Antibiotics and Essential Oils Compared
We live in a time when the overuse of antibiotics is now reaping its consequences. This causes a lot of confusion and concern. What can we do about it? Are there other choices?
Gratefully, there is another choice. A wonderful and amazing choice. The choice being: Therapeutic-grade Essential Oils. This page compares essential oils to antibiotics. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one? Read on and see!
Much of the information on this page in comparing antibiotics and essential oils is summarized from the book Healing Oils Of The Bible by David Stewart. His writing is very clear and logical with a ring of sincerity.
What of Antibiotics?
An antibiotic consists of a very specific chemical makeup and every batch is identical.
Advantage: Allows for a much more controlled research study.
Advantage: Allows a physician to know exactly what he/she is getting.
Disadvantage: The "purity" of a produced drug is also its weakness because bacteria can learn to recognize a drug and adapt itself thereby making it resistant to the drug so the drug over time loses its value.
Disadvantage: The limited number of chemical constituents in a drug offers no significant counterbalancing of each other resulting in at least one or more harmful side effects.
"The very characteristic [pharmaceutical purity] that doctors, research scientists, and the pharmaceutical companies value the most is the very characteristic that makes all antibiotics eventually useless."
~David Stewart, Ph.D.~
What of Essential Oils?
(Note: The following points refer only to essential oils that are pure and of therapeutic grade. Oils that have been adulterated, diluted or distilled using chemicals do not apply here.)
Essential oils have very complex chemical make-ups and no batch is ever the same. A single oil may have dozens or even hundreds of chemical constituents all working together.
Advantage: The unpredictability of oils prevents bacteria from being able to mutate and form resistance.
Advantage: No harmful side effects. The large number of constituents in an oil allows for counterbalancing of each other so there are no harmful side effects.
Disadvantage: Difficult to do controlled research studies.
Disadvantage: A doctor does not know exactly what he/she is getting.
Are there other advantages in using essential oils over antibiotics (or other pharmaceutical drugs)?
Many essential oils fight viruses.
A true therapeutic-grade essential oil has intelligence. It can differentiate between good bacteria and bad bacteria. In killing only the bad bacteria our immune system is left intact and even strengthened as opposed to antibiotics which kill off good and bad bacteria leaving a compromised immune system.
In using essential oils, sometimes when one medical problem is addressed another medical problem also clears up. Antibiotics kill the bad bacteria, but create a new problem, because they also kill the good bacteria.
Essential Oils Provide an Option to Antibiotics
Therapeutic-grade essential oils provide us with an option to the constant use of antibiotics.
I used this option some time ago when I was bitten by a cat. The cat sank her teeth into my arm. Cat bites are notoriously known to be dangerous for the risk of infection. I chose to use my essential oils both internally and topically. I had decided that if I did not see improvement within one or two days then I would go to a doctor. The need to see a doctor did not come about. I did great! For further details about this experience click here: Cat Bite Story
It is important though to use good judgement and common sense. In many situations this may mean using oils while on the way to the doctor/hospital.
Does this mean that there is never a place for antibiotics?
No, not at all. There are times when there may be a medical emergency and an antibiotic may save a life. My father's life has been saved several times because of antibiotics and I am very grateful.
There are also times when something is quite serious and you shouldn't wait to see if you can take care of something on your own. Please, use good judgement always!
It is my personal opinion that as more is learned about essential oils we will learn what oils or combinations will work just as quickly (possibly quicker) than any drug for a given symptom and we will know in what quantities to use them, how to use them more effectively, etc. Until then there are definitely those times when antibiotics and/or prescription drugs are needed. And then again, maybe we will always need both - and that is O.K. too.