After all the big feasts during Chinese New Year, it’s now time to lose weight and we need all the help we can get.
Aromatherapy – the art of using essential oils – can play a role in helping stimulate certain areas of the brain while playing a restorative role.
How it works
Studies from the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Institute of Chicago discovered that inhaling scents such as rosemary, peppermint, grapefruit and orange “regularly throughout the day, especially when hungry can suppress the desire to taste and therefore eat,” and that by inhaling an aroma deeply 3-6 times in each nostril, “the desire to eat is inhibited.”
The same research suggested to keep switching the essential oils inhaled daily so you do not get used to them.
The following are some essential oils for weight loss. You can choose to inhale them or diffuse them.
- Grapefruit Essential Oil
Extracted from the fresh peel or rind, grapefruit essential oil is an excellent appetite suppressant, detoxifier, fat dissolver and helps prevent bloating and water retention in the body.
The rind, from where the oil is extracted, contains high concentrations of nootkatone, a component which activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). AMPK stimulates the body to use up sugar and reduces the accumulation of fat which leads to increased weight loss. Bottom line: Grapefruit oil activates AMPK and increased AMPK = more fat burned.
- Cinnamon Essential Oil
Cinnamon oil has shown excellent potential in regulating blood glucose levels and the glucose tolerance factor (GTF) in the body. That’s important because unbalanced blood sugar levels can lead to over-eating, reduced energy levels, sugar cravings, irritability and weight gain.
Cinnamon leaf oil also contains eugenol, a component that can alter our neurosensory perceptions and change how we taste and smell food. This helps prevent cravings and curb over-eating.
- Ginger Essential Oil
Ginger is an excellent anti-inflammatory. This is important for weight loss because reduced inflammation leads to better absorption and digestion of nutrients.
Ginger contains a compound called gingerols which decrease inflammation in the intestines, improving overall absorption of vital nutrients and potentially preventing diseases. If you’re trying to lose weight, ginger oil will help you absorb the vitamins and minerals you need to boost cellular function and energy and support your weight loss goals.
Ginger is also an excellent cortisol suppressant. High cortisol levels due to a stressful lifestyle and hormonal imbalances can spike blood cortisol levels, throwing the body’s natural metabolism out of whack – reasons that cause fat, including belly fat to pile on.
- Peppermint Essential Oil
The cooling medicinal compound in peppermint oil, menthol, is excellent for improving digestion, expelling gas from the stomach and intestines and calming an upset stomach. Menthol can influence neurosensory perceptions to change how we taste and smell food, preventing cravings for sugary foods, other food cravings and curbing overeating.
- Lemon Essential Oil
Extracted from the lemon rind and containing the medicinal compound limonene, lemon oil is a natural fat dissolver. Lemon oil also helps to detoxify and eliminate toxins in the body that can get stored in the fat cells, prevent parasites in the intestines, and improve overall digestion.
- Bergamot Essential Oil
A recent 2015 study concluded that just inhaling bergamot oil for 15 minutes can boost your mood and reduce cortisol (a stress hormone), that negatively affects fat loss.
Bergamot naturally contains polyphenols (the same compound found in green tea) and it can help the body to naturally melt fat and sugar. The sweet citrus scent of bergamot oil helps to uplift, create relaxation and can suppress cravings and curb emotional eating.
- Sandalwood Essential Oil
Sandalwood essential oil can help suppress feelings of negativity and bring a sense of calm. It has a wonderful woody scent, and has a natural therapeutic effect on the limbic system of the brain (the area of the brain that controls primal emotions like pleasure and anger and drives power, hunger and more). By balancing your emotions, you’ll stop turning to food to feel good, and better help support your weight loss goals.
- Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender essential oil can potentially help calm stress and anxiety and suppress the triggers that cause emotional eating. Lavender can also lower cortisol levels, the stress hormone that makes your body hold on to excess fat, making it harder for you to lose weight.
- Fennel Essential Oil
Fennel oil is excellent for improving digestion, suppressing the appetite and regulating sleep cycles.
Fennel contains melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating circadian rhythms and triggering the brain’s wake and sleep cycles. A 2011 study showed how melatonin can positively affect weight loss by enabling the body to create fat that can be burned, rather than fat that is stored.
- Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Eucalyptus oil helps alleviate stress and anxiety which are directly connected to overeating and weight gain. When you feel stressed, the strong aroma of eucalyptus oil can instantly help relax and invigorate so you aren’t tempted to run to food for instant fulfillment.
- Frankincense Essential Oil
Frankincense oil can facilitate digestion by speeding up the rate at which bile and gastric juices are secreted which positively affects the metabolic rate and helps weight loss. It can also stimulate peristaltic motion which helps food move properly through the intestines, improving overall digestion.
- Jasmine Essential Oil
Jasmine oil has been used for centuries to remedy anxiety, low sex drive, insomnia and depression and research proves that jasmine can help to relieve depression and uplift the mood.
- Orange Essential Oil
Orange oil can help to curb the appetite and prevent overeating. It also has antioxidant benefits. The sharp citrusy scent is also a powerful mood enhancer and can help those suffering from depression.
- Rosemary Essential Oil
According to a 2007 study conducted in Japan, rosemary oil has the ability to decrease cortisol (the stress hormone) levels in saliva. High cortisol levels lead to high stress levels, which can lead to emotional eating and weight gain. Keeping your cortisol levels low is key to reducing your stress levels which will lead to less emotional eating and keep your weight in control.