Gary Young : The Nitty Gritty on Essential Oil Purity

The Nitty Gritty on Essential Oil Purity

 

Today, I’ve decided to pull my hair up and get serious about the purity of essential oils. After all, if I’m gonna be rubbing them on my stomach/feet/chest/face (the list goes on and on), sniffing them, and even tasting them—they had better be 100%, no-nonsense pure. Unfortunately, NOT all essential oils are created equal.
Here’s the riff: every essential oil company claims their contents are “pure.” Ugh. So who can you trust?
Personally, I trust certified aromatherapists, dermatologists, massage therapists, oil distillers, naturopathic physicians, and holistic nutritionists. So I researched what these specialists look for when selecting their essential oils. Here’s the collective criteria:
●    Rigorous Testing
●    Unadulterated Oils (Yep--those oil companies shouldn’t be committing adultery either)
●    Plant Potency
●    Published Main Chemical Components
●    Scientific Backing
Cheers to Lots of Testing:
When it comes to testing, essential oil companies differ—a lot. Some brands do all sorts of less-than objective tests (cough, cough) or even certify their oils by merely paying “sniffers.” True story. I’m of the opinion that the more tests involved, the more trustworthy the oil. And that’s one cool thing I found out about the doTERRA brand. They don’t mess around with verifying their oils objectively, and they definitely don’t test just once a year. Each batch (liter) goes through what I like to call the “Accountable Eight” via 3rd party testers: organoleptic testing, microbial testing, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), chirality testing, isotopic analysis and heavy metal testing. Only if an oil passes this intense lineup, is it considered CPTG (Certified Pure Theraputic Grade).
If an oil doesn’t pass every last test, doTERRA rejects the entire batch. And if the oil continues to fail, doTERRA will keep that oil out of stock until it has a batch that passes. Back in 2015, doTERRA did that very thing w/ “Melissa Officinalis” (aka Lemon Balm) and “Roman Chamomile.” Both of these oils are big sellers, so keeping them off the market until they met their standards, well, let’s just say that’s a big trust builder for me.

Young Living also publishes their fairly rigorous testing processes.  But it just doesn’t have the checks and balances to it that I’d like. It’s one of the predominant reasons I felt a bit hesitant to keep using their stuff.

Let’s Talk Science:

I wanted to see if there were any oils/brands that weren’t “poo-poo-ed” by the traditional medicine posse.  So when a nurse told me the hospital she worked at diffused peppermint oil for queasy patients, my interest was piqued!  After a bit more probing, I found that the doTERRA brand is actually used/being studied in a bunch of hospitals across the nation, including the Cleveland Clinic and Vanderbilt Medical Center among others. How’s that for a credibility?

Unadulterated and Undoctored:

What makes an oil truly essential? It shouldn’t be filled w/ additives, fillers or synthetic stuff  and it shouldn’t be grown with any nasty ”cides” (pesticides/herbicides). Plus the harvesting, distilling, transporting, and storing are all critical.

Plant Potency:

Happy plants make good oils. Okay, that sounds silly, but honestly, if a plant is grown in the right soil, climate, and temperature, it reaches it’s highest potency levels. This is why I’m a big fan of how doTERRA grows its plants in their indigenous environment—like lavender from France and frankincense from Somalia (both have grown in those respective locations for hundreds of years).  If an oil company is sourcing from 33 countries instead of just a handful—you know it cares about plant potency.

Shady Sourcing: Why I Can’t Trust Young Living’s Essential Oils

Last week, was a total treat—I was invited to tour the farm that supplies the organic milk and free-range eggs that I buy at my local health store. Let's just say that getting some face-to-face time with the farm’s five new calves, was the highlight of my summer. Anyways, the drive home was filled with an epiphany moment: that brand's ethics matter—really, really matter.

It might sound overly sentimental, but knowing where/how a product is sourced can make a profound difference. Being “source aware” is good for the soul, it’s good for the body, and it’s good for this friendly place we called Earth.

I started thinking about the origins of other products that I use on the daily.  I was feeling pretty good about my Mrs. Meyers cleaning products, Puracy Shampoo, and SSEKO bags (gold, leather, and fair trade—yes, please!)  but what about all my EO's (essential oils)?  Somewhere between pouring drops of Lemon and Eucalyptus oils in my diffuser and sparkling water, I thought "Wait, where is this really coming from?"

