Essential Oils to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety permeate our society today, but if you're looking for natural alternatives to soothe your nerves, listen and watch this episode on the Dr. Lam Show today for natural essential oils to help reduce stress and anxiety.

1:35 - Lavender Oil in mood stabilization
2:35 - Rosemary can reduce cortisol
3:15 - Bergamot Oil to reduce stress
4:20 - Citrus Orange Oil helps with children anxiety
5:15 - Jasmine Oil helps with libido and lowering heart rate
6:15 - Cautions for Essential oils if you have adrenal fatigue

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Transcript

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 0:06

Today we'll be discussing essential oils and how it affects stress and also to reduce anxiousness. Stress can wreak havoc in our body, so it's very important to get that under control, as well as control anxiousness and calm our bodies down. I'm Dr. Jeremy Lam and I am an integrative functional medicine doctor. I'm also board certified in internal medicine, and excited to talk to you about essential oils today.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 0:36

I'm Dr. Carrie Lam, and I am also board certified in family medicine, metabolic and anti aging medicine. I'm very passionate about natural and lifestyle medicine. I love essential oils, which has both its advantages and disadvantages. It's therefore important to make sure you know the warnings, especially if you have adrenal fatigue. So we will be going through that today. In today's world, there is a lot of stress, no matter what happens, whether it's your boss, you have tests coming up, or you have financial issues. We are all anxious and stressed in some point in time. And so essential oils is one thing that can help soothe stress naturally and calm your nerves. Dr. Jeremy, can you go through some of these essential oils that would be really good for anxiousness?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 1:35

The first essential oil is lavender. It is well known for a long time for its therapeutic effects. In one study, lavender oil is shown to be an effective mood stabilizer, as well as reducing anxiousness that people feel. Dr. Carrie, do you have much experience with lavender?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 1:59

Yeah, I love either diffusing it by your bed through a diffuser or people can put dried lavender in little satchels, and put it by their pillow or bedside and it really helps to calm them down. It can help you sleep or smelling it before a big event can really calm your nerves and reduce this anxiousness that you're feeling. And so it's a great calming scent and can help deal with stress.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 2:35

And so lavender is great, but then combining rosemary with lavender can also make a relaxing blend. One study in the University in Japan found that combining rosemary and lavender can actually decrease cortisol, which will then help protect your body from oxidative stress and in turn with adrenal fatigue. And so that blend of rosemary and lavender is good. You can start with a one to one ratio and then depending on your experience, you can make adjustments for what works best for you.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 3:14

Another great essential oil that can really improve mood is called bergamot. Bergamot essential oils have been known for a long time to be able to reduce even pre-op anxiety. They did a study in Taiwan and several medical educational institutions of people who underwent aromatherapy using the bergamot essential oil prior to surgeries. And it showed a significant anxiety reduction prior to their surgeries. There are also some animal studies that found that bergamot can reduce the corticosteroid response to stress. So it's another one that you could use if you're feeling anxious and you need to reduce your stress. If any of you guys have any favorite essential oils of how we can help you with anxiousness, definitely put them in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you guys and what is actually helpful. What do you like to use Dr. Jeremy?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 4:19

Another one that reduces anxiety is orange essential oil. Citrus scents have been known to ease anxiousness. One study conducted in Iran found that orange essential oils can significantly reduce children's anxiety before a dental procedure. We all know how hard it can be and so it can be helpful. When you break open an orange, you can smell orange oil in the peel, which is basically an essential oil. And so that's a natural way to reduce anxiety. Dr. Carrie, what's your favorite essential oil?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 5:15

Well, I'm biased as I love Jasmine essential oil, because it's my middle name, and I love the scent. I know that this has traditionally been used for a lot of different types of issues, people with low libido or problems sleeping or mood issues. There are studies in Taiwan that showed that inhaling Jasmine essential oil can help people be more relaxed, calm their heart rate, especially if they have cardio or very fast heart rate. In Thailand, they also observed increased feelings of romance, and well being after inhaling Jasmine oil, as they have plenty of jasmine flowers. So we have talked about a few good essential oils with long proven track records, and is widely available. But now we have to provide some cautions in adrenal fatigue. So Dr. Jeremy, tell us a little about those.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 6:17

Essential oils work very well, because it goes directly from the nose through the smelling mechanism directly to the brain. It's one of the shortest pathways in our body, right from the outside world to the brain. Now if your body has congestion, especially in the liver, the interstitium, or extracellular matrix, then these oils can cause further congestion. And this is something that you have to look out for, especially if you have adrenal fatigue. We recommend essential oils when the body's stable, but the essential oils that you use should be carefully titrated so that your body can handle it and also the body needs to have a strong constitution. So the more potent the essential oil, the more that you have to prepare your body for it. For many people with adrenal fatigue, especially in the later stages, where they might have chemical sensitivities, like sensitivities to petroleum smells, gas, and fragrance that sometimes even using essential oils can crash the body and we've seen it. So it's important to really titrate slowly if you are in this special population, and to take it one step at a time.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 7:35

And knowing the different delivery systems is also important. Inhaling is one way and putting it topically is another way, ingesting is also another way. So be careful not to ingest these essential oils, as they are not meant to be ingested. Before you buy these essential oils, make sure that they're therapeutic pure grade oils without synthetic fragrances that have tainted them, because many companies do not sell therapeutic pure grade oils. So be careful if you have reactions and when you put it on your skin, make sure you dilute them using carrier oils. Check the underlying cause why you might be sensitive to essential oils, be it liver congestion, blocked interstitium or toxins that you need to deal with. Before starting essential oils. always find a health care practitioner who understands what you're going through and how sensitive your body is. And ensure that you're doing it for the right reason. Even though all these essential oils reduce anxiousness, if you're weak or in the later stage of adrenal fatigue, and you don't know what to do, then call our office to get a free initial phone call 714-709-8000. We can help you through the steps on which essential oils to use, how to actually deal with stress from the bottom up and to help you calm down. Not only using essential oils, but really a whole body approach.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 9:19

Thanks for being with us here on The Dr. Lam Show. We hope you found this information helpful. Please subscribe to this channel so we can continue to keep bringing you great content. If you know anyone else who might be interested in this show, please share it with them. Remember that we're here to empower you to take control of your health.

Unknown: 9:46

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