I hope you don’t mind me getting fresh with today’s post title. It’s not quite what you think.
When you were little, did your parents give you eucalyptus and honey lollies at the first hint of a cough or tickle? (Do you still do that now that you’re in charge of such things?) I’m guilty of scraping out more than one fake cough and sore throat complaint as a child for the sake of scoring this little touch of the Australian bush wrapped up in crinkly cello.
Knowing what I do now about the many faces of eucalyptus, no wonder it’s been offered up as a way to soothe these winter annoyances for a long, long time.
Native to Australia, the eucalyptus tree has been used by indigenous folk for centuries (and its leaves are the staple diet of our cutest native animals — the koala). Both bark and leaves were used traditionally to dress wounds and combat parasites.
But it wasn’t until the Paris Exposition of 1867 that the rest of the world was introduced to this humble botanical medicine by Melbourne’s Director of the Botanical Gardens at the time — Baron Ferdinand Muller.
Baron Muller might have been something of an exotic novelty at the Paris Exposition due to his travels from Antipodean shores, espousing the unique properties of eucalyptus, comparing it to Melaleuca cajuputi, an essential oil highly regarded as a disinfectant.
And he quite likely struck a romantic chord if he told the story of a blue vapour shimmering off some types of eucalyptus trees due to the high content of aromatic compounds in their leaves (hence the sometimes nickname ‘blue gums’).
Whatever the reason, following its introduction, eucalyptus quickly gained a reputation for being powerful and versatile. And its ability to dry the soil and cleanse the air of marshy, mosquito-ridden and disease-prone areas earned it the moniker of ‘fever tree’.
After quickly taking root in Sicily and Algeria as a way of combating malaria, eucalyptus trees were to spread across India, Europe, North America and California over the following 50 years — and were there to stay in many areas due to the wood’s high resistance to rotting.
Around 700 species of eucalyptus exist and four are especially highly regarded for their beneficial effects: Eucalyptus globulus, dives, polybractea and radiata. Each has different levels of eucalyptol (also known as 1,8 cineol).
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Eucalyptus radiata is the gentlest and most effective of the eucalyptus oils, being high in eucalyptol and low in irritating aldehydes — so it’s perfectly suited to one of my tricks for soothing tickles and dancing around hovering bugs. I make my own version of eucalyptus and honey lollies — no candy thermometers required! I simply stir 1-2 drops of Young Living Eucalyptus Radiata* into a tablespoon of honey or Young Living Blue Agave. And I dilute 1-2 drops of Eucalyptus radiata in some organic olive/coconut oil or V-6 and rub it onto my throat. And I have an early night with a couple of drops of Eucalyptus radiata on my pillow to inhale while I sleep.
* IMPORTANT CAUTION: Young Living essential oils are the only ones we would ever consider for ingestion. And only those which state on the bottle they can be used that way. Why? Because Young Living sets the standard for purity and authenticity – essential to the safe ingestion of essential oils appropriate for such use. Young Living carefully monitors the production of its oils from beginning to end through its unique Seed to Seal® process, ensuring the purity of each essential oil and protecting nature’s living energy in every bottle.
There’s a lot of ‘blue gum’ ground to be covered, so head over here to explore more of Baron Ferdinand Muller’s territory. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your experiences with essential oils and home remedies for the cold and flu season. Click here to chat on Google + or let me know via the contact page.
