Grapefruit essential oil uses – Who doesn’t like grapefruits? They are delicious and full of nutrients. Grapefruit is also known as Shaddock and possesses two more scientific names which are citrus racemose and citrus maxima. The latter name happened because it is large in size. Furthermore, when converted into essential oils, grapefruits offer whole other advantages.
Grapefruit essential oil is normally used in aromatherapy. The oil is actually extracted from the peel of the grapefruit or citrus paradise and not the flesh or pulp. Similar to other citrus oils, grapefruit essential oil is made through compression as well as contain the same therapeutic properties.
Read below all grapefruit essential oil uses and what you can benefit from it.
Advantages Offered by Grapefruit Essential Oil
Grapefruit essential oil is a powerful detoxification agent for it can help activate the lymphatic system. This oil is composed of alpha-pinene, limonene, sabinene, myrcene, linalool, geraniol, citronellal, decyl acetate, terpineol as well as neryl acetate.
One of the most popular grapefruit essential oil uses is to clear toxins, burn fat as well as remove excess fluids. By benefiting from grapefruit essential oil, you will be able to improve your immune system because it is rich in antioxidants and rich in Vitamin C.
If you want something natural to help fight against free radicals and harmful oxidants or toxins then you should be considering using this oil. Grapefruit oil contains helpful properties that can work as disinfectant, diuretic, stimulant, antidepressant, aperitif, antiseptic, lymphatic as well as toxic substances. More grapefruit essential oil uses include:
Aromatherapy oil
Grapefruit essential oil can actually curb hangovers, mental fatigue, headaches and even depression when inhaled.
That is because this oil gives a relaxing as well as an uplifting effect on the mind which eventually induces positive feelings of hope and brings you to an anxiety-free state.
The source of this wonderful effect actually comes from its aroma.
Ingredient in hair care and skin products
Grapefruit essential oil uses for skin include prevention of oily skin and acne treatment. When grapefruit essential oil is added as an additional ingredient in lotions and creams, they are proven effective to get rid of pimples and oily skin.
Furthermore, cellulite can also be reduced with the help of this oil. When it comes to hair, you can also benefit from grapefruit essential oil to get rid of oily hair.
Appetite-suppressant
Need to suppress your appetite? Seek help from grapefruit essential oil! A little tip: you can increase the effects by mixing the oil with patchouli essential oil.
You do not have to use this oil before every meal though because just by relying on a regular dose your appetite will already decrease.
Natural air freshener and deodorizer
Grapefruit essential oil has a fragrance that is similar to that of citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges. You can use this as a natural air freshener and make your room free of unpleasant smells in bathrooms and kitchens.
Massage oil
Most essential oils are widely used as a massage oil and grapefruit oil is no exception. When you are using grapefruit oil in massage you will be rewarded with muscle relief as well as joint pain relief. Menstrual cramps, as well as headaches, can be beaten.
Increases urination
Grapefruit essential oil contains diuretic properties which help your body light as well as free from toxins by increasing urine volume and frequency.
This oil is beneficial in aiding the removal of excess water, sodium, fats, uric acid, and many other toxins from your body.
Your blood pressure will eventually reduce and thus result in a healthy heart. Frequent urination is actually important for it can help you keep any infections at bay by cleaning the kidneys free of every uric and calcareous deposit and providing protection against infections or renal calculi.
Remove harmful toxins
Grapefruit essential oil can act as a lymphatic substance which is really beneficial for the lymphatic system in our body plays a really important role in removing unwanted toxic substances.
In other words, grapefruit essential oil can help in detoxifying your body.
By using grapefruit essential oil, the health of your lymphatic system is ensured and its activity is improved. Your body will ultimately be free of harmful toxins and problems like blood urea, renal calculi, cellulite, rheumatism, gout, and arthritis.
Act as a tonic
Generally speaking, a tonic functions to tone up organ systems. An example of this is hair tonic which tones hair follicles and helps keep your hair strong and healthy.
