Monday 19 June 2017

The day Young Living broke my heart

If you, like me, fell in love with Young Living for its holistic care and positive impact—I’m afraid you’re about to be blindsided by some uncomfortable documentation on Gary Young. I had the same experience last week while Googling Young Living’s founder and CEO. Yes, the truth was difficult to swallow, but it’s also empowering for us moms determined to find the most trustworthy products for our families.

Gary Young—in an attempt to add some legitimacy to his marketing materials—has blatantly exploited multiple cultures for his own gain. Recently, an online “truth-crusade” led by Native Americans and Somalis have exposed his unconscionable treatment of vulnerable populations.

For example, Gary Young has long published claims regarding a close mentorship with one of the Lakota Nation’s most prominent medicine men. Recently, however, a representative for the Lakota tribe, has devoted significant time and effort to publish the truth. Below are the nitty gritty details:

Gary Young claimed that he developed his controversial essential oil “Raindrop Therapy” in the 1980s after working with the Lakota Tribe’s influential Wallace Black Elk. However, according to a tribe representative, Raindrop Therapy had never been part of the Lakota’s healing process. The tribe’s representative further responded to Young’s marketing by emphasizing that Gary Young “never ‘worked with’ nor was he ever taught, endorsed, or recognized by Grandfather [Wallace Black Elk]. He has stained our beautiful Grandfather’s name and it has to stop...to to claim to have been directly taught or instructed by Grandfather is simply an untruth.” The representative was most sickened by Gary Young’s insistence that he was involved in Wallace Black Elk’s sacred work.

As if this charade weren’t alarming enough, Gary Young has also taken advantage of impoverished Somali natives.In 2014, a Somali leader Sultan Yusuf Salah, struggled to redress false marketing/newsletter materials promoting his “relationship” with Gary Young. Sultan has sent multiple emails to Young Living asking them to remove his name from Gary Young’s “propaganda.”

In fact, Yusuf describes how Gary Young misrepresented himself as a “philanthropist and doctor,” showed up unannounced in his country, and obtained nine days of unpaid tribal service all while promising to pay for schools and hospital. However, two years later, Gary Young has yet to make good on his word. It turns out the trip was merely for publicity’s sake. In order to justify the hefty cost of frankincense oil, Greg Young spent a large part of the trip gathering photos for a four part-series for the Young Living newsletter about the process of collecting the oil in a foreign company. In the series, Gary Young portrays Sultan Yusuf as his friend and protector. But the Sultan says such depictions could not be further from the truth.

When Sultan Yusuf, discovered the depraved publicity being used in the Young Living newsletter he contacted both Gary and his company urging them to be honest about their real experience in Somalia. Young Living responded by claiming “defamation” and encouraging YouTube to remove a video that Yusuf posted clarifying the real events of Gary Young’s trip.

Ultimately, Gary Young’s glib willingness to exploit vulnerable populations is appalling. Ugh, need I say more?



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Why I Will NEVER Use Young Living Essential Oils

Some of you may be shocked or offended but the title of this post (and it's gonna be a LONG one) but there is so much mis-information out there and I am hell-bent on educating the public about safe use of essential oils, so this post has been a long time coming. What has put me over the edge was reading a blog post from a YL rep about natural eye drops using essential oils.  Please read this! I have years of training and experience with using essential oils safely and what I know is scientific. I get none of my information from a multi-level marketing company that only cares about making money from the gullible. Many of the reps for Young Living (and Do Terra) are like brainwashed cult members who receive all of their "training" from the company.

The oils are drastically overpriced. Yes, good essential oils are going to cost more money but in this case you are NOT paying for better quality. You are paying for layer upon layer of commissions for the reps and recruits.

They claim to be the only company with pure therapeutic quality essential oil, therefore making them safe to be used undiluted on the skin. I'm not even sure where to start with this BS! First of all, there are LOTS of companies who sell pure, high quality essential oils and even have them tested to prove it.  Second, there is no such thing as "therapeutic grade".Who is grading them? There is no certifying body for essential oil quality. As far as using oils undiluted, or "neat" on the skin-well, that depends on the oil. Very few can be safely used this way (lavender, tea tree, rosalina, MQV and not much else). Their claims with this are all over the place. They say if you experience burning with anybody else'soils it's a sign that they are contaminated. If you experience burning with their oils it's a sign your body is detoxing. Well, how convenient. Sorry to burst your bubble but if an essential oil burns your skin it's because of the chemistry of the oil. If you put straight cinnamon or oregano oil on your skin itWILL BURN.  I say if it doesn't THAT is a sign it isn't pure, no matter whose oil it is!

