Essential Oil Usage: Lemon

Citrus limon is the Latin for Lemon Essential Oil.  It, just like the Lavender, can be found in different well not species but rather different chemotypes - this just means that some trees have more of a certain chemical in their lemon essence, a slightly, but enough to make a difference, different chemical makeup, than the standard but here the differences aren't quite so much something you need to be terribly worried about.  By that I mean you are not going to accidentally come across too much of something potentially harmful like you could with the lavender (those potential harms are also where the real benefits lie - it's just a matter of what is your goal.).  With Lemon Essential Oil the main thing you want to watch out for is the fact that it's a sun sensitizer.  This just means that if you inhale, ingest, apply or otherwise get Lemon Essential Oil in or on your body you should avoid the sun for around 24 hrs otherwise possibly suffer a bad burn.  10 minutes exposure to around noontime sun in a tropical area could indeed burn you badly after a size-able dose of Lemon Essential Oil (that is 2nd degree burns on the area where it was applied or if ingested 2nd degree burns in the areas the sun hits the most - this IS possible and HAS happened!) - but this of course is variable upon conditions and one must use some common sense here.  More specifically EXPRESSED Lemon Essential Oil is a sun sensitizer and Distilled Lemon Essential Oil is not (more often than not it is sold expressed but be on the lookout for this or ask or just assume it is expressed).

Lemon Essential Oil diffused in a sickroom will work as an antiseptic and clean the air of bacteria/virus/fungi plus it will act as an antidepressant/mood-lifter.  Plus diffuse in the area of someone who needs to be alert/awake along with Rosemary Essential Oil if you want your brain to function really well - be focused/have good memory-retention.  It has more a tendency to wake one than to relax one like the Lavender Essential Oil does.  I'm sure this seems rather obvious to many folks.  It can be put to good use in a blend where you want to both relax and lift your mood along with the Lavender Essential Oil (as can any citrus essential oil).

What might not be so apparent is that Lemon Essential Oil can be used as a water retention aid (as can Cypress Essential Oil - the combo of these two mixed into a carrier would make a good blend to reduce ankle swelling for instance.  I put 3 drops of Lemon Essential Oil plus 9 drops of Cypress Essential Oil into 1 Tbsp of Almond Oil or Olive or Coconut for a 4% dilution and rub some on my right ankle which has a tendency to swell and it works great!) - that is it is a diuretic.  It is common to see folks suggesting people put drops of Lemon Essential Oil in their water daily as an aid to weight loss (or grapefruit).  While it is unknown to me whether this works or not it would help with water retention AND as I had mentioned previously doing so could hurt the lining of your throat/mouth and this is NOT a good method for ingesting essential oils.  Rather if you would like to ingest it, put a drop or two in a tsp of honey, mix well and then ingest.  Problem of course is that would hardly aid one in losing weight.

Also to take Lemon Essential Oil daily is not wise in that it could lead to a sensitivity that could potentially have you needing to avoid all lemon indefinitely!!!  (What's more unless one were aware of the fact that that is what is causing problems - such as skin sores, itching, problems similar to an allergic reaction - one could end up repeating this error over and over and end up miserable until one figured out that that is the offending substance.)  I am not saying this WOULDN'T aid one in losing weight for certain.  Honey of course is a sugar that is going to mess with your insulin and that is why I think it's possible that this would not work as a weight-loss aid but if one only took a small amount like 1/2 tsp of honey with a drop of Lemon Essential Oil mixed in well alongside a meal that had a goodish amount of protein or vegetables it IS possible that this could help but I am not aware of studies that demonstrate conclusively that this would have that affect. And it wouldn't be something you'd want to do daily although you could conceivably mix up your days some with Lemon Essential Oil and some with Tangerine, Orange, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Yuzu, etc. That's all :)

If one were interested in going that route - let's say one were convinced this would help them then when buying the essential oils make certain you get ones that are not sun-sensitizing or stay out of the sun everyday.  The following ARE sun-sensitizing:  Expressed Lemon, Expressed Lime, Bergamot (that has not had the bergapten removed), Wild or Bitter Orange, Grapefruit, Rue, Angelica and Cumin Essential Oils.  The following are NOT sun-sensitizing oils:  Distilled Lemon, Distilled Lime, Bergamot that HAS had the bergapten removed, Mandarin, sweet Orange, Satsuma, Tangelo, Tangerine and Yuzu.  And definitely do not use the same oil every single day.  I am only putting this here because I understand alot of people ARE going this route on advise given in other blogs and I want to see to it that if you do then you do so safely.  Use either Solubol or mix with honey instead of just adding neat to your water and then you'll be taking them safely.  Whether it aids in losing weight I am unaware but it would potentially aid you in boosting your immune system to do this.

Similarly to the lavender it can be used as a fever-reducer.  One would in this case put it in a carrier such as oil or lotion and give a back or neck rub or rub it on the bottom of one's feet or ingest it (when discussing lavender I went over the various methods of ingestion but the mixed into honey-way is the easiest and most folks have honey in their cabinet but for instance coconut oil is another good carrier).  In order to be an effective fever reducer it would be good to do this every 3-6 hours or so so long as one is feverish but I wouldn't recommend doing it more than 3-4 times in one day.  Truly if a fever is going on and on after administering aid or is out of control then a trip to the dr is in order.

Lemon EO is used also as an aid to indigestion - put in a carrier (see dilution chart) at 2-3% and rub your belly (from the point of view of the person being aided in a circle going from upper right tummy to upper left to lower left to lower right if that makes sense  - following the path of your intestines so to encourage downward movement.  It is always amazing to me just how effective something like this is and how doing the opposite can cause problems.  We humans can be sensitive creatures indeed!)    It can be used also to aid your gallbladder as well as for better circulation.  Oh and it would make a skin toner as well.  It would be a bit of a trick to put it into a solution that is aquious - I would suggest the Aloe GellyI had previously mentioned.  Aloe gelly can be found on Amazon or Ebay and is a great carrier for EOs!!!  It would be an effective method of getting rid of skin lice or bacteria on the skin and it would tone the skin.  Also it is a good general tonic!!

(Also I make soap by hand - check it out at www.cyncreations.com or www.etsy.com/shop/CyncreationsByScott or my facebook fanpage - You'll Love It! ;) )

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