Nearly every major essential oil company has a special germ-fighting blend. These are designed for colds, flu and other ailments.
I’ve tried a number of different brands. They do seem to help. Or, at least they do for me. That’s why I always like having these formulas in the house.
Although I can’t claim or promise that any natural remedies will work for anyone else, I seem to feel better within a short time after using germ-busting aromatics. A few times, I think I’ve even been able to head off a cold. I used a special aromatic recipe and mixed it with a carrier oil. Then I applied it to the inside of my wrist.
So, naturally, I’m one of those people who think germ-fighting essential oil blends should be one of the first things you add to your natural medicine cabinet.
However, not all of the blends on the market are appropriate for young children. That’s why you may want to consider lemon essential oil instead.
Lemon Essential Oil for Colds
(This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything, I receive a referral fee, at no extra cost to you.)
A wide range of aromatics are either known or believed to have germ-killing potential. This includes lemon essential oil. Essential oils also have a long history of use for various conditions, including infectious disease.
Lemon essential oil is one of the ingredients found in the most common germ-fighting formulas. Other oils typically include clove, cinnamon, rosemary and eucalyptus essential oil. However, all of these, with the exception of lemon oil, are considered too strong for young children. This means anyone under the age of 10. (Essential oils shouldn’t be used at on children younger than 2.)
Although I’ve seen information on social media, advocating these strong aromatics for babies, that’s not the advice recommended by Plant Therapy. Actually, this company has a line of essential oils deemed safe for children aged 2 and older. They were formulated by world-famous essential oil safety expert Robert Tisserand. If you look at the bottle of lemon essential oil below, you can see the KidSafe label. The Germ Destroyer formula on the right also contains lemon essential oil, along with a number of other aromatics.
Organic Lemon Oil
Plant Therapy Germ Destroyer
Is Lemon Essential Oil Good for Colds?
Aromatic oils have a long history of use for a wide range of ailments, including upper respiratory infections. Modern researchers are now taking a look at aromatics, in order to study their potential health benefits. This work is still very much in its infancy. So we don’t have a ton of research. The little we do have, though, is very encouraging.
Although no one can say, as of now, that using essential oils on a human subject. Current research has been aimed at the activity of essential oils when exposed to pathogens in a lab. It’s been demonstrated that lemon essential oil kills both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterium.
Colds and flu are caused by viruses. I was unable to locate a study showing lemon essential oil by itself could influence the course of a cold. However, there is one study showing that a multilevel marketing blend known as On Guard killed the influenza virus in a lab setting. Unlike many of the other germ-fighting blends on the market, On Guard contains orange essential oil instead of lemon.
Lemon Essential Oil for a Cold
I like to stress that I’m not a doctor. So I can’t give medical advice or claim that lemon essential oil or any other natural remedy will prevent you from getting sick, or shorten the duration of an illness. But I can tell you that essential oils are the first line of defense in our house, against colds and the flu.
It’s believed that lemon essential oil is good for you, and that it can potentially help fight germs and stimulate your immune system when you’re sick. Hopefully, in the future, we can point to a specific study showing that one group of people who used lemon essential oil had fewer cold symptoms, compared to a control group.
How to Use Lemon Essential Oil for Colds
Meanwhile, though, I’m not waiting for the research. I’m using essential oils right now because of their historical use in fighting illness. Used properly, lemon essential oil is extremely safe. This means not ingesting it, and using a carrier oil before applying it directly to your skin. If you are sick, putting lemon essential oil in a cold air diffuser is an excellent idea. This allows the healing aromatic compounds to hit your lungs. From there, they travel to your bloodstream.
Lemon essential oil can also be mixed with other aromatics, such as lavender essential oil and marjoram essential oil. Actually, this is a good idea because it’s believed that combining two or more oils together creates a more effective synergy. Other good oils (safe for kids) often used for colds include
Disclaimer
These statements have not been approved by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use essential oils unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.
