I agree with you that people need to make decisions based on science (and not just what some MLM rep is pushing), but most essential oils are anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial. That doesn’t mean that they are necessarily a proven preventative in this case and certainly should not be touted as a cure, but there is plenty of science and not woo-woo magic that says they very well might be a powerful tool used in conjunction with other things, like washing hands and social distancing.
“In a previous published study performed with a proprietary blend of rosemary, orange, clove, cinnamon, and eucalyptus EOs (On guard Wild™), efficacy was shown against H1N1, but was not tested against bacteria (Wu et al., 2010). In our study, AB1 was proven to be effective against both viruses and bacteria in particular, H1N1 virus, S. aureus and S. pneumoniae, two bacteria responsible for postinfluenza pneumonia (Chung & Huh, 2015). This dual activity could be of particular interest to treat influenza and also postinfluenza bacterial pneumonia infections, a leading cause of influenza‐associated death.”
And from the doTERRA website about OnGuard. Yes, it’s been primarily tested by their scientists, but results also reflect the research of others.
“A recent study by doTERRA scientists evaluated the effects of doTERRA On Guard blend on human cells. Four different white blood cell co-cultures and one skin cell co-culture were exposed to the blend and subsequent changes in cellular activity were measured using biomarker analysis.
The combination of multiple cell types grown together in the same dish is called a co-culture. Co-cultures are often more useful models of cell activity than single cell lines because they more closely resemble conditions in the human body, which is a complex combination of various cell types. The co-cultures selected for experimentation in this study have been validated by prior research as effective models of inflammatory or immunomodulatory processes.1,2
A total of nine different biomarkers were observed to be downregulated in the different white blood cell co-cultures.3 These were the immunomodulatory markers CD40, sIgG, sIL-17A, sIL-17F, sIL-2, and sIL-6, as well as the inflammatory markers sTNFα, V-CAM1, IP-10, Eotaxin-3 and P-Selectin.3"
I would not rely on essential oils as some kind of panacea or magic bullet, particularly not against something this virulent, but they do have a science-based right to claim that they can be of assistance as part of a larger program of wellness and maintaining health right now. I used to know a woman who was a clinical aromatherapist, who for a living taught nurses in clinical settings on how to use essential oils in healing. They are a powerful, and underexplored resource, but yes, you still need to do your research and use good judgment.
“Results of lab studies are promising — one at Johns Hopkins found that certain essential oils could kill a type of Lyme bacteria better than antibiotics — but results in human clinical trials are mixed.”
