Certified therapeutic grade essential oils, food grade, 100 percent pure, what does it all mean? Well, these are terms that are not easily defined, and there’s no shortage of disinformation out there when it comes to determining how one essential oil brand compares to another.
There are a host of factors that go into what makes one aromatherapy brand “therapeutic grade” vs one that is “non-therapeutic grade.” This is partly because they are not regulated with any explicit certifications. For instance, an “organic” product has to be certified to slap on their claim on a product label. With essential oils, it’s not quite the same.
Even when it comes to whether a certain essential oil is edible (or can be ingested in some form) the rules are a little different. Please note: if you’re looking to take these products orally, please read through to the end, as most brands are not safe for consumption.
[amazon box=”B01161IL20″]To start off, consider the benefits and advantages of using a high quality, therapeutic essential oil brand:
- They provide potent therapeutic benefits.
- Some brands are edible, or considered “food grade.”
- They are 100% natural and safe for both adults and children.
- They are manufactured through ethical channels that also provide regional economic benefits.
Pure therapeutic grade
As I indicated before, there is certainly a “trust” factor when it comes to essential oil brands that claim to be of “therapeutic grade” quality. After all, anyone can claim to offer quality. But the fact is, not many of these companies can offer any proof.
Now, an oil that is labeled Pure Therapeutic Grade (PTG) is proven to go through a rigorous process to ensure adequate standards. For instance, a PTG essential oil:
- Is distilled without using chemicals, which puts a burden on the production process (we know, a real shocker!)
- Is more costly to produce because they often require hundreds of pounds of plant material to manufacture only a single pound of oil.
- Is sourced from indigenous regions where the plants grow in their 100% natural environment.
[amazon box=”B071RXT6N8″]Naturally (pardon the pun), the costs associated with using homeopathic medicines depend largely on the overall quality of the product. Sure, you can go to Walgreens or Whole Foods and pick up a cheap bottle of Lavender.
But if price is your sole concern, and you do buy that cheap bottle of Lavender, you’ll probably abandon the product shortly after using it. Because after all, inexpensive oils simply will not deliver the therapeutic benefits that a high grade oil provides. They might offer a nice placebo. But that’s about it.
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What brand to choose?
As we noted, for an essential oil brand to be considered Therapeutic Grade, it must adhere to strict manufacturing guidelines. We could go further into the specifics about how a brand can be “certified,” but we want you to keep reading. We’ll just say there are very few companies in the world that follow such strict guidelines in their manufacturing processes.
Here are just a few items to consider when shopping for the best essential oil brand:
- Stringent bottling standards with adequate labeling
- Whether the company’s founders and current operators are experienced in the business
While it may seem meticulous, knowing the process at which it takes to manufacture these natural products is important. After all, you want to buy from a reputable company that not only delivers potent, therapeutic grade oils, but one that does so responsibly.
Trust us, we’ve tried both
Seriously, we used to use cheap, knockoff essential oils. The kind you shop for at a Walgreens or Whole Foods. And once we switched to a 100% pure, therapeutic grade product we have never looked back.
In fact, not long ago I found under the couch one of our old Lavender bottles from Puritan’s Pride. After giving it a good whiff – out of curiosity, of course – I instinctively scrunched up my nose. If there was one word to describe it, it smelled “impure.”
To recap:
- Focusing solely on price when it comes to essential oils often means compromising quality.
- Pure oils undergo a strict distillation process that other manufacturers do not follow.
- Pure oils provide a safe and potent solution to improve overall health and wellbeing.
- If you’re wanting to use essential oils by way of ingestion, ONLY use a 100% pure brand.
I am all at sea about CTP Essentia Oil. My wife bought a lot of it from Young Living and I am suspicious that it is the real stuff.
Your advice is much appreciated.
Best Regards
Young Living is the only oil I currently use after 15 years of research, and trial. I have had friends that were sceptical of oils in general try them, and found out they worked. Not all oils will work for a person becsuse of body chemistry. That is where trial comes into play.
Are you a YL rep?
Hi Lori – Thanks for stopping by. We used to be doTERRA reps. And while we still use their products, we are no longer consultants for them.
Why not? Do you still exclusively use their oils or do you use other companies?
We still only use their oils. The reason we no longer rep for them is because they’ve had compliance issues with the FDA over their reps making certain health claims. DoTERRA no longer allows reps to have websites, so instead of shutting down what we had built, we terminated our consultant agreement and took a new business direction.
It was a frustrating situation, but I understand where they are coming from. The last thing they want is to have the FDA up their back.
I would like to know more about this FDA compliance. I haven’t found anything about this from my research. Can you direct me?
Romelia – I found something that might be what you’re looking for: https://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm127054.htm
Thanks!
Great article , so what essential oils do you like to use?
Hi Romelia,
If you are a doTERRA rep, here are some guidelines doTERRA provides to protect themselves from the FDA:
https://www.doterra.com/US/en/flyers-quick-claims-guide
Here is the letter the FDA sent out:
https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm415809.htm
Hope that is helpful!
To be fair for the two companies mentioned above selling Essential Oils, it has been known that Young Living and DoTerra have been in competition for many years with a historic background. Both company representatives sell these essential oil products by signing up new people under their name, build a business on incentives, including monetary rewards. Both companies have had legal issues. I am certainly not promoting or trying to bash either company, only presenting an even understanding for those of us that are truly passionate in using essential oils for medicinal reasons, without the business aspect. FDA has a job is to protect the public, but we all know has far to go in the depth this industry has grown. We know how wonderful well made oils are in aiding our health. Educate yourself well and the best of health to you. Great article zenOils. Thank-you.
I was Wondering if anyone knows about revive essential oils . I seem An article on Facebook that compared revive young living and doterra and rated revive first .
Have you heard anything about Amore’ oils?