Essential oils have been recognized for their many health benefits, including pain relief, headache reduction, and improved skin conditions. However, they may also be useful for curbing appetite and cravings and supporting a healthy metabolism. But can it also help curb appetite and cravings as well as support a healthy metabolism? Fortunately, there is a good amount of research that shows promising results about essential oils’ ability to suppress and stimulate appetite. Read on to learn more. 

How do essential oils act upon the body to suppress or stimulate appetite? 

According to research “essential oils, thanks to their constituents, promote the reduction of fat mass and exert anti-obesity effects.”[1,7] To fully grasp this, let’s rewind a bit to better understand why and how to incorporate essential oils into our wellness routines to manage appetite for healthy body weight. 

As we know, obesity and metabolic disorders lead to a multitude of chronic diseases which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular complications, hypertension, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, blood glucose complications, sleep apnea, and obesity which can have an unfavorable effect on mental health.[10]

To get on track toward a healthy weight, nothing beats a healthy diet, exercise and body movement. Even daily walks are effective in reducing body mass.  

“A balanced lifestyle comprising healthy eating habits, exercise, sleep cycle, and behavioral features is the utmost regulator of healthy body weight and robust metabolism.”[2] 

But let's add to those facts that a number of studies evidenced that certain compounds in essential oils can promote and improve weight conditions as emerging evidence “demonstrate the anti-obesity effects of EOs.”[1]

Central to the process of energy balance regulation is lipostatic theory. In short, lipostatic theory revolves around one's body fat stores and signals the brain to change energy intake and usage. Leptin, a hormone released by adipose fat tissue and regulated by the hypothalamus, effectively reduces the sensation of hunger, decreasing appetite to help control and maintain body weight.[1]

In other words, when one's body mass exceeds a certain threshold, leptin kicks in to suppress appetite, inhibit the intake of food and increase energy consumption. Once body mass is normalized, inhibition of food intake is removed.

Ghrelin is another hormone, found in the bottom of the stomach, which in normal circumstances, increases before a meal and decreases after a meal. This hormone helps to stimulate food intake, regulate energy usage and insulin levels and is complementary to leptin. With obesity, ghrelin is stimulated by metabolic needs but induced by reward which can lead to weight gain.[1]

When obesity is a factor, leptin is found in high levels in the blood but signaling to the brain for the transport of hormones is less responsive across the blood-brain barrier and signaling is faced with resistance. That is, the communication between the hormone and the hypothalamus in the brain does not function as it should.[1] 

Essential Oils and a Healthy Body

What's so spectacular about essential oils for appetite, focusing on inhalation of the compounds, is that they have been found to reduce “the metabolic effects that lead to obesity through the activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and the release of hormones such as leptin and insulin.”[1]

”The volatile compounds present in EOs interact with specific olfactory receptors, stimulating the central nervous system (CNS) to regulate energy metabolism, regulating the balance between lipolysis [breakdown of fats] and lipogenesis [formation of fat], through the regulation of appetite.”[1]

What essential oils help you lose weight and what essential oils speed up metabolism?

When it comes to weigh loss, Edens Garden has formulated a powerful blend called Conquer Cravings which contains several key oils to support healthy metabolism and reduce food cravings.[8] A blend of Balm Mint Bush, Lime, Ginger, Spearmint and Lemon, Conquer Cravings gives an edge that symbiotically supports a healthy metabolism, boosts energy and helps fight food cravings. 

A deeper look at each oil reveals many interesting findings. Starting with Ginger, which traditionally is a “natural remedy for the treatment of various gastrointestinal diseases (such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) and for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases including arthritis, rheumatism, and muscle discomfort.”[1] Recent studies also confirm that Ginger essential oil contains properties that benefit the improvement of metabolic disorders.[5,9]

Spearmint, a relative of Peppermint essential oil, is a mint family oil that is high in the constituent carvone - around 67% as well as a considerable amount of limonene. “This molecule has demonstrated an anti-diabetic effect, through its role in the prevention of obesity and metabolic problems associated with high-fat diets, achieved by improving glycoprotein component abnormalities and controlling glucose metabolism.”[6] 

As an anti-diabetic, carvone actively breaks down glucose and other complex molecules, releasing energy, increasing insulin secretion, and decreasing blood glucose levels, thereby helping to manage obesity. Additionally, limonene has the added effect of stabilizing mood and depressive tendencies.

