Properties Of Grapefruit Essential Oil

If you most often see grapefruit cut in half and served with your breakfast, you know that it is associated with healthful eating. While grapefruit can be part of a healthy breakfast, in its essential oil form, it has many other uses. The cold expression process of the grapefruit peel yields an essential oil with a citrus aroma, high in components such as limonene and citral. The properties of grapefruit essential oil include many which can provide health benefits.
Naturopathic medicine promotes a holistic approach to health with minimal use of surgeries and drugs. Please make sure to consult your physician before attempting naturopathic remedies at home.

Stimulant

Aromatherapists frequently employ grapefruit essential oil because of its stimulating properties. Author and aromatherapist Julia Lawless writes in her book, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils" that grapefruit essential oil can be used to treat exhaustion and fatigue. A 2002 study in the "Japanese Journal of Pharmacology" also confirmed that grapefruit essential oil stimulates your body's sympathetic nervous system.

Diuretic

Aromatherapist Patricia Davis writes in her book, "Aromatherapy: An A to Z" that she uses grapefruit essential oil for its diuretic property. Diuretics reduce your body's water retention. This can be helpful in instances where there is excess fluid build-up. Davis writes she treats clients who need help eliminating toxins from their body with grapefruit essential oil.

Non-Phototoxic

Grapefruit essential oil shares many properties with other citrus oils, such as orange and lemon oil. One property that differs is that grapefruit essential oil is non-phototoxic; it does not increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun. Davis explains that this is due to grapefruit essential oil containing chemical compounds that neutralize the components that are responsible for the phototoxic property.

Antiseptic and Antibacterial

Grapefruit essential oil also has to two properties that make it helpful as an infection fighter. Antiseptic and antibacterial, grapefruit essential oil can be used to help treat sickness, such as a cold or the flu. Lawless suggests the best method for using these properties is steam inhalation, as well as including a few drops in a diffuser to spread throughout the air. This has an added advantage of also disinfecting the room where it is placed, which will help keep the germs from spreading.