Young Living claims that their steam distilled Frankincense contains boswellic acid. No it doesn't.That molecule is far too heavy to be carried over in a steam distillation. If you bother to do any honest research on essential oil chemistry you will find out that diterpenes are the absolute heaviest molecule that can be carried over in steam and even at that not many oils contain diterpenes.

Young Living promotes dangerous practices. He recommends all of his oils and blends for internal use.  I am NOT opposed to internal use of essential oils but, here, you need to understand the chemistry and what you are ingesting. Some of his blends contain Tansy oil. Which one? The safe annual kind (AKA Blue Tansy) or the very toxic perennial? I can't emphasize enough that a substance isn't safe just because it's natural. Petroleum is natural-would you drink oil? Poison Ivy is natural-would you roll naked in it? Would you let your child eat all the pokeberries they want or let your dog chew on the Christmas poinsettias?

We live in the age of the internet and we have more information available to us than ever before in the history of our species. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are too lazy to find information for themselves. I absolutely believe in the power of aromatherapy but I also understand it has its limits. It is NOT a magic bullet for all of your problems. And you certainly MUST learn how to use them SAFELY and with RESPECT. You shouldn't put straight orange oil on your wood furniture and you sure as HELL shouldn't put rosemary oil IN YOUR EYES!

Here are some important links I want everyone to look at.






The FB page for Essential Oil University is run by Dr. Robert Pappas who has an actual PhD in chemistry. Not a mail-order degree, and actual degree and he is an actual college professor and works as a chemist in real life. He tests essential oils for various companies, including Young Living. He is currently testing samples of frankincense to prove the boswellic acid thing.

In short, I won't use Young Living oils because they are MASSIVELY overpriced, and no matter how good they are, I will not put one penny in the pocket of a man who I consider to be unethical and dangerous.

Friday 16 June 2017

Essential Oils Scam: NOT a Medical Treatment

Social media has been exploding over the last year with claims that essential oils have cured all sorts of diseases and illnesses. Obviously, this is a total scam. Even worse, essential oils are being pushed through multi-level marketing (also a scam) with companies such as doTERRA and Young Living.

What is the real story about essential oils and multi-level marketing? As our friend Lazy Man has said: No, Your MLM Health Product Doesn’t “Work.” (This most definitely includes Medifast, Herbalife, Xyngular, Isagenix, Usana, and any other MLM with a “health product.”) 

Essential oils are the oil of particular plants, and can come from the flowers, leaves, roots, bark, or peels of plants. They are called “essential” because they contain the “essence of” the plant’s fragrance, but not because they are essential for any health needs. Essential oils have been used for years in aromatherapy, household cleaning products, and some personal care products.  They smell good, which can be relaxing and can also enhance different cleaning processes. They may also help moisturize skin, assist in the treatment of conditions such as acne, and enhance the appearance of skin.

The controversy about essential oils relates to their supposed medicinal properties. Some claim they have antioxidants, antrimicrobials, and anti-inflammatories. I don’t doubt that essential oils may have some of these properties on a small scale. But essential oils most certainly do not heal broken bones. While the oils can help with minor burns, they definitely do not heal serious burns. They don’t cure autism, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, or any other potentially serious illnesses. Some of the advice being offered by pretend doctors and pretend scientists can be downright dangerous. (And essential oils shouldn’t be ingested EVER or used without diluting them first.)
Harriet Hall, MD, who we have quoted here before, takes doTerra to task for its unsupported claims about essential oils:

They say modern science is validating “the numerous health and wellness benefits of essential oils” but they don’t identify those benefits or offer any evidence. No clinical studies are cited, and there is no research section on their website.

