Not all essential oils are created equal. And herein lies the danger because many people assume there is a yes-or-no side of this debate to fall on, making all safe to ingest or all unsafe. This is why having knowledge of essential oils and their components as well as seeking the advice of a trusted health care professional is paramount. In general, the FDA has approved a list of essential oils that are considered GRAS, or “generally recognized as safe.” The problem lies in the assumptions surrounding this list, because there are different species of essential oils that are safe and others that haven’t been verified under the umbrella of a single common name. And even then, not all approved oils are safe for every individual, depending on your personal health history. When you consider the age of the person ingesting essential oils, we add another layer to the debate. Should children be ingesting essential oils? What about teenagers? Can any adult ingest essential oils? There is no one solid answer to these questions. I would not personally recommend that young children ingest essential oils under any circumstances directly from the bottle or even in a veggie or gel capsule, but vitamins made with the essential oils or foods cooked with them would be a different consideration. There isn’t a right answer to this question because it is an individual decision based on each person’s unique body chemistry, health history, and the purpose for which he or she is considering using the oils internally. As the body of research continues to grow, we continue to discover more pros and cons of ingesting essential oils. So while you can ingest essential oils when necessary and done correctly, you simply don’t have to when there are other effective methods available.