What essential oil helps with hunger and what scent reduces appetite?

Besides garnering willpower to stave off any addictive craving and temptations of sugar, essential oils in Conquer Cravings blend demonstrate an ability to put off temptations by chemical messengers and hormone activation.

There are a plethora of studies on citrus essential oils which include Grapefruit essential oil. Grapefruit oil contains 94% d-limonene, of which all citrus oils have varying quantities. Studies have noted that limonene “affects autonomic nerves, enhances lipolysis [the breakdown of fats] through a histaminergic response [modulation of histamine in the body] and reduces appetite and body weight.”[3] 

Both Lime and Lemon essential oil, which also contain a large quantity of limonene (approximately 68% and 50% respectively) will therefore by association have these same dietary modifications on appetite. Furthermore, a promising study has shown that “supplementation with Lemon oil … may prevent or improve obesity and insulin resistance by modulating lipid metabolism and preventing metabolic syndrome … caused by an excessively high-fat diet.”[4]

Balm Mint Bush essential oil contains linalool which assists with depression and anxiety and may help with issues of emotional eating. It also contains a-pinene which “weakens acute pancreatitis severity by inhibiting tissue injury, digestive enzyme production, and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.”[11,12]

How often should I use Conquer Cravings essential oil?

When incorporating the metabolic blend Conquer Cravings into your weight loss journey, along with healthy eating habits and exercise, you will find that over time the ability to curb hunger cravings and lose weight will get easier as time passes - especially over the first few weeks. 

It takes about 2 weeks for the withdrawal of sugar cravings to dissipate. For weight management, by avoiding junk food and snacking impulses that cause weight gain combined with increased activity and exercise and eating healthy, your body and mind will be able to work symbiotically to support your weight loss. 

We highly recommend inhaling Conquer Cravings essential oil blend as often as needed. Try carrying the essential oil bottle with you wherever you go. By uncapping it and taking a whiff of the bottle whenever cravings present themselves, and inhaling this blend on demand, you will have a stronger ability to avoid the temptations that distract you the most. 

Our willpower tends to wane as the day goes on so the best time to make sure you have Conquer Cravings on hand is in the afternoons and evenings. 

HOW TO USE

• Uncap Conquer Cravings bottle and inhale the aroma from the bottle cap. 
• Using a reusable essential oil inhaler.
• Diffuse the blend with an essential oil diffuser, such as the Pearl Diffuser.
• Blend into a carrier oil such as Fractionated Coconut oil and wear it as you would perfume.

Note: Edens Garden does not suggest ingesting essential oils unless under the care of a trained aromatherapist. 

SOURCES:

1. The Beneficial Effects of Essential Oils in Anti-Obesity Treatment https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8584325/#B7-ijms-22-11832
2. Metabolic Consequences Of Weight Reduction https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK572145/
3. Olfactory stimulation with scent of grapefruit oil affects autonomic nerves, lipolysis and appetite in rats https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15862904/
4. Lemon Polyphenols Suppress Diet-induced Obesity by Up-Regulation of mRNA Levels of the Enzymes Involved in β-Oxidation in Mouse White Adipose Tissue https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2581754/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8584325/#B7-ijms-22-11832Beneficial Effects of Ginger Zingiber officinale Roscoe on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: A Review https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.13375
6. Health Benefits and Pharmacological Activities of Carvone https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8698960/
7. Selected essential oils and their mechanisms for therapeutic use against public health disorders. An overview https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32623381/
8. Assessment of essential oil as a potential anti-obesity agent: a narrative review https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10412905.2016.1213668
9. Beneficial Effects of Ginger Zingiber officinale Roscoe on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: a review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28505392/
10. Essential Oils for Weight Loss https://irispublishers.com/ojcam/fulltext/essential-oils-for-weight-loss.ID.000615.php 
11. Prostanthera (Lamiaceae) as a ‘Cradle of Incense’: Chemophenetics of Rare Essential Oils from Both New and Forgotten Australian ‘Mint Bush’ Species https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7696040/
12. Balm Mint Bush https://www.earthtokathy.com/balm-mint-bush-prostanthera-melissifolia-research/