The published evidence is sparse to nonexistent. There are clinical studies to support a few of the recommended uses, but they are generally poorly designed, uncontrolled, and unconvincing. Research is difficult, because patients can’t be blinded to the odors, and mental associations and relaxation could account for most of the observed effects.
And Dr. Hall points us to some really interesting information about D. Gary Young, the founder of Young Living. Be careful who you trust. Dr. Hall writes:
I first heard of essential oils years ago in connection with Gary Young, described on Quackwatch as “an uneducated huckster with a track record of arrests for health fraud.” Gary Young and his Essential Oils are still in business despite the devastating critique that has long been featured on Quackwatch. The record of misdeeds there makes for painful reading. Among other things, he practiced medicine without a license, was arrested repeatedly, did bogus lab tests, and contributed to the death of his own child by performing an underwater delivery and holding the newborn infant underwater for an hour. His judgment about medical matters is obviously not very trustworthy.

I did some very brief research on these claims, and found additional information on Mr. Young in this article and this article, both by Eva Briggs, MD.

Roy Benaroch, MD (yes, an actual doctor!) writes about essential oils:

Is there any reason to think there are broad health benefits from essential oils, as a group? Many of them smell good, and I imagine that used in a sort of aroma therapy they might be relaxing to people who like the smell of lemon, cedarwood, patchouli, or hyssop. But statements referring to essential oils collectively as having near-magical health benefits are just plain silly.

Some essential oils probably do offer health benefits, but many can be harmful if used incorrectly; and since selling these is intertwined with questionable business practices, it’s unlikely that Kayla is going to get reliable or balanced health information from local distributors. Don’t waste your money or endanger your health—stay away from the multilevel marketing of essential oils.

In order to make the products look legitimate (or look like they’re superior to other products out there), MLM companies are prone to lying, exaggeration, and misleading. One such example is doTERRA’s claim that their products are Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade. What does CPTG mean? Absolutely nothing. It’s a phrase that doTERRA made up and got a trademark on. In essence, doTERRA is saying “our essential oils are high quality because we say they are.”

It is common for the representatives of multi-level marketing companies to make all sorts of false claims about the healing properties of their products. These essential oil companies are no different, and the Food and Drug Administration has taken notice. Young Living received a warning letter from the FDA last year, telling the company that representatives are not permitted to make drug claims about the products.  doTERRA also received a warning letter from the FDA last year, pointing out that the essential oils “…are not generally recognized as safe and effective for use under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in their labeling.”

Both product lines were falsely pushed to cure or prevent ebola:

The website www.theoilessentials.com reportedly wrote “[T]he Ebola virus cannot survive in the presence of a therapeutic grade Cinnamon Bark and Oregano essential oil.” 
The website www.essentialsurvival.org wrote “Thieves [a proprietary Young Living blend] oil can be . . . applied topically on the skin to help the body fight off infection . . . If Ebola was going around in my area . . . I would apply it to my feet and armpits 2x/day or more and take it in capsules at least 2x/day for preventive purposes,” and “If I were exposed to Ebola or had reason to believe I could be sick with it, I would use some of these oils every 10 minutes for a few hours, then cut back to every hour for the rest of the first day. Then I would use them every 2 waking hours of the day for at least a week, or longer if it was known I was sick.”

A doTerra distributor wrote “Many Essential Oils are highly Anti-viral. I list here a few of them those (sic) oils that could help prevent your contracting the Ebola virus . . ..” on a Twitter account credited to “MrsSkinnyMedic.”

There were also claims that doTERRA and Young Living essential oils cured all sorts of other illnesses, such as “…Parkinson’s disease, autism, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, insomnia, heart disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dementia, and multiple sclerosis,” according to the FDA letter.

Here’s the bottom line: Essential oils do not cure illnesses or medical conditions. They possibly make people feel better, and may have a minimal effect on very minor skin conditions. But that’s it. Essential oils won’t heal your cancer, broken bones, migraines, dimentia, fybromyalgia, autism or anything else. And if used incorrectly, essential oils can be dangerous.

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Thursday 15 June 2017

Young Living Farms Wacky Somalian Adventures

Sultan Yusuf Ahmed Salah of Somalia recently posted a YouTube video in which he claims that Young Essential Oils Founder Gary Young visited Somalia to test resins from their rare frankincense trees and write about his journey. According to Salah, Young promised to provide donations to establish health clinics and money to train teachers.

