Aromatherapy Passes Smell Test

I have a lot of questions about aromatherapy. What smells put you in a good mood? Freshly-baked cookies? Hot pizza? Vanilla? Wildflowers on a sunny day? Your lawn after it has just been cut? We all have certain smells that seem to brighten our day and put us in a better mood. When we smell those particular smells, do we get healthier? Can they affect our mood and thereby affect our overall health?

It's not clear exactly how aromatherapy helps to heal, but scientists believe the nose may play an important role. Receptors in your nose might respond in particular ways to the scents of essential oils. As essential oils stimulate these receptors, your nose communicates with parts of your brain responsible for emotions and memories. These areas of the brain might then have an impact on your mental, emotional, and even physical health.

Other researchers believe essential oils may mix with hormones or enzymes in the blood to heal ailments. Unfortunately, not many scientific studies of aromatherapy have been conducted to determine how effective the treatments are. Nonetheless, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that aromatherapy may indeed have potential value as an alternative form of therapy for some conditions. Historians believe that essential oils have been used to treat ailments for over 6,000 years. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were all known to use essential oils for therapeutic purposes. Aromatherapy didn't become a popular alternative treatment method in the United States until the 1980s, though.