How to Use Essential Oil in Cooking to Improve Health

There are many different holistic approaches available to boost the health systems of the body. There are creams, powders and other additives that can be used on the body and consumed. While the health stores are packed with these different options and media outlets focus on building their following via any means necessary, not all of these different additives work and some can be extremely dangerous when utilizing on a daily basis. Essential oils, however, are among the most popular and the most effective and can fill the gap between potential and actual benefit to the body.

Essential oils are, in general terms, versatile tools that can benefit the body in a wide variety of ways. Most commonly, they are used in burning or aromatherapies in which the oil is burned in an appropriate device and inhaled into the body. They may also be sniffed from a bottle as well to help ease the tension of the day or improve a number of different health ailments. Essential oils can be rubbed into the body as a way to increase the healthiness of the body or cure a problem by being rubbed into the skin or affected area. These, though most notable and most commonly associated with essential oil application, are not the only means by which essential oils can be utilized. Consuming them is also possible.

Including essential oils in cooking is not only possible, but also it can bring about many great health system boosts. The use of these products, though, must be done in the most appropriate way and safest so that they do no harm. If you are considering using essential oils in cooking to improve health, the following outlines how to go about it in the healthiest and most appropriate of ways that will minimize side effects and increase the health benefits.

1. Keep Them SafeWhen utilizing essential oils in cooking, it is necessary that they retain their most natural form. This is often the most beneficial and can build their power when included into your foods and recipes. There are several ways that storing these oils alone can impact their efficacy and increase their potential impotency. It is essential that all essential oils remain placed in a temperate environment. Extreme cold and extreme heat can impact their usage and turn them virtually ineffective.

   It is also important that you purchase essential oils that remain away from plastic. The reason for this will be explained in detail below. A glass container helps to retain the integrity of the product and, therefore, should not be used at any point when you are storing or when purchasing the products. Keep the essential oils safe and away from plastic from store to use in your recipes.

   You will also want to make sure that you store the products in a way that are not opening them up to oxidization. Oxygen in unnecessary forms in the essential oil can cause an actual change in the composition of these products and change their efficacy as well. For that reason, you should always make sure that the cap is snuggly put on the essential oils when you are not using them. Put into the recipe what you need and then put it back where it belongs with the cap safely secured on the bottle or jar.

   Further, if you are going to store them, you want to do so in a dark place. Light, too, can impact their benefits by heating them up to a temperature that is not appropriate for them to be. Finally, these oils need to stay in a climate that is not damp. Dampness can seep into the products and can change their composition. Dry and cool are the way they should stay.

2. Use the Proper Cookware

   When you are mixing ingredients or preparing them for use in a recipe, chances are great that you will be required to use cookware in the process. After all, the tools for cooking are essential in the development of a recipe. This cookware does more than just prepare a meal, however, or at least make it easier. It is also crucial in leaving the oils that you are using intact and at maximum efficacy.

   If you are cooking, then, you want to make sure your tools that you are using do not harm the product. It is best that a ceramic or glass bowl is used whenever possible and definitely when you are mixing the ingredients together. The reason for this is because plastic can actually seep into the recipes and can really change the composition. Moreover, if you are heating them in the microwave at some point, you will actually enhance the risk that bad chemicals and BPA will be included in the mixture, creating a reaction in the body that can be risky and harmful.

   While speaking here regarding essential oils and keeping them effective, the truth is that any time you are cooking, plastic should be used at a minimum. The research suggests that these materials can do much more harm than good. Therefore, consider across all of your recipes that you minimize their usages. Your health will thank you for it.

3. Do Your ResearchWhen choosing essential oils, it is more than important to do your research. Not all of the essential oils that you will confront will be best used in cooking. In fact, some are not ingestible at all. Therefore, you want to make sure that you do your research and ensure that you are picking oils that are going to bring you benefit and that can actually be consumed. If not, you could risk harm or an adverse reaction.