So, I dived into some research.  First off, I have to admit (blush) I wasn’t the brand-loyal girl out-there, so my essential oils drawer had a bit of everything—Young Living, doTERRA, and a couple other labels like Aura Cacia and Fabulous Franny.  Anyways, turns out a little digging revealed quite a lot:

The (Seemingly) Good:  Of all the brands I had in my oil entourage, both Young Living and doTERRA seemed to address and publish both their sourcing and ethics the most openly. doTERRA stands by their “Source to You” (a really indepth program that covers all sorts of good policies—from partnering with underdeveloped countries/fair trade to super transparent sourcing) and Young Living had this neat "Seed to Seal" promise. Their website emphasized their oil’s purity came from owning their own farms and controlling what goes into every bottle.

The Sketch: Okay, here’s where the bad news comes in, as I was looking into whole "Seed to Seal" from Young Living, I realized it’s sounds fantastic, but it is a bold-faced lie. Young Living claims to control all their oil sourcing, but when you take time to look at how many farms they own (and compare it to the amount of products they sell) things really, really don’t add up. We're talking about seven farms creating all products every year? Yep—that’s impossible. The more research I did, the worse it got.

On the flip side, when it comes to sourcing,  I give the thumbs up to doTERRA’s oil origins. First off, they are a heck of a lot more realistic. I really appreciated all the material they publish about where each oil comes from—with a map, links, and stories describing the partnership farms all over the world. Plus, I became an ever bigger fan when I read about their Co-Impact Initiative. Three cheers for transparency! You can even find super specific details on doTERRA setting up ethical working practices everywhere from Nepal to Somalia and Madagascar.

And then the Ugly: Jumping back to Young Living, things went from bad to worse when I found this article all about false documentation. This lead me to a chain of examples where third-party testers discovering synthetic substitutes in Young Living’s oils, like Jasmine and Birch. All that info made me more than a bit sad—the whole purpose of essential oils was to embrace Mother Nature’s way of bringing us back in balance. But touting an oil is “all” natural when it’s synthetic is just aggravating. It’s like putting a “12-grain Sprouted Wheat” label on white bread. Not okay.

Anyways, on Saturday, when I went to purchase frankincense oil—it wasn’t a hard choice.  Young Living’s and Doterra’s prices are about the same (in fact doTERRA is slightly less expensive) but I felt a lot better swiping my card for doTERRA because A.) they aren’t hiding their sources B.) their third party testing C.) their actively working to be ethically/socially responsible.  Here's to the investing in the good stuff!

Marketing Anti-Medicine: Young Living’s M.O.

First let me preface: I love my essential oils. Open my purse, my gym bag, my diaper bag—even my ooh-la-la special occasion clutch—and you’re bound to find frankincense, eucalyptus, and lavender oils at the ready (and probably a half dozen more).

I firmly believe that essential oils can empower us moms to help soothe and comfort our littles.

Indeed, if you take a look at the 10,000+ peer-reviewed/evidence-based studies about essential oils (published in scientific journals), it is clear that essential oils—in tandem with modern medicine—can have remarkable results. That’s the key phrase, ladies: “in tandem with modern medicine.”

I have become increasingly alarmed by the anti-medicine culture embraced by many of Young Living’s distributors / users. These well-intentioned users—many of whom are my dear neighbors—have bought into a belief that essential oils can trump the doctor’s office, pharmacy, and even the emergency room. The ripples from this type of thinking can have life threatening consequences!

What’s at the root of this alarming culture? Two words: Gary Young. While I consider many Young Living users my friends, I have no tolerance for the founder and CEO of Young Living. Gary Young is a self-proclaimed “doctor” who has been arrested multiple times for practicing medicine without a license. True story! I could go on for days discussing Young’s frightening past, but below are just a few of the dangerous claims Gary Young has made on essential oil’s “healing” powers:

●     Young has long avowed that he cured his own paralysis with essential oils. However, according to Dr. Eva Briggs, MD, Young has never provided any documentation of either his hospitalization (supposedly he was in an ICU for four months) or his miraculous cure. More suspicious still, a brochure published by Young in 1987 solely attributes his recovery to “Oscillation Frequency Stimulation Infusion” without once mentioning essential oils. Ugh.

