Can Essential Oils Help IBS Symptoms?

How Can Essential Oils Help IBS?

As I have alluded in a previous blog post, one of the suggested natural treatments for IBS symptoms is through the use of essential oils.

In this post, I am aiming to get into more details about which essential oils help IBS sufferers to ease their symptoms.

In doing my research I have found claims (and also some scientific research) that essential oils have demonstrated positive results in managing the symptoms of some health issues.

What is Aromatherapy?

Although the use of essential oils for different purposes can be traced back centuries, the term aromatherapy (or Essential Oil therapy) originated in Europe in the early 1900 and has been in use since then, as treatment for different types of diseases.

Aromatherapy aims to improve an individual psychological and physical well-being, by using extracted aromatic essences from flowers, roots, leaves, fruit etc. and mix them with other substances to create essential oils.

How can essential oils help to improve illnesses and diseases?

The fragrance of oils used in aromatherapy is believed to stimulate the nerves in the nose, these nerves then send signals to the brain. This coupled with the oils’ interaction with different enzymes in the body can result in stimulating changes in the systems inside your body or have a calming effect on your mind.

Some oils are thought to have healing properties and in vitro testing has found that some essential oils have antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Other oils (like peppermint) can be used for various health conditions and can be taken orally.

Aromatherapy is commonly used to help the following conditions:

  • Minor burns on the skin
  • Some infections
  • Stress and Depression
  • Insomnia
  • Blood Pressure
  • Asthma and other respiratory conditions
  • Digestive issues

Are all essential oils natural or are some that are synthetic (artificial)?

Most oils used in aromatherapy are organic and natural, but there are some that are manufactured artificially; these synthetic oils are called ‘fragrance oils’. Fragrance oils are used in various types of body and bath products, they can cause allergic reactions and are not considered to be as effective as their organic counterparts by aromatherapists. So, when you buy essential oils or partake in aromatherapy treatment, make sure that your therapist is using all natural essential oils and not synthetic ones.

What Essential Oils can help IBS sufferers?

These are some of the essential oils that can potentially help IBS symptoms:

Peppermint oil: a wonderful essential oil that helps with digestion issues. This oil is perfect to improve GI cramps and inflammation.

Frankincense oil: helps with inflammation and has shown encouraging results for conditions caused or maintained by inflammation.

Lavender oil: has antibacterial and calming properties and can help to relax and sleep better.

Anise oil: has anti-spasmodic and antiseptic properties. It helps to improve pain, cramps, bloating caused by IBS.

Fennel oil: has a sweet aroma similar to anise. It help to relieve the digestive system from gassiness, acid indigestion, cramps and constipation.

Ginger oil: excellent for soothing and balancing the digestive system. If rubbed on the lower back, it can help to stimulate a sluggish colon (large intestine).

Dr Oz and essential oils benefits

Dr Oz has also dedicated an article on his site about the positive effects of essential oils and with regards to peppermint oil, he says that “it may ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. One of the few essential oils that can be ingested, small doses of peppermint oil can be mixed with water to help relieve indigestion.”

How do you take them or apply them?

There are three basic portals through which essential oils can enter the body: topically, by inhalation and by ingestion.

Be careful because the majority of oils should never be used undiluted on the skin and even more important most of them cannot be safely ingested.

There are different methods of treating IBS with essential oils. Some oils, like peppermint and lavender oil, can be mixed with a carrier oil and applied on top of the abdomen until absorbed, to relieve symptoms like cramping and bloating.

Food grade peppermint essential oil can also be ingested, with a dispersant drink or in enteric coated capsules, to alleviate IBS symptoms.

To relief stress and relax, some essential oils can be inhaled through a diffuser.

The use of most essential oils while pregnant or lactating may not be safe (always consult your health practitioner if not sure).

Is it safe to ingest essential oils?

Although this is not usually recommended by traditional health practitioners, some people have found it effective to ingest small doses of essential oil into their body to improve IBS symptoms.

If you want to ingest essential oils, please seek guidance from a qualified practitioner, as most oils can be toxic if ingested.

A part from consulting a professional, before using and especially ingesting any essential oil, check that the essential oil is certified as GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) by the FDA and also make sure that you don’t have any sensitivity or allergies to that oil; this can be done by rubbing onto the skin a drop of essential oil, that has been mixed with a carrier oil such as sweet almond, coconut, olive or jojoba. If after a few hours nothing has happened (no redness, burning or itchy sensation) than you may be ok.

The most common ingested essential oil is peppermint oil, which can be swallowed in enteric coated capsules. Peppermint essential oil has been found to help both adults and children in treating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Can Essential Oils be added to Food?

There are some essential oils which claim to be suitable for adding and enhancing flavours of your food. Before adding essential oils on your food or drinks it is important to verify that they are food grade.

Oregano, basil, ginger and peppermint oils are often utilised by people to add more flavour to their recipes. You can also add a tiny amount of orange, lavender or peppermint oil in homemade chocolate.