Young Living Farms legal department then contacted YouTube to request the video be removed because it contained copyrighted materials and false information to defame Young’s character. YouTube then removed the video. After the video was removed Utah Stories was contacted by two independent essential oils specialists telling us that Young Living Farms is trying to silence the truth of what Gary Young did when he visited Somalia.

Was Sultan Yusuf Ahmed Salah indeed mislead and lied to by Gary Young? Or is Salah himself an extortionist, as Young Living Farms claims?

Con Artist of Healer? D Gary Young – Founder of Young Essential Oils

Salah says that Young claimed to be a medical doctor and philanthropist, and that he wanted to donate money to help them build clinics and train teachers. According to Salah, the money was never sent, but instead Salah’s photos were used in highly fictionalized account of the events which occurred in Young Living Farms newsletter called Essential Edge to promote Young’s successful very dangerous frankincense collection trip to Somalia.

The photos, used in a four-part series on Young’s Somalia trip, depict Salah as a friend and protector of Young. Young writes in his newsletter that Sultan Yusuf Ahmed Salah showed up to the airport to ensure his safety. According to Salah, Young came to his village without proper notice began asking for photos and misleading him and his people with promises. Salah said he was most offended by how Gary Young used his men to pose for photos demonstrating the “danger” of his journey by posing with their guns.

Certainly this story has a great deal more detail than what we are able to present. Later in the day,Young Essential Oils Marketing and Legal Team spoke to Utah Stories off the record.

Utah Stories was scheduled to meet with Young Living PR and legal team at their Lehi headquarters yesterday morning, but they cancelled the meeting because we were unable to provide all questions beforehand. Utah Stories requested prior to the meeting electronic copies of the newsletters which have Young’s account of the story, before we attempted to provide detailed questions. They have not provided the materials.

We are simply seeking Young’s side of the story. Young has a history of a the very least stretching the truth. Young has consistently made claims that his oils can cure illnesses and diseases they are unproven to cure including infertility. Young has been convicted of practicing medicine without a license.

Still Utah Stories supports the essential oils Young Living promotes for helping with stress relief , anxiety and muscle pain. The Utah-based Young Living Farms is a world-wide businesses with seven farms. They employ 1,000 people. But the facts of Young Living Farms success do not forgive lies or misleading practices.

Utah Stories was able to find Young Livings Essential Edge stories online and have provided Young Living Farms our questions. But they have not responded to our e-mails except to make the following statement:

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Sunday 11 June 2017

YLEO - What happens in Oman stays in Oman


Very few individuals are willing to pay the price, since it is easier to copy other people's information, claim someone else's stories as their own, or just make it up when they simply dont know what they're talking about. (Gary Young)

Feels like he's looking into his own mirror... Isn't this what Gary Young has been doing all along? Copying Tisserand, Lafabvre, Penoel, etc... alleging that he has studied with some or all of them...which is not true. Marcel Lafabvre himself said that Mr. Young took one class that he never completed. By the end of the first day, he was boasting around like an "expert". Needless to say he looked ridiculous to all who attended that class/seminar.

Mr. Young continues to add lies to falsehoods, to bogus medical claims, while showing very little respect for the cultures he is exposed to...obviously leaving his ominous footprints wherever he goes, like a bulldog coming home with paws full of mud... In the end, reputation is everything, and Mr, Young despite his financial success is really not taken seriously by anyone involved in true Aromatherapy.

Another lie...and a serious one: https://www.facebook.com/dgaryyoung

Here Gary is shown posing with his Business permit from the Ministry of Agriculture-Dhofar (Oman).

Moreover, Young Living is proud of the singular opportunity we have to be the first commercial frankincense distiller in Oman in hundreds of years" (Gary Young)

The date of his Business Permit is dated May 30, 2013. I KNOW FOR A FACT that there is a distiller in Salalah who has a Business Permit dated JULY 25, 2011. This means that this company has been distilling in Oman for at least two years prior to Gary Young. AND GARY YOUNG KNOWS THIS. He knows but lies about it. I have seen the permit. I believe at this point that Young is suffering from multiple psychosis, one of them being that he thinks that he is "the only one who", "the first one who". He forgets too easily that in this industry people travel far to search for their oils... and sometimes bump into each other... it's a small world after all... and Salalah is a small town.

