Judging the quality, how do you do? Some people judge quality by looking at the overall package. They consider price, availability, ease of use, etc. Other people judge quality by how well it does a job. Other people care about ethics and use it as a mark of quality.
The point we are trying to make is that to different people quality means different things. This brings us to our point of contention.
Since we teach aromatherapy, we are of course interested in the debate about its use. A common question we come across is; Are organic essential oils better or worse than non-organic oils?
We could look at this question in a variety of ways, but we want to focus on effectiveness in answering today’s question.
So our question isn’t about price, ethics, or availability, but about how well it does its job.
What is an organic essential oil?
Before discussing the effectiveness of organic essential oils over non-organic oils, we must first define what it is.
If an essential oil is organic, it is because it follows some rules that decide what an organic product is. As with food, these rules are regulated by a government body.
As with food, the place of production is certified organic rather than the product itself and then the products they produce are certified organic from that point on. Quite simply, if the producer is not certified organic, then the product is not.
Regulations will differ from country to country, but effectively an organic essential oil will be produced without the use of chemicals.
Are organic essential oils better than non-organic?
Now that we know exactly what organic oils are, now it’s time to judge if they are better than the non-organic counterpart. Remembering what we are judging quality, effectiveness, the answer simply has to be no.
It will have no effect on the efficacy of the oil whether it is organic or not. In many cases, it can work less efficiently if it is produced inefficiently.
What really makes it more effective is the process. Many factors come into play, but the most important are the seeds that are used to start the plants, how they are grown and maintained, and how they are harvested and distilled.
Other benefits of organic essential oils
Despite their lack of an edge in the effectiveness department, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t a better option for many people. As we mentioned before, for many people, the ethics of a product is very important. You may like organic culture; you can feel cleaner knowing there are no pesticides in your essential oils. You can feel happy knowing that you are supporting a certain business and that you know who you are supporting along the production chain.
These factors are important to many people when judging quality. However, in our opinion, when it comes to effectiveness, organic essential oils are no better than non-organic oils.
