral life cycle, resistance may be incomplete and only affect particular steps in the life cycle.”
“Numerous in vitro studies have clarified the mechanisms through which certain essential oils and their chemical constituents block influenza activity. These essential oils could be used to reduce influenza spread, but the next steps to develop aromatic therapies as influenza treatments is to conduct in vivo studies. Studies in mice have identified specific aromatic compounds that address the consequences of influenza including lung inflammation, lung damage, and pneumonia. Hopefully, these in vivo results will also lead to successful human treatments.”
The evidence that has been found to support to action of certain essential oils on viruses and bacteria, combined with ancient monastic knowledge, is what has led us to create our natural essential oil cleaning blends.
Here, we’ve listed for you the antiviral essential oils we love using in our products and why.
Black Pepper
Native to Himalaya and a staple in most kitchens, black pepper is one of 700 pepper species in the world and has been used for thousands of years to combat the spread of viruses. Studies support that this spicy oil is not only a potent cleansing, but can even target drug-resistant strains of bacteria and inhibit stubborn infection.
Eucalyptus
Many people all over the world reach for Eucalyptus oil when a cold hits and with good reason. Eucalyptus has been shown to inhibit the activity of influenza strains including H1N1 (swine flu) and clear all airborne virus at 15 minutes following a 15 second period of active diffusion with a nebulizer.
Hyssop
Hyssop in becoming a firm favourite it kits of those keen to enhance their health and wellbeing with essential oils and there are a great range of studies to support the reasons why. One 2019 study into Avian infectious bronchitis (Bird Flu) revealed that among others, extract of Hyssop showed anti-IBV (infectious bronchitis viruses) activity prior to and during infection. Furthermore, another study found an essential oil blend including Greek hyssop, sage, and marjoram essential oils to be antiviral against influenza viruses and a rhinovirus in vitro.
Lavender
Famed for soothing and aiding with restful sleep, lavender essential oil may be gentle on the soul but it packs a punch when it comes to fighting bugs, as it showed in a study which revealed in vitro antiviral activity against influenza H1N1.
Citations:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486105/
https://tisserandinstitute.org/essential-oils-flu/
https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-019-1925-6
https://librarysearch.aut.ac.nz/vufind/EDS/Search?lookfor=Sourvinos+G&type=AU