And once again Gary Young has been caught in a big fat lie as he keeps talking out of his "derriere". Mr. Young is neither the first, and was never the only company granted permission to distill, and/ or export Frankincense.

If his blunder in Somalia is an indication of how adept he is at making friends, I sincerely doubt that the Omani people respect him at all... and for good reasons.

Most companies buy their Frankincense from Somalia, not Oman... there is too little of it in Oman. But since G.Young insulted Sultan Yusuf in Somalia, I would doubt that he would be welcomed back.

Another thing that G. Young is not telling: In Oman THERE IS NOT ONE ESSENTIAL OIL COMPANY THAT IS HARVESTING THEIR OWN FRANKINCENSE. That's a fact. In Oman frankincense is harvested by "tribes". If you want frankincense, you need to buy it from the tribes who own the trees. THAT'S A FACT. Tribes in Oman are "families", well educated, prosperous, wealthy, well dressed, sophisticated and professional individuals. They control large businesses and send their children to study abroad. They are by no means the "tribes" that most people imagine, ignorant, poor, perhaps barbaric, and in need, and running around with a loin cloth... ;o)

They don't need a guy like G.Young.

I have built two distilleries in Salalah and have walked the mountains from the eastern Dhofar mountains east of Hasik to the border of Yemen, harvesting frankincense resin". (Gary Young)

One, you cannot go into the mountains and harvest frankincense in Oman... it is not allowed. Secondly, you cannot harvest frankincense in Oman. It's strictly a tribal business.

Then there is his story about receiving a "gift" of 200,000 to 400,00 acres of land from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, for their exclusive use of frankincense. This has been posted on the Internet... However there is nothing about this that Gary Young has written about. He does not write it... he tells his cult members during his conferences, then THEY write it, they annote it, but he doesnt do this anymore, lest he may be accused of lying! He has been caught lying too many times and his legal team have put a gag on him. He will not speak without his legal team as a shield. He would not show up for the interview with Utah Stories... This story about the gift of land is simply not true. Mr. Young has always wanted to appear more important than anyone, and who is going to check into his stories?..not his followers. Ask yourselves, why would the Sultan award this guy whom nobody knows., with a gift of land?...for what reason? There has never been such a gift.

Young claimed that he would be protecting the trees and help the tribes. Seems a bit like a colonialist attitude to have, don't you think? The trade never needed his help, thank you. It continues to succeed and prosper without G. Young.

Following the fiasco in Somalia, I would advice Mr. G.Young not to repeat that experience in Oman, which is quite a different place. Publishing lies about meetings with important Omanis is a big mistake.

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The day Young Living broke my heart
Truth about Gary Young
Young Living’s Fake Products
Gary Young Arrest
Is Gary Young an MD?

Thursday 8 June 2017

Are Essential Oils a Scam or Are They Proven to Work

Now, we are saying essential oils are a scam. Or are they really proven? What makes an essential oil a scam or a proven product that works. There are some on the internet that are claiming that essential oils are just that-scams. Apparently, social media has been exploding with reports that essential oils will heal every disease under the sun. You have it there is some essential oil out there that will heal it. It doesn’t matter what the disease or sickness is it can be healed by an essential oil. It can be cancer, diabetes, or some asthma condition the essential oil will take care of it. But then there is the other side that claims that essential oils are a total scam and all these reports of essential oils healing every disease imaginable is a scam. So, consumer who do you believe? Let’s explore the issue a little further.



The Essence of the Plant



Essential oils are called essential oils because contain the essence of the plant’s fragrance not because they have powerful healing properties according to this one site that claims that essential oils are a scam. The core of the controversy is that essential oils have medicinal properties not that they are used in cleaning products or help the body relax because of their calming smell. It is put forward that they contain antimicrobials, and anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Some experts strongly assert that they may have these properties but in such small quantities that they wouldn’t have any medicinal values. They go on to say that they may heal very minor burns but not extensive burns. They help treat acne and act as a valuable skin moisturizer but they don’t heal broken bones. They don’t heal autism, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, or any potential harmful diseases.