   Further, you want to make sure that you do your research on the company from which you are purchasing. This can start by reading the label on the bottle or jar. This is important because while some oils will be great to include in recipes, they must be a cooking grade. Therefore, the name of the oil alone does not make it right for use in cooking. Be sure to look at the packaging and have a clear label present that says that it is suitable for cooking. This should be easily read but if it is not, then, you may wish to choose a different company or product provider when buying your essential oil cooking aids.

4. Look Beyond the Cost

   The cost of a product is, as any home product purchase or grocery store list, important to consider. As much as you want to ensure that you are buying a quality product, opting for a cheaper version can be very tempting. It also has its hazards as well. That is why quality matters over cost when you are buying essential oils for cooking and inclusion in recipes, and is reaffirmed by the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy.

   Those that wish to purchase essential oils and see that the cost is more can be hesitant and understandably so. You need to make sure, though, that you are looking at the big picture rather than the cost alone. The more quality the product, the higher the price tag is likely to be. The same can be said for the more quality of companies. Further, it is important to note that essential oils have a longer shelf life than other products that you use in cooking. Therefore, they will go a longer way in longevity. This also means that you will be able to utilize them across time rather than have to use them before an expiration date is reached.

5. Less Is Often More

   The use of essential oils can really boost the body and its many systems, depending on the product and extract being used. It can also help to cure ailments and other injuries. That is why it becomes so tempting to use more of it than the recipe suggests. It is best to avoid the mistake of adding too much and those who use them in cooking should make sure that they are following the amount perfectly.

   The reason for this is twofold. It will help to ensure that you are not putting too much of a good thing into the body. As noted, too much of a good thing can often be a bad thing. As with anything with a medicinal quality, including prescription pills and other medications, you need to make sure that you are taking it as recommended and in the proper amounts. Add a few drops, stir, taste and alter as you see fit. Do not assume, though, that you will get more bang for your essential oil buck when you use more. It can greatly alter the taste of the dish and the benefit that it could provide you.

   The second reason that using this essential oil in the correct dosage or amount is important is because it will last you longer. From a basic economic standpoint, this is important. It will make sure that your product lasts much longer than if you used it all at once. Further, you are going to be spending more on a quality essential product than on imitation flavors and other cooking tools. If you drop it in the dish or recipe in the incorrect amount, then you will be wasting the money that you spent on the quality product in the first place.

6. Handle With CareEssential oils are important to use in their correct way. To not do so can, as noted earlier, change their efficacy and efficiency in use. Yet, this goes beyond just how and where you should cook them and with what tools you should use in the process. It matters in how you handle them as well.

   Your oils should be handled with care, especially around children. You should make sure that your own bodily oils can change the composition of the essential oils altogether. Adding these oils can impact how they work and the overall chemical composition, rendering some completely useless. Further, if you have children around the oils and in cooking, it is best that they never handle the oils directly. This is not because they are dangerous but that they are concentrated and can have the potential to be dangerous in large amounts. A child that touches them and they are absorbed into their skin can have an adverse reaction. Therefore, be sure that children handle other parts of the recipe while you handle the essential oil aspect. These findings are highlighted in the work by Dr. Alhijazeen at Iowa University who added that oils and acids can impact the recipe in a very negative way.

7. Do Not Put Directly into the RecipeWhen using your essential oils, you need to make sure that you do not put it directly into the recipe. The viscosity of these oils can range drastically. That means that a dropper full or one may not equate to a dropper full of another. For that reason, it is recommended that you take a separate—non plastic—spoon or container or measuring device and put the oils in there before transferring to the actual ingredient mixture. This can help to ensure that you are getting the right amount and not too much or too little.

The Right Ways is Best

If you are planning on using essential oils in your cooking, the above steps should be utilized to include them properly. This is more than just for taste and safety, though these are important. It is also important that you follow these guidelines as you create your recipes so that you can get the most boost to your health. The important thing to remember as that oils such as tea tree oil in creams improves health, so, too, does cooking them. Follow the proper protocol and you can do more than boost your health through application of essential oils but, rather, through consumption.

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