The health tonic inside your body is responsible to tone up every single organ system that operates in the body like circulatory, digestive, nervous, excretory and metabolic systems.
This essential oil allows for an increase in overall body strength and health.
The list of grapefruit essential oil uses goes on. This oil is really effective to provide your body protection against a variety of oxidants and toxins which can cause degeneration of tissues, premature aging, loss of vision or hearing, macular degeneration, physical and mental sluggishness or nervous disorder.
Grapefruit essential oil can also be used as a natural home remedy to fight off infections. This oil contains antimicrobial as well as antiviral properties which makes it a great disinfectant.
A study shows that this essential oil provides protection against strains of bad bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus, enterococcus faecalis, salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus Vulgaris, as well as serratia marcescens.
The microbial properties in this oil can help eradicate microbes that reside in your kidneys, gut as well as excretory system.
Not only is this oil great to keep new infections at bay but also gets rid of current infections nestling in your body. Grapefruit essential oil is especially powerful to treat infections of the stomach, colon, urinary system, intestines, kidneys, and excretory system.
You can benefit from this oil as well if you have ocular and oral infections or any type of skin infection.
Another mind-blowing benefit that this essential oil offers is that it can inhibit microbial infections. This oil contains antiseptic properties which make it perfect to be used on wounds, cuts, acne, or bruises in order to protect them from microbial infections.
Moreover, because this oil can work as an antiseptic, it can protect you from tetanus. Using grapefruit oil can have the potential to increase hormone secretion. Grapefruit essential oil provides stimulating effects on the mind and the body.
When the brain is stimulated, it can be more active and result in a new direction to thoughts. The endocrine glands will be stimulated as well and ultimately promotes proper secretion of enzymes and hormones, thus improving metabolism.
The nervous system will also be stimulated and causes you to be more alert and active. Your digestive system will also benefit from grapefruit essential oil for it can stimulate the secretion of bile and gastric juice in your tummy.
Now that you have found out all of these grapefruit essential oil uses, you will most likely get one for yourself. Just a heads-up, this oil can cause irritation in your skin if you are exposed to sunlight right after application.
Thankfully, there are no other risks of using or consuming essential oil. However, women should probably avoid using this during pregnancy.
A little tip, grapefruit essential oil can blend well with Frankincense, Bergamot, geranium, Palma Rosa, and Lavender essential oil. You can extract this oil by cold-pressing. This method will preserve the useful compounds of the oil and will produce a clear, yellowish orange-colored oil that has the scent of freshly peeled fruit.
Another alternative to extracting grapefruit oil is through steam distillation. However, this can mess with the quality of the oil produced. You can also try solvent extraction.
This method might contaminate the oil with chemicals and could cause harm to your skin.
Note that grapefruit essential oil is really sensitive to heat as well as antioxidants because it has limonene content. Remember to always store it in a tightly sealed container and keep it in a cool and dark place. Keep it away from heat and direct sunlight. If you want to make your own homemade infusion, you can read the easy steps below.
You need:
- Grapefruits with a thick rind
- Spoon
- Carrier, olive and almond oil
- Kitchen grater
- Cheesecloth
- Dark glasses container
- Small crockpot
How to make a homemade infusion:
- Wash the grapefruit and then peel using the spoon. Scrape the white pith from inside the rind and then remove the pith. You can use a kitchen grater to do this because it can make rind removal easier.
- Spread out the rind on a plate and leave it in a warm room for several days. Note that it has to be completely dry so the oil will produce little moisture.
- Put the rind in the crockpot and then add carrier oil on the top level of the rind. Remember not to add too much for it can mess with the oil quality. Then, turn the crockpot on low and cover it. Wait for 8 hours.
- Move the mixture into a bowl lined with five layers of cheesecloth. Then, squeeze the oil into the bowl.
- Store the newly produced oil in a dark-colored container and tightly seal it.
There is no reason as to why you shouldn’t benefit from all of these grapefruit essential oil uses for they can promote overall health and improve your immune system.