The Anti-Microbial Effects of Essential Oils
Friday, August 8th, 2008By David Crow, L.Ac.
History
Essential oil-containing aromatic plants have been used for anti-infectious purposes for millennia. Sewage, rotting garbage, sick people, environmental pollution, and other sources of unpleasant smells reveal the presence of proliferating microbial toxins. Without knowing the details of what pathogenic agents were present, people understood that where there were bad vapors, diseases lurked. Aromatic plants have been the primary antidote for these evil spirits. Traditional medical systems, such as Ayurveda, had a general concept of microscopic pathogens and knew that substances such as essential oils counteracted those toxins.