There are experts who say that there are false doctors and scientists who say that essential oils will bring miracalous cures to the human body. But there is no clear scientific evidence or any legitimate studies to support these claims. Harriet Hall,MD, took doTerra to task about their claims concerning essential oils. She says “They say modern science is validating “the numerous health and wellness benefits of essential oils” but they don’t identify those benefits or offer any evidence. No clinical studies are cited, and there is no research section on their website.” According to her the studies that support these medicinal properties of essential oils are uncontrolled, poorly designed, and unconvincing. The subjects in these studies were relaxed by the aromas of the essential oils and were affected by mental associations. They were not blocked from the fragrances of the essential oils. She seems to be suggesting that the subjects were manipulated by these factors into believing the essential oils were healing their bodies.



Dr. Hall had some supposed interesting information about D. Gary Young, the founder of Young Living, she writes: “I first heard of essential oils years ago in connection with Gary Young, described on Quackwatch as “an uneducated huckster with a track record of arrests for health fraud.” Gary Young and his Essential Oils are still in business despite the devastating critique that has long been featured on Quackwatch. The record of misdeeds there makes for painful reading. Among other things, he practiced medicine without a license, was arrested repeatedly, did bogus lab tests, and contributed to the death of his own child by performing an underwater delivery and holding the newborn infant underwater for an hour. His judgment about medical matters is obviously not very trustworthy.”


Another genuine medical professional Roy Benaroch, MD writes about essential oils healing properties: “Is there any reason to think there are broad health benefits from essential oils, as a group? Many of them smell good, and I imagine that used in a sort of aroma therapy they might be relaxing to people who like the smell of lemon, cedarwood, patchouli, or hyssop. But statements referring to essential oils collectively as having near-magical health benefits are just plain silly.”



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The REAL Story of Gary Young and Young Living Essential Oils

PART 1: WHY DID I INVESTIGATE THIS OUTFIT?

In December 2002, I wrote an article exposing Gary Young, Young Living Essential Oils, and the Young Life Research Clinic as dishonest and misleading. Many people in the aromatherapy community asked me how I developed an interest in this subject. This article explains my interest and summarizes my findings about these enterprises. The longer original article, which also contains footnotes to my references, may be found at The day Young Living broke my heart. This shorter piece touches on the key points and also includes some information not included in the first story.

One spring day in 2002, I picked up what appeared to be a textbook lying on an acquaintance’s workbench. A business card from a Young Living Essential Oils independent distributor fluttered out of the book, Essential Oils Desk Reference(EODR). I pocketed the card, and briefly thumbed through the book. The EODR, as described by Lynda and Graham Sorensen, appears to be mostly the work of D. Gary Young, although he is not specifically credited as the book’s author.

I politely returned the book, and expressed the opinion that this particular book, with long lists of chemical components of essential oils, would be more meaningful to the distributor if she first learned at least basic biology and chemistry. After returning home, I visited the dist
ributor’s web site and from there linked to a transcript of D. Gary Young’s tape “The Missing Link.”

Gary Young created the tape “The Missing Link” for the alleged purpose of educating the public about the healing powers of essential oils. Young Living Essential Oils distributors purchase the tape inexpensively for distribution to potential customers and new recruits. Many distributor web sites post links to a transcript of “The Missing Link.”

At first I read only the beginning of the transcript, because it seemed entirely ridiculous from the first few paragraphs. I examined the entire transcript soon afterward, because I learned that the distributor had convinced my acquaintance to travel thousands of miles to Utah so that an ill family member could be treated at Young’s clinic.

PART 2: YOUNG’S WRITINGS – THE MISSING SCREWPERHAPS?

I’d like to point out some specific examples from “ The Missing Link” that demonstrate that Young simply has no understanding of basic science, let alone a subject as complex as essential oil chemistry. I will examine a few quotes from that tape.

One of the primary agents in the blood that is responsible for the delivery of the nutrients through the cell walls is called oxygen.”

