Discovering Bergamot Essential Oil

My essential oil collection

If I take my present essential oil collection in alphabetical order, the first oil is Bergamot. This one always surprises me because it has a wonderful citrus smell. The name does not say citrus to me like lemon, orange or grapefruit. Bergamot is from the citrus family and the essential oil comes from the fruit rind. The oil is obtained though cold compression rather than steam distillation. The Bergamot Orange is the size of our regular oranges but is the yellow color of a lemon with a slightly pear like shape. It is grown in Italy and France for making essential oil or tea and in Turkey for making marmalade. It's is named for a town in Italy called Bergamo. It is not grown for it's juice which is like overpowering super sweet lemon juice. It is used to flavor pipe tabaco.  I've never actually had my hands on this fruit and am passing along tid bits of information that I have gleaned from the internet.

You may not think you are familiar with this oil but if you take ordinary black tea and add bergamot  essential oil it becomes the well known Earl Grey tea. Actually Earl Grey tea is this oils claim to fame.  Did you know "Drinking Earl Grey tea could help guard against heart disease, it has emerged, after a study found that bergamot extract - a key ingredient in the hot drink - is just as effective as statins at controlling cholesterol. " The Telegraph Health News

In aromatherapy Bergamot is uplifting, energizing and can help with stress and depression.

Used with uv light therapy it is thought to help people with psoriasis. One article I found gave 39 uses for Bergmot Essential oil but the one that I found most interesting was that it was found helpful for people with brain injuries if they put it on the back of their neck several times a day. Really search pintrest or the internet and you will find lots of ideas for ways to use essential oils.

You can generally use essential oils in the following ways.

Aromatically: Put a few drops in a defuser, or candle burner, or inhale it directly from the bottle or on a piece of cloth or tissue held near the nose.

Topically: Applied to the skin using a carrier oil. My rule is I try not to put any oil or substance on my body that I am not also willing to eat. Your skin is the largest organ of the body and one should take care what is used on it. I generally use rice bran oil because of its high vitamin e content. Olive, coconut or grape seed oils are others I use as well.  About  2-3 drops to a couple of tablespoons of oil is a pretty good ratio.

Internally: On this one you need to be confident of the quality and purity of your oil brand. You can add a drop or two to a cup of tea or purified water or to a spoonful of honey. I suggest you research this further before trying it this way. I am not making any medical recommendations here. It is simply listed as a way essential oils can be used.

The last way is called Neat: That means to apply the essential oil directly to the skin without a carrier oil. Generally the skin on the bottom of the foot is considered a safe area for this type of application. People have differing skin sensitivities to essential oils so some caution should be used. If you do use it "neat" and have a reaction you should quickly apply a carrier oil to help dilute the essential oil and to calm the skin. Many people feel the feet are like a map of the body (think Reflexology). Applying the essential oil on the feet or massaging it into various areas that correspond with a reflexology foot chart may be helpful.  You might also put a few drops on the palms of your hands. Rub your hands together and then cup them over your nose and inhale the aroma. Then you are getting the benefits of the oil through the skin and through the lungs.

According to Mountain Rose Herbs Bergmot essential oil is "Analgesic, anthelmintic, antibacterial, antidepressant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, deodorant, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative, rubefacient, sedative, stimulant, stomachic, tonic, vulnerary"

In that list there are a few words I did not know. For example vulnerary means a plant or medicine used for healing wounds. Anthelmintic, means used to destroy parasites. Febrifuge is something that is used to reduce or dispel a fever. Rubefacient is an agent that causes the blood to flow to the skin, causing it to redden. This aids the body in absorbing the healing properties of the essential oil.

So its too late to try this tonight the idea for deodorant I found using bergamot. So I am using an easier option that I could quickly take a photo of. I try to use just my own photos for this blog which is why you don't see a photo of bergamot fruit. Just search it and you will find plenty of photos of this interesting fruit.  My candle is on my desk and is adding a lovely aroma to the room. I just added a few drops to one of the pretty shell candles I had made on another occasion.  You could use a store bought tea light or other unscented candle.

By the way I am not endorsing any particular brand. It is important that you find good quality 100% oils that have not been cut down with other products. I buy my oils from my local health food stores or I order them online. I have been happy with my purchases from Mountain Rose Herbs but I receive nothing for mentioning them in this post.