Last week Amber Elliott of Elliott's Nutrition fame came into my office with a big bag of their brand of oregano oil. She wanted me to offer the product at my office since, as she put it, “there are so many immune challenges right now, it would be good to make oregano oil available to more people.” I have used oregano oil in the past for treating candida yeast infections in the gut as well as using it in my sinus cleanse product as one of the essential oils for killing fungus infections in the sinus. But as we were talking, she was telling me about a lot of other uses for oregano oil that I was not aware of. So, let's take a dive into the world of oregano oil.

Of course, the most important use for oregano oil is in its natural plant leaf form as a flavoring herb in pizza sauce. Without oregano in the red sauce, you just end up with a bland tomato sauce. Combining this with lots of garlic pumps up pizza's medicinal benefits. Just saying, pizza is clearly a healthy food. (Just kidding! For some reason, pizza triggers a blood sugar spike worse than eating pure sugar straight! Pizza is diabetes in a box.) 

As Amber was saying, the biggest draw to using oregano oil is for immune support. Oregano contains several phenol compounds, specifically carvacrol, thymol, and rosmarinic acid that give it its power. A few of the older folks may remember way back in the day, phenol was the substance of choice for sterilizing medical equipment. Historically, it was the first antiseptic agent used on people back when germs were still a fresh new idea. It is used to treat ingrown toenails, used in ear procedures, and is the active ingredient in Chloraseptic throat spray. Well, it turns out that plants make their own versions of phenol for much the same purposes — to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. It is interesting to realize that plants have to fight off disease just like we do, and they do it in the same ways — with chemicals.

So what does oregano oil do?

Antiseptic – prevents infections

Antibacterial – kills bacteria

Antiviral – kills viruses

Antifungal – kills fungi

Antiparasitic – kills parasites

Anti yeast – kills yeast (like candida)

Antioxidant – stops cellular oxidation

Anti-inflammatory – reduces inflammation

Antivenom – neutralizes the venom of some spiders, insects, and snakes

Antidiabetic – helps control blood sugar

Anticancer – fights certain cancers

Antispasmodic – stops spasms

Anesthetic – decreases pain

That is a pretty impressive list! How many things do you know that have 14 different beneficial properties for your health? Because of all its many properties, the list of all the body conditions that you can use oregano oil for is pretty long. The trick is to find out how to get it where it is needed without getting burnt. Pure oregano oil is very strong, too strong to be used directly from the bottle on most conditions. For instance, if you are treating a sinus or lung infection, you would just want to inhale oregano oil steam vapors or use 1 drop of oil in a bottle of your normal sinus flush solution.  This same approach can be used with allergies as well. Taken orally, you want to use minimal amounts diluted in other carriers. On the skin, you can use it with less dilution. The usual warnings apply in regards to not using it on pregnant women or babies. This is strong medicine, so respect it.

While looking over several medical websites for the clinical uses for oregano oil, I found quite a list of uses. The first thing always listed is fighting colds and flu by taking a couple of drops in a glass of water every couple of hours. (Traditionally, I have used colloidal silver to do this same thing, but now I can boost that protocol up by adding a drop of oregano oil to my ounce of colloidal silver every hour.) One site I found described using the oil in a similar fashion before meals when traveling to prevent food poisoning. Several sources reported this similar protocol for generally helping any gut issues, like leaky gut, since the oil will kill yeast, fungus, and nasty bacteria that are infesting the gut wall. Apparently, the oregano oil will cross over into the bloodstream as there are many reports of internal use for treating systemic infections, including really tough ones like Lyme disease.

Because of its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, applying a mixture of oregano oil in a base oil, like coconut to dilute it, works well for arthritic joints as well as fighting fungal and viral infections like athletes' foot and warts. Likewise, psoriasis usually has a fungal component to it that can be treated with topical application. In fact, many irritated skin conditions can be treated with a mixture of 15 drops of oregano oil mixed with 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil. It is great for acne to kill the bacteria, but mix a couple of drops of the oil with a little water and dab it onto the acne with a cotton ball. For nail infections or athletes' foot, combine equal amounts of oregano oil with jojoba oil or Neem oil and treat daily. For more sensitive areas, like the lips with a Herpes infection, dilute 4 drops of oregano oil into 1 tablespoon of carrier oil like Neem.

To support your immunity, most sites I found recommended putting 2-3 drops of oregano oil mixed with an equal amount of a carrier oil under your tongue and keep it there for several minutes. This should allow the oil to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream sublingually. Oregano oil stimulates blood flow around the uterus which is why you don't use it with pregnant women. It works well for menstrual cramps as this eases the cramps. A couple of drops in ginger or chamomile tea work wonders as well as rubbing the diluted oil over the painful area. Since dandruff is caused by a fungal or yeast infection in the scalp, mixing a few drops of oregano oil into your shampoo works well. Just ensure you don't get any into your eye — it burns a lot. Alternatively, make a hair oil of 10 drops each of oregano oil and tea tree oil mixed into 1-2 tablespoons of Neem oil.

A couple more fun ones: oregano oil can be used as an insect repellent in many ways. For example, as a mosquito/tick spray use an 8-ounce spray bottle of witch hazel to which you add 10 drops each of oregano oil, citronella oil, and peppermint oil. Shake and spray! Here is another one — you can use a drop of it on your toothbrush, with or without toothpaste, to improve your oral health. It should help clear out that white stuff on your tongue, as that is usually a candida overgrowth. And lastly, you can use oregano oil on your pets, both directly on their fur in diluted form to fight fleas or combined with the rinse water after bathing them.  For rinsing, use 1 teaspoon of oregano oil to a gallon of water — shake well and apply.

After doing all this research, I would have to agree with Amber. We need to have this available in the office for patients. Oregano oil does so many things to support a person's health that it should occupy a prominent place in everyone's medicine chest. So, I guess I will be establishing a tiny Elliott's store shelf in my front desk cabinetry and stock it with oregano oil. 

Take care,

David  

  
Ellen 

Considering the subject of todays article, we decided we needed to find some gluten-free pasta smothered with oregano laced pasta sauce.  We ended up at The Old Spaghetti Factory down at Hazel and highway 50.  It was a lovely location absolutely stuffed with beautiful stained glass everywhere.  They have a very nice gluten free pasta for only $2 extra.  We were there at 2 pm on a Wednesday, which seemed to be the high traffic time of day for the over 70 crowd.  There were walkers everywhere!  Nevertheless we had a lovely meal.