Vanilla oil benefits are not limited to adding flavor to your desserts. Let’s learn about this fantastic blend in detail!
A scoop of vanilla ice cream on a lazy Sunday afternoon or adding vanilla essence to the cake you’re baking—vanilla just seems to make everything better, doesn’t it? Vanilla is indisputably one of the most easily recognizable scents and flavors in the world. Thanks to its potent health benefits and luxuriously sweet scent, vanilla oil has a variety of uses all over the world. In this article, we will explore the amazing benefits of vanilla oil.
Vanilla Oil Benefits
Besides adding vanilla essence to your desserts, there is a lot more that you can do with vanilla oil to boost your overall health. Of course, the best way to enjoy the benefits of vanilla essential oil is to incorporate it into your shower routine. To be quite honest, it will totally change your shower experience, not to mention boost your overall well-being! Lowering blood pressure, alleviating muscle tension, and calming your brain are some of the few benefits of vanilla oil that we will explore below.
1) Has Anti-Oxidant Properties and Protects Against Free Radical Damage
First on the list is its anti-oxidant properties due to the presence of a compound called vanillin. As you probably know, oxidation in our skin leads to the production of free radicals, which ultimately cause cell and tissue damage and premature aging signs.
Antioxidants in vanilla oil can combat these harsh free radicals, promote restoration of cells and tissues, and thus revitalize skin against damage and premature aging.
2) Improves Peace and Relaxation
You can best experience and reap the benefits of vanilla oil either through smell or through the bloodstream through skin absorption. So, if you are depressed, anxious, or stressed out, have no qualms about choosing to smell or rub vanilla oil on the pressure points of your body on the first go.
The efficacy of vanilla essential oil in regulating your mood through the olfactory system of your brain is unparalleled. Vanilla oil’s uplifting fragrance stimulates the release of neurotransmitters that help combat feelings of insomnia and anxiety, leaving you feeling a sense of deep calmness, peace, and relaxation.
3) Helps With Feelings Of Tension in the Body
Not only can vanilla oil help you deal with concerns like depression, anxiety, or stress, but it can also relieve tension in your body. Research states that the scent of vanilla and its sedative properties can positively affect your body’s relaxation by alleviating symptoms like heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. This ultimately helps enhance your well-being in the long term.
One of the best ways to incorporate vanilla oil into your routine to relieve tension is to add a few drops of essential oil to your bath water at the end of a long workday.
Widely recognized as a calming oil that helps make positive connections in your body and invokes sentiments of warmth and pleasure, it is no surprise that vanilla is so frequently used in bath and body products.
4) Has Anti-bacterial and Anti-inflammatory Properties
Vanilla oil is especially lauded for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial qualities, which have been proven in studies to help alleviate and prevent infections and inflammation. So anytime you get a burn or are dealing with an acne breakout, remember vanilla oil! It is always better to use natural oils like vanilla oil, especially for healing small cuts and burns or getting rid of acne, as any cosmetic product you use would be chock-full of chemicals, which would ultimately have an adverse effect on your skin in the long term.
Since inflammation is associated with almost every common health condition, steady research has investigated chronic inflammation’s effects on health and possible preventive medical applications. The best part is that vanilla oil acts like a sedative, thus alleviating stress in your body and helping all of your organ systems, including the respiratory, nervous, circulatory, and excretory systems. Plus, the fact that it has anti-oxidant properties due to the presence of vanillin, a component with the highest antioxidant value, regulates cholesterol levels, reduces triglycerides levels, and helps minimize symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
5) Helps Boost Mood and Enhances Sleep Quality
The fact that vanilla essential oil regulates your mood itself indicates its mood-boosting properties as it not only calms you down but makes you feel happier, too. Vanilla oil has also proven to be really effective in boosting neurological health as it alleviates mental health concerns.
You can truly let go of your worries and start sleeping in peace, especially if you start using vanilla essential oil in a diffuser, even if for a short period, before going to bed. Say goodbye to tossing, turning, and insomnia as vanilla oil becomes your go-to aid for better sleep quality!
6) Maintains Respiratory Health
According to a study done by the National Center for Scientific Research in France on premature babies, there was a pronounced enhancement in sleep apnea when the babies had vanilla (containing the compound vanillin) on their cushions. They were also found to be more relaxed.
Since sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing may stop suddenly, the study implies that vanilla oil dabbed on bedding cushions did affect the respiratory center in the brain as it slowly relaxed the body as well.
7) Protects Against Infections and Disease
Vanilla has been proven to be quite powerful in preventing the growth of bad bacteria like E. coli and Listeria. Additionally, it has been proven to prevent bacteria from developing and meeting with other types of bacteria. This property of the vanilla essential oil has been associated with the presence and progress of eugenol and vanillin hydroxybenzaldehyde, which help prevent and fight infections.
A 2014 study published in Basel, Switzerland, researched the efficacy of vanilla essential oil as an antibacterial agent when used on the surface of S. aureus bacterial cells.
8) Increases Skin and Hair Health
Vanilla essential oil includes vitamin B, which is a crucial nutrient for the growth of strong and shiny hair. It is also sometimes considered to be useful in preventing hair loss.
Besides that, vanilla essential oil also contains compounds like niacin, thiamin, and pantothenic acid, which can help the health of your skin by aiding in the clearance of acne and fending off free radical damage.
9) Acts As An Aphrodisiac
The molecular composition of vanilla essential oil resembles that of human pheromones, which act like attractors, stimulating the release of hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Proper secretion of these hormones is crucial to proper sexual health and to prevent hormonal disorders like erectile dysfunction, impotence, and loss of libido.
The good news is that about 70 percent of cases of hormonal disorders can be dealt with through home remedies and natural treatment methods such as vanilla oil, which helps balance out low production levels.
10) Relieves PMS Symptoms
Since vanilla oil helps secrete estrogen, it ultimately helps regularize menstrual cycles and relieve PMS symptoms, which over 90% of menstruating women experience. An imbalance of hormone levels causes PMS, which directly ties in with the fact that vanilla oil can act as a natural remedy to alleviate bloating, fatigue, and cramps.
Besides that, vanilla oil, with its sedative properties, ensures that your body isn’t hypersensitive while experiencing PMS symptoms.
11) Prevents the Growth of Cancer Cells
You already know that vanilla essential oil can fight against infections and diseases. But did you know it has anticarcinogenic properties as well? Yes, vanilla oil can help inhibit the development of cancer cells, thus acting as a natural cancer prevention remedy, curbing the excess growth of cancerous cells.
This is especially possible because of the antioxidative action of vanilla essential oil against chronic stress-causing diseases.
According to the National Cancer Institute, free radicals in high concentrations can cause damage to various components of cells, like proteins, cell membranes, and even DNA. This damage caused to DNA is one of the main causes of the development of cancer and other health conditions.
Antioxidants or “free radical scavengers” in vanilla essential oil can ultimately interact with, neutralize, and fight free radical damage.
Conclusion
Now that you know all of vanilla essential oil’s amazing benefits, there are a few things that you must keep in mind.
Firstly, you must always dilute pure, high-quality vanilla essential oil with a carrier oil before you use it topically. It would be best to conduct a patch test and wait 24 hours to see if there is any reaction on your skin before going ahead and using it regularly. Avoid using cheaper, poor-quality vanilla essential oil and only food-grade vanilla extract for human consumption.
So, vanilla is definitely way more than just ice cream! Take this as your cue to add vanilla essential oil finally to your daily routine and reap its great benefits!