Animals do not have cell walls. The most basic high school biology courses teach that only bacteria and plants have cell walls. Animals do have cell membranes.

You see, in the human body we have a substance called blood, and that blood has a very specific purpose. That purpose is to transport nutrients to the cells, to nurture and feed the cells. . . . .When we look at Essential Oils [sic], they have the same role, and play the same function in the plant, as blood does in the human body.”

Essential oils do not transport nutrients to the plant cells. Phloem transports nutrients in plants, and xylem transports water. Examples of the functions of essential oils in plants may include attracting beneficial organisms such as pollinators, or repelling organisms that might eat or infect the plant. Essential oils do not function as blood. Only about 5% of all plant species even contain essential oils. The other 95% would not be able to survive if plants required essential oils for nutrient transport!

Okay, how many of you ladies have seen a leaf on one of your houseplants torn or damaged? What comes out? It’s a liquid, isn’t it? It’s called the resin by some, some call it the blood of the plant. Some call it the life force of the plant but it’s the same thing, it bleeds.”

Young implies that essential oils run from the injured plant. However, essential oils do not run out because they are contained within special oil glands. The plant sequesters essential oils in these special glands because concentrated essential oils can actually harm plant cells. It would harm, not benefit, the injured plant if essential oils were to run out. The liquid that runs out an injured plant is sap, a mixture of fluids from the damaged xylem and phloem.

. . . . now we have a new VIRAL tuberculosis, do we not?”

Nonsense. Tuberculosis has always been caused by, and still is caused by a bacterium. Bacteria and viruses are completely different forms of life. A bacterium cannot change or mutate into a virus.

The Missing Link” contains many more similar non-sensical statements. But it is only one example of Young’s complete intellectual unsoundness. For example, a selection from Young’s book Aromatherapy: The Essential Beginning further documents his ignorance. Young writes about a type of white blood cells called neurophils. This is a very basic term familiar to anyone with basic medical training. In the introduction to “The Missing Link”, Young claims to have studied hematology, the science of blood. Yet in that book, Young misspells the neutrophil incorrectly as “nutrifile” not just once but five times!

PART 3 – GARY YOUNG’S ACTUAL BACKGROUND

Young’s writings convinced me that the man had no business claiming to be an authority on essential oils, and I decided to investigate his background. He claims to have discovered the healing powers of essential oils after he was allegedly left “paralyzed for life” by a head injury. He claims to have discovered an essential oil cure for this supposed paralysis, but has never provided documentation of either the injury or his miraculous cure.

By the early 1980’s Young had moved to Spokane, Washington. Although he lacked any training in medicine, obstetrics, or midwifery, he insisted on delivering his first wife’s baby underwater in a whirlpool bath. He left the healthy baby under water for an hour. The otherwise normal healthy infant drowned. Young claims that he subsequently operated a clinician Mexico that treated cancer patients with laetrile. Laetrile is a useless and dangerous drug that can harm or kill people because it forms cyanide in the body. It is illegal, and it is something of which Young should be ashamed, rather than proud. From Mexico, Young moved to California and opened a clinic offering supposed treatments for cancer and other illnesses. He claimed falsely at that time to be an M.D. He was arrested in California in 1988 for a variety of charges related to the sale of ineffective and worthless medical treatments.

Young then returned to the Spokane area. He was arrested on January 10, 1994 for assaulting several family members with an axe. This behavior is from a man who claims to be deeply religious and spiritual. And what about Young’s claims to be an N.D., or naturopathic doctor? They are false. His “degree” is a worthless

piece of paper purchased from a notorious diploma mill called Bernadean University. With this worthless credential, Young has NEVER been licensed to practice naturopathy in Utah or any place else.

PART 4 – YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS

In 1992 Young, with his third wife Mary Billeter Young, started his current multilevel marketing company Young Living Essential Oils (YLEO), in Utah. This company makes inflated claims for their products, and encourages some unfair business practices. A few examples follow. Young Living claims that their oils are purer than those of their competitors. According to the archives of the IDMA discussion list, (posted by Graham Sorensen on a Web page called The YL Files, an expert with a gas chromatography actually analyzed one Young Living oil. The findings in fact showed the presence of a carrier oil not indicated on the label, and the presence of an artificial chemical fragrance. The Young Living organization responded by accusing the distributor who had sold the oil of product tampering and subterfuge. Young Living never offered any additional samples for independent laboratory testing.

