Diffuser Recipes

Tests have shown oils hit the heart, liver, and thyroid in 3 seconds when inhaled; they were found in the bloodstream in 26 seconds when applied topically. Expulsion of essential oils takes 3-6 hours in a healthy body. When you breathe an oil in, 99 percent of it breathed right back out. The 1 percent sits atop your olfactory membranes—all 8 million of them, until they are full. When you can no longer smell a smell anymore—it’s because those receptor sites are full. After about 10 minutes, they get absorbed into your body. That’s why you can smell it again—if someone walks into a room 10 minutes later, or a second batch of cookies comes out of the oven.

When a fragrance is inhaled, the odor molecules travel up your nose where they are trapped by olfactory membranes that are well protected by the lining of the nose. Each molecule fits like a puzzle piece into a specific receptor cell site lining the membrane—in the epithelium lining of the nose. Each of these nerve cells are replaced by your body every 28 days.

When stimulated, the nerve cell triggers electrical impulses to the gustatory center—where the sensation of taste is perceived, the amygdala (where emotions are stored)—and the limbic system of the brain. Because the limbic system is directly connected to the parts of the brain that control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance—essential oils have profound physical, physiological and psychological effects. The sense of smell is the only one of the 5 senses connected directly to the limbic lobe of the brain—the emotional control center. It explains why some fragrances evoke memories and emotions before we’re even consciously aware.