Essential oils are used extensively in aromatherapy and various traditional medicines. Due to the numerous health benefits of essential oils, they are increasingly being explored by the scientific community for the treatment of a variety of diseases including cancer, HIV, asthma, bronchitis, heart strokes, and many more. There are more than 90 essential oils, and each has its own health benefits. Most essential oils blend well with other essential oils in terms of function and odor, which allows herbalists to prepare a vast repertoire of aromatic essential oil combinations.

Below is a list of essential oils that are currently being widely used or researched. Most of these oils are quite strong in nature and can cause side effects if they are not taken in an appropriate manner and dose. Furthermore, their individual benefits are variable, so you should consult a medical practitioner before using these oils, either internally or topically. The benefits of herb are also provided in greater detail on a separate page, so feel free to click on any of those essential oils to know the full extent of its health benefits.

All spice Essential Oil

Properties: It is considered a good anesthetic, analgesic, antioxidant, antiseptic, carminative, relaxant, rubefacient, stimulant, and tonic.

Health benefits: It has been claimed to induce numbness, relieve pain, relax the body and mind, add color to the skin, and stimulate various other functions.

Properties : Angelica essential oil is commonly known as a beneficial anti-spasmodic, carminative, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, hepatic, emenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, nervine, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic.

Health Benefits : It relaxes spasms, reduces gases, purifies the blood, promotes perspiration, improves digestion, increases urination, and removes toxins. Angelica essential oil is also good for liver and stomach, relieves obstructed menstruation, expels phlegm & catarrh, reduces fever, cures nervous disorders, and tones the body.

Properties: Angelica essential oil is commonly known as a beneficial anti-spasmodic, carminative, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, hepatic, emenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, nervine, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic.

Health benefits: It relaxes spasms, reduces gases, purifies the blood, promotes perspiration, improves digestion, increases urination, and removes toxins. Angelica essential oil is also good for liver and stomach, relieves obstructed menstruation, expels phlegm & catarrh, reduces fever, cures nervous disorders, and tones the body.

Properties: Basil essential oil is carminative, anti-spasmodic, analgesic, anti-bacterial, and opthalmic.

Health benefits: It has long been used for skin care, indigestion, respiratory problems, infections, stress disorders, blood circulation issues, pain, and vomiting.

Properties: It is often used as antiseptic, antibiotic, anti-neuralgic, anti-spasmodic, analgesic, astringent, cholagogue, emenagogue, febrifuge, insecticide, sedative, stomachic, sudorific and tonic.

Health benefits: Bay essential oil protects against septic, inhibits microbial growth, gives relief from neuralgia pain, relaxes spasms, provides pain relief, increases appetite, tightens gums & muscles and helps stop hair loss. Other applications of bay essential oil have been used for the treatment of hemorrhage, promotion of bile secretion, relief of obstructed menstruation, and reduction of fever. The essential oil also kills & repels insects, sedates inflammations & nervous afflictions, and is good for the stomach, while increasing perspiration & elimination of excess toxins in the body

Properties: It is considered an anti-depressant, carminative, cordial, deodorant, disinfectant, relaxant, diuretic, expectorant, antiseptic, vulnerary, astringent, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, and sedative.

Health benefits: It is great for uplifting moods and fighting depression, and it has also been popularized for eliminating gas build-up, warming the respiratory system, reducing body odor, curing infections, relaxation, promoting urination, and the subsequent removal of body toxins. This useful essential oil also strengthens gums and stops hemorrhaging, cures inflammation, improves circulation, and can help cure arthritis, while calming anxiety and relieving tension.

Properties: It is considered deodorant, vulnerary, vermifuge, antibiotic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, sedative, analgesic, antidepressant, disinfectant, febrifuge, cicatrisant, and digestive in nature.

Health benefits: Bergamot essential oil removes body odor, relieves spasms, suppresses pain, improves mood and fights depression, heals cuts and scars, and promotes efficient digestion

Properties: It is a tonic, disinfectant, stimulant & antidepressant, analgesic, detoxifier, antirheumatic and anti-arthritic. Furthermore, it is a diuretic, antiseptic, astringent, febrifuge, germicide, insecticide, and a depurative.