Many YLEO product descriptions are misleading, and imply health benefits where none exist. The FDA has cited company has several times for misleading labeling.Company sales leaders promote a variety of dubious marketing techniques. One former distributor told me that she was persuaded to purchase a Web site designed by her sponsor’s husband. She received a number of visitors to her web site, yet she never received any e-mails or orders for products. As the former distributor learned more about using the Internet, she discovered that her Web site was designed to be invisible, hidden from search engines. When potential customers she had recruited through her own hard work placed orders or sent e-mail, the orders and e-mail went directly to the sponsor! The sponsor was not merely earning a percentage of her sales; she was taking all the customers.

PART 5 – THE YOUNG LIFE RESEARCH CLINIC

Despite Young’s lack of education and criminal back ground, YLEO distributors continue to support him with cult-like devotion. Young himself appears to want to promote his own ideas about “healing.” To that end, in October 2000 he opened the pompously named Young Life Research Clinic Institute of Natural Medicine in Springville,Utah. Because Young has no license, he cannot legally examine, diagnose, or treat patients himself. He hired licensed doctors to operate the clinic. The medical directories pediatrician Sherman Johnson, M.D.What sort of doctor would want to work for an unlicensed, uneducated man with a criminal history whose writings reveal an utter lack of intellectual ability? I explored Dr. Johnson’s background. In short, Johnson pled guilty to manslaughter after injecting his patient, a long time girlfriend, with a lethal overdose of narcotics.

He falsified her death certificate to cover up his crime. The wrong doing was discovered when a suspicious nurse demanded an investigation and the body was exhumed. The entire story is so entirely bizarre that I suggest the reader check the longer account in my Quack watch article This clinic operates on a cash only basis. This enables them to avoid regulatory scrutiny from health insurers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMA). For example, they can blatantly perform laboratory tests without proper certification because they are immune from CMA fines. The FBI, who is supposed to enforce such laws, is busy with more pressing matters. Prospective patients must pay $349 to register at the clinic, and are then advised to receive a week of treatment costing $2000 to $3000 dollars. The patient must also sign a form stating that he or she is not a member of the press or of any regulatory agency. In addition, patients payout of pocket expenses for food, travel, and lodging.

Treatment at the Young Life Research Clinic includes large quantities of essential oils and nutritional supplements sold only by YLEO. According to one case history presented at the June 2002 Young Living Grand Convention, a “suggested patient supplementation program” prepared for a woman being treated for breast cancer advised her to take 14 different supplements, totaling more than 65 doses of Young Living products, every day.

PART 6 – RAINDROP THERAPY

Young’s invention, Raindrop Therapy, (RDT) is recommended at the clinic and by thousands of YLEO distributors. In RDT, essential oils are dropped in potentially unsafe concentrations onto a subject’s feet and back. An excellent paper by K. Barber and J. Gagnon-Warr, White Paper on Young Living Oil’s Raindrop Technique describes in great detail why this technique is potentially unsafe and does not represent the best use of essential oils.

PART 7 –SUMMARY

In summary, Gary Young is a man who is uneducated and who has repeatedly falsified and exaggerated his credentials. He has been arrested at least twice for health fraud related charges. His inability to recognize his lack of training and the limits of his skills contributed to his own baby’s death. He purports to be a religious and god-fearing man, yet he assaulted his own family. His writings reveal a complete and utter lack of knowledge about even basic science, let alone a subject as complex as essential oils. A physician who played guilty to manslaughter in the death of a longtime friend, falsified her death certificate, and attempted to cover up the crime heads his clinic.

Gary Young, Young Living Essential Oils, and the Young Life Research Clinic have no relationship to real legitimate aromatherapy. The wise consumer can purchase essential oils from a host of other suppliers who sell quality products without resorting to inflated claims or dubious marketing techniques. And people with medical problems can find honest ethical health care providers elsewhere, most likely closer to home and at less cost.. Don’t be misled by the hype. The clinic has NO miracle cures or treatments.

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