Navigating the False Claims about Essential Oils

Essential Oils

Apr 6

Written By Elle Odyn

Trust yourself, trust your ability to make good decisions…What do you need to do to trust your own decisions?

How do you know what to believe?

How do you navigate all the essential oil research and anecdotes?

Hole-ee poop - let me tell ya, I get it.

I'm going to be blunt.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR HEALTH
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOING YOUR RESEARCH
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CHOICES
YOUR BODY AND YOUR EXPERIENCE ARE EXCELLENT RESOURCES
TRUST MEANS THAT YOU CAN TRUST YOURSELF TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

There is so much information online

THERE IS SO MUCH GARBAGE ONLINE (the irony that you are reading this post online does not escape me)
Doterra has a website full of information and only makes claims that are within the limits of the FDA in the USA and Health Canada on the Canadian Website.
There are LOTS of other places to find information and research. Be discerning. Learn what "Peer reviewed" really means. Ask yourself who the “peers” are - dig deeper.
I invite you to consider that many of the BEWARE claims out there come from essential oil education programs that cover ALL essential oils and OLD essential oils. Doterra has been around for 12 years and their research is newer - and based on their oils. Doterra’s claims are about their oils specifically - not all the oils in the world. Some research is in-house. The list of outside research using Doterra Essential Oils is growing.
www.sourcetoyou.com Click here with your bottle of oil and see the results of the testing that is done. Learn where the oils come from and what they go through to get into your home.
Aromatic Plant Research Centre: https://aromaticplant.org/ This is where a lot of interesting and thorough research is happening with Doterra Essential Oils.

What about Wellness Advocates?

What policies and procedures are they responsible to follow?

I am not here to CONVINCE you - your life, your choice. I offer the opportunity for you to have your own experience. You decide. I invite you to TRUST YOUR EXPERIENCE. I invite you to give it a go for 2-3 weeks and see how things go. That's it. If the oils are for you, I can show you how to get them into your home. If you aren’t interested, no problem.
Personally - I have DUG DEEP. I was SO SKEPTICAL. I have honours degree from uni and then did two more years fully based in biology, chemistry, medical research etc. because I thought I was going to go into medicine. I know how to read research. I did that so I could be discerning.
Don't ask me to convince you of anything - if that's what you need - I'm the wrong wellness advocate for you.
There are people out there who say all kinds of stuff about how oils have helped them. Is it based in research? Some of it is. Much of it isn't. Do I trust people's personal experiences and what they believe happened? Sure. Why not?? Does that mean that I will blindly follow what they say and believe that it will work for me? NOPE. BE DISCERNING. Does it invite conversation and an opening to learning more - sometimes.
When people are called "Wellness Advocate" it means is that we have decided to get paid a bit or a lot to share Doterra oils. Some of the people who do this go WAY beyond the policies and procedures of what it means to be a WA with Doterra. You decide what you believe. From me? You will get my personal experiences (I will be clear about that) and you will get info based on what Doterra has told me I can share. I will TELL YOU WHERE MY INFORMATION CAME FROM.
Sometimes I will take off my WA hat and put on my "personal research" hat. It is a hat that trusts people’s personal experiences and also enjoys a good pile of validated research.
So some people who are WA with Doterra make claims that maybe they shouldn't? YUP. Does that mean Doterra is out to lie to people just to make money? NOPE- because Doterra can't control all the people. They do their best. They are always reminding us to stay on track. The Doterra policies and procedures we agree to are right here. There are WA who have lost their accounts for making false claims.

What Essential oil Claims are you allowed to make in Canada?

Here is the Doterra Canada Approved Claims List. This is what we are allowed to say. Beyond this, we are breaking the rules.
I repeat - there are lots of false claims - claims not based in valid research. There are lots of claims people make based on their own experience and yes in these times of internet-mountains-of-articles-and-posts - you will need to wisely navigate all of it.