●     In his widely-distributed recording, “The Missing Link,” Gary claims that he healed a woman’s lupus in eight days with the blend of oils found in Young Living’s Immupower (pg 29).

●     In the same tape, he argues that the cure for diabetes is simply Coriander (page 11), and compares lavender oil to chemotherapy as a cancer treatment (page 12).

●     He also states that “born deafness” can be restored with Helichrysum oil (page 25).

Disturbingly, Young Living’s own CEO sets the trend for Young Living’s distributors (even with the best of intent) to teach users to rely and expect essential oils to be the sole means to heal life-threatening conditions, burns or illnesses.

To contrast this, I really appreciate doTERRA’s far more balanced approach. For example, in 2013, doTERRA brought a team of six doctors to their yearly conference; their presentation emphasized the importance of use of their oils in conjunction with modern medicine as a synergistic approach to health care. Thanks to Dr. David K. Hill, doTERRA’s Chief Medical Officer, doTERRA is now leading the industry by working hand-in-hand with health-care professionals to equip more specialists and hospitals with essential oils.

To wrap things up, I loved a quote DoTERRA’s statement last July on this very topic, “essential oils are progressively becoming a more vital ingredient in the recipe for optimal health.”  Instead of proudly claiming their oils and the only “ingredient” to healing, doTERRA clearly values the power of both modern medicine and the power of distilled plants working together to make our lives more healthy, whole, and full.

Now that’s a brand I can trust.

Slick as Oil : The Truth about Gary Young

The Founder and former CEO of Young Living Essential Oils has a frankly shocking past. Here are the critical facts to know:

●      Gary Young Claims to have Cured his own Paralysis with Essential Oils

Gary Young has repeatedly claimed that he was left “paralyzed for life” by a logging injury to the head. According to an account on his website, “After three weeks in a coma and four months in intensive care, Gary found himself paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for life, according to the doctors’ prognoses.” It is remarkable considering his extended ICU treatment that no documentation of the critical injury has ever been found or provided. More suspicious still, Gary Young’s story has changed—significantly. Gary Young boasts that he cured himself with fasting and essential oils. But a brochure from 1987 solely attributed his recovery to “Oscillation Frequency Stimulation Infusion” without even mentioning essential oils. Hmm.

●      Gary Young is NOT a Licensed Naturopathic Doctor

Gary Young claims to be a N.D. but his “degree” is merely a piece of paper purchased from Bernadean University—a notorious diploma mill. Gary Young has also claimed that he graduated from the American Institute of Phystoregenerology, but the Institute has reported that he never came close to graduating (he attended only a few classes, completed only a third of the homework, and owed $1,800 in tuition). Ultimately, Gary Young was forced to admit that he never secured a diploma from the institute and that his brochure simply had a “typographical error.” His only legitimate diploma is from Challis High School.

Gary Young has never been licensed to practice naturopathy in Utah or any other location. Shockingly, he has been arrested multiple times in California and Washington for practicing medicine without a license.

●      Gary Young is Responsible for the Death of his own Infant

Although Gary Young lacked any training in medicine, obstetrics, or midwifery, he insisted on delivering his first wife’s baby in a hottub. He left the baby under water for an hour! The otherwise normal and healthy infant drowned. Although the coroner said that the baby would have lived if she had been delivered in a conventional manner, Young was never charged in that case.

His plans for a similar whirlpool delivery the previous year had been thwarted when a health department caseworker threatened to prosecute him. In 1983, an undercover police officer asked Young if he would oversee a water birth for her. He declined, but offered prenatal care and cancer treatment for the woman's mother. Young was then arrested by Washington State police for practicing medicine without a license, for which he was convicted.

●      Gary Young Operated a “Cancer Treatment” Clinic in Tijuana

Gary Young claimed that a three-week stay in his Rosarita Beach Clinic and $6,000 would bring a cancer patient into remission. A cancer cure could be effected for $10,000. A scathing undercover report by the L.A. Times exposed the clinic as a complete fraud. It is also worth noting that one of the clinic “treatments” was laetrile—which can be fatal due to forming cyanide in the body. This practice is strictly illegal.

●      Gary Young was Arrested for Assaulting Multiple Family Members with an Axe

Gary Young was arrested on January 10, 1994, in Spokane, Washington, for assaulting several family members with an axe. It is remarkable that he claims to be an enlightened and spiritual man.