If you – like most of us – suffer from emotional eating, even if it’s occasionally, here are the top oils that can assist you and how to use them. To read more what’s behind emotional eating, read this post.
Note: most of these essential oils are fit to ingest, so be aware of the quality of the products you chose and make sure the brand you use allows you to ingest that oil.
1 – Grapefruit
This is one of my personal favourites. Grapefruit assists individuals with their relationship with their own body and with food. Since Grapefruit activates de enzymes that help the body break down the fat it is perfect to promote weight loss by cleansing the body. Grapefruit is also included in some cellulite products because when applied topically in small amounts it’s an excellent diuretic and lymphatic stimulant. So with Grapefruit’s help you can expect to stop food cravings, increase energy, reduce abdominal fat accumulation and boost your metabolism as could be seen in this study or in this one.
You can add two dops of Grapefruit to your water or tea and drink it throughout the day. You can also use two drops in the diffuser. Another option is to massage one drop into your chest and wrists when food cravings strikes but don’t take any sunlight in those areas afterwards since Grapefruit is a citrus oil and therefore your skin may stain.
2 – Cinnamon
Cinnamon helps regulate blood glucose levels which makes cinnamon great to support diabetes. Balancing blood sugar levels will help with weight loss and it will also reduce sugar cravings, because insulin is the hormone responsible for metabolizing carbohydrates by facilitating the absorption of blood glucose. Therefore Cinnamon is quite powerful into helping your body to convert the nutrients into energy instead of storing them as fat.
Add one single drop of Cinnamon to your fruit (perfect with apples or bananas), tea or water and it will help slow the rate at which glucose is released into the blood. If you are very sensitive (and given that Cinnamon is a highly warm essential oil) you can have a drop of Cinnamon essential oil from an empty capsule.
3 – Ginger
Ginger essential oil reduces sugar cravings and helps reduce inflammation in the body (you can read more about gut health in The Microbiome Diet: The Scientifically Proven Way to Restone Your Gut Health and Achieve Permanent Weight Loss by Dr. Raphael Kellman). If you are planning to lose weight it’s important that first you address the health of your organism and support your digestion and the absorption of nutrients. This study has demonstrated the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Ginger essential oil.
You can add one drop to your water or tea and drink it throughout the day, especially after meals. You can also use it in the diffuser. And you can apply it topically: one drop of ginger for one tea spoon of fractionated coconut oil.
4 – Lemon
This is also one of my favourites: every single morning I have two drops of lemon in a glass of water. Lemon essential oil supresses weigth gain, because lemon contains limonene which is a natural fat dissolvent. Lemon essential oils also increases energy and focus, enhancing the mood. Therefore it is a good emotional support for stress and relief of negative feelings.
You can either smell lemon essential oil directly from the bottle throughout the day or use it in the diffuser. Another option is to add one to three drops to your water or tea and drink it during the day.
5 – Peppermint
Peppermint increases energy and mental alertness (the perfect oil for “waking up”), it elevates the mood, it addresses almost all digestive issues and it reduces appetite. Since Peppermint is an effective muscle relaxer and it helps relieve any type of digestive situation. Peppermint also calms the emotions and it’s a natural appetite suppressant.
I like to have one drop of peppermint after each meal. As some of you have tried (since I carry my doTERRA keychain everywhere), Peppermint clears the breath and it helps digestion, bringing an immediate freshness to the organism. Another option is to have one drop of Peppermint with tea or water. If you have one drop of Peppermint before each meal your appetite will be suppressed. You can also apply it in the skin, particularly helpful directly in the abdomen after a heavy meal (one or two drops for a table spoon of carrier oil).
6 – Bergamot
Bergamot is a mood enhancer and it is directly related with self love and respect. It is a powerful emotional oil used to improve our own body mind relationship and self esteem. Anxiety and sadness often lead to emotional eating which brings a temporary sense of relief and it ends up piling into guilt and negative feelings towards ourselves and the way we look. According to this study, inhaling Bergamot can have immediate benefits for the mood and therefore it may be a good help to stop emotional eating. Like all the citrus oil Bergamot is also associated with anti-stress feelings which make it a very good ally to cope with our diet goals.
The best way for this purpose would be to use Bergamot in the diffuser throughout the day or smell it directly from the bottle. It is also possible to add a few drops to the wrists and smell it from there.
7 – Fennel
Fennel is a natural digestion improver and an appetite suppressor. Therefore it helps to reduce weight gain and it may also contribute to a restful sleep. It is common to advise new Mothers who are breast feeding to drink fennel tea in order to minimize their babies belly cramps. Fennel contains melatonin which improves the circadian rhythm helping with a restful sleep. Melatonin is also associated with reducing weight gain since it contributes to fat burning.
There are two very powerful ways to use Fennel: either by ingesting a few drops with tea or water (I like to do it in the evening) or by inhaling it directly from the bottle or in a diffuser. And according to this study inhaling Fennel can be a success for weight loss.
8 – Patchouli
Just like Bergamot, Patchouli may have a major emotional role in supporting emotional eating since it helps one’s relationship with the body. It is an antidepressant and it is used for its mood enhancing properties.
The blend Grapefruit and Patchouli helps control cravings and hunger. The best way to get Patchouli’s support for this case is to use it in the diffuser (two drops) or just smell it directly from the bottle throughout the day. Another option is to massage one drop into your chest and wrists when craving strikes.
9 – Smart & Sassy by doTERRA
doTERRA’s Smart & Slassy blend includes some of the most powerful oils for digestion, dieting and emotional eating support. They are:
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Grapefruit
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Lemon
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Peppermint
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Ginger
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Cinnamon
Making Smart & Sassy a perfect metabolic blend to support emotional eating, helping reduce hunger cravings, calming the stomach, promoting a healthy metabolism and lifting the mood.
You can either apply it directly in the skin (some apply it directly for cellulite with amazing results after two months) or you can ingest one to two drops of it during the day (preferably after the meals). You can also smell it directly from the bottle throughout the day, especially when you start the detoxing program or you can use it in the diffuser.
So these are the main oils that support emotional eating. In the next post I will share some recipes to get the best out of these miraculous drops.
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