What can you say to those that are sceptical in using essential oils as a cure?

A lot of people can testify that essential oils have helped them to feel better and cured some illnesses, but unfortunately there has been very limited research performed in support of aromatherapy.

This is due to various reasons, including the following:

  • Research and studies are expensive. Drug research is funded by the very rich pharmaceutical industry. This industry cannot profit as much from natural plant substances, therefore no interest in researching it.
  • Different climate and other geographical influences can impact the chemistry of plants and flowers, therefore making it difficult to standardise each essential oil characteristics.
  • Difficulty in creating reliable double-blind testing based on the smell of the essential oils.

Some promising results have been observed in a report published in the Journal BMJ (British Medical Journal). A research was conducted on 400 patients with IBS and it was reported that peppermint oil was more effective than placebo in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Conclusion

The majority of the medical professionals have insufficient evidence to support aromatherapy, as a way of curing illnesses and diseases and most believe that any improvement in relaxation and clarity of mind, may have come from the placebo effect and not from physiological effect.

Personally I think that we have available in nature most things to heal ourselves, saying that I also think that aromatherapy, like other complementary medicine, should not be used as an alternative to traditional medicine, but in a lot of cases it could be used in conjunction. One does not have to exclude the other.

I have successfully been using peppermint essential oil to help me with my IBS symptoms and I also believe that aromatherapy has some positive effects on mental and emotional health, from anxiety relief to sleep aid, which are some factors that can influence IBS symptoms. I often burn on my diffuser some lavender and mandarin oils to help relaxing.

It would be great to see more study and researches done.


Do you have any personal experience to share with using essential oil to help with your IBS symptoms? Please leave comments below and as usual, this is my research and experience, please seek the opinion of your health practitioner, before using essential oils.

As usual, please understand that this is my research and experience and you should always consult your health professional.

Until next time take good care.
xo Larah

*I will earn a small commission if you purchase through my links, if you do I thank you for your kind support.

About Larah

I have been suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome for many years, but it took a longtime to get a diagnosis, since then I have been following a low FODMAP diet, which has changed my life for the better. This is my story and experience with IBS and the low FODMAP diet.

12 comments on “Can Essential Oils Help IBS Symptoms?

  1. doTerra essential oils are worth looking into. incredible history. They are powerful oils so do your research, but I think they are the best. Their process of making them is amazing and natural. I use the peppermint in tea, on my tooth brush, and on my stomach when I didn’t know what was wrong with me and Peppermint oil always helped and lavender
    oil also.

    • Hi Betzzz, I’m glad you have found relief with essential oils. Yes I have heard about the doTerra oil, although I haven’t had the chance of trying them myself yet. Thanks for stopping by. All the best, Larah

  2. Hello! I use a low fodmap diet to manage my IBS. My roommate insisted that I try essential oils for my symptoms yesterday. Unfourtunately part of the digestive mix was fennel, which is high fodmaps. I had excruciating pain and bloating as a result! Hoping to try another blend without high fodmap oils.

    • Hi Katie, sorry to hear about that. Did you massage the oil on your tummy? This is actually very interesting, because fennel seeds have been tested low FODMAP up to 1 teaspoon (Monash University low FODMAP app), but fennel tea has been tested high FODMAP. I have tried peppermint oil and that was good for me as well as peppermint tea. Let me know how it goes.

  3. Hello Lara, I’m at the end of my tether with my IBS and thought I’d try aromatherapy and possibly, acupuncture .I found your post on essential oils very interesting and useful but I’d just like to ask a couple of questions. I. Presumably you add essential oils to the right proportion of a base oil,e.g,almond oil? 2.Do you massage the oil only into the abdominal area or all over one’s body?3.Is it beneficial to mix different essential oils e.g. peppermint and lavender?
    Many thanks and best wishes.

    • Hi Shekath, I haven’t been using essential oil for IBS for a while now, as I can manage the symptoms with the low FODMAP diet, exercise and trying to manage stress, but when I did I used to mainly smell peppermint oil, or massage 3 drops with almond carrier oil on my abdomen clockwise. There are also enteric-coated peppermint capsule that seem to help a lot of people, try and do a research on the best one to take. Is the diet not working for you? Keep in touch to let me know how you go, all the best Larah

  4. I drink 3 drops peppermint oil in a glass of warm water just before bedtime. I find that I don’t wake up with such a dry mouth and foul breath, which I believe is a symptom of IBS in my body

  5. I am a HUGE fan of essential oils. I use them for pain, anxiety, and beyond. I have a list that has many of them with the benefits : http://purityseed.com/essential-oils-benefits/ and it has helped me a lot. I never thought to try them for my IBS. Thank you so much for the information. I am going to try this out!

  6. I didn’t know anything about essential oils and the benefits… learned so many new things from this one post! Need to share this with all my friends who suffer from IBS. Thanks!

    • Hello Heather, thank you for your comment and for sharing with your friend that some essential oil may help their IBS symptoms. All the best. Xx Larah

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