Health benefits: Birch essential oil fights depression, reduces pain, promotes urination, protects wounds from becoming septic, reduces fever, kills germs, and purifies the blood

Properties: It is traditionally used as a vermifuge, febrifuge, bactericide, germicide, fungicide, sedative, anesthetic, aperient, diuretic, anti-intoxicant, antispasmodic, and as a cure for hydrophobia.

Health benefits: The uses of bitter almond essential oil are widely ranged, and include killing worms, reducing fever, killing bacteria, germs, and fungi, sedation and reducing inflammation. It can also cause numbness and act as an anesthetic or desensitizing agent. It is a purgative that increases urination, and helps remove excess water, salt, toxins, and fat from the body, while countering the effects of intoxicants, curing spasms, and helping to cure hydrophobia, which is the fear of water.

Properties: It is considered a digestive, diaphoretic, carminative, aperient, antispasmodic, antirheumatic, antiarthritic, antibacterial, and an antioxidant.

Health benefits: This essential oil aids in digestion, increases perspiration and helps remove toxins from the body. It also helps to remove gases from the intestines and does not let them build up while acting as a purgative, curing spasms, and helping to treat arthritis and rheumatism by removing uric acid and other toxins from the body. Black pepper essential oil inhibits bacterial growth, fights premature aging, and neutralizes free radicals that damage the body in countless ways

Properties: It is classified as many things, including anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, antiseptic, cholagogue, digestive, diuretic, hepatic, insecticide, narcotic, stimulant and vermifuge.

Health benefits: It has been known to reduce inflammation, treat rheumatism & arthritis, protect against septic, promote bile secretion, facilitate digestion, and increase urination and the removal of toxins from the body. It is good for the liver, and kills and repels insects

Properties: It is used as an antiseptic, antirheumatic, antiarthritic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, insecticide and a tonic.

Health benefits: Buchu essential oil protects against septic, treats rheumatism and arthritis, removes gas, facilitates digestion, increases urination & removal of toxins, tones up the body’s musculature, while also repelling and killing insects

Properties: It is commonly used as an antiseptic, cosmetic, bactericide, insecticide, decongestant, analgesic, expectorant, febrifuge, vermifuge, anti-spasmodic, anti-neuralgic, carminative, stimulant, tonic, sudorific, and emenagogue.

Health benefits: It protects wounds from becoming septic, takes care of skin, kills bacteria and insects, cures congestion in the respiratory system, reduces pain, cures coughs, reduces fever, cures spasm, and gives relief from the pain of neuralgia. Cajuput essential oil also removes gases, stimulates secretions and nerve responses, tones up organic systems, increases perspiration, gives relief from obstructed menses and regulates consistent menstruation

Properties : It is commonly known as an anti-rheumatic, anti-spasmodic, cephalic, circulatory stimulant, memory booster, nervine, stimulant and as a tranquilizer.

Health benefits: Calamus essential oil treats rheumatism and arthritis, relaxes spasm, and inhibits microbial growth, while being good for the brain and memory. Furthermore, it increases blood & lymph circulation, cures nervous disorders, and induces sleep

Properties: Traditionally, camomile essential oil has been used for almost anything you can imagine, including its use as an anti-spasmodic, antiseptic, antibiotic, antidepressant, anti-neuralgic, antiphlogistic, carminative, cholagogue, cicatrisant, emenagogue, analgesic, febrifuge, hepatic, sedative, nervine, digestive, tonic, bactericidal, sudorific, stomachic, anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, vermifuge, and vulnerary.

Health benefits: Camomile essential oil is known to cure spasms, protect wounds from becoming septic and infected, curb biotic growth and infections, fight depression and uplift mood, cure neuralgic pain by reducing swelling in the effected vessels, and soothe inflammation from fever. It also eliminates gases, promotes discharge of bile, helps decrease visibility of scars, opens up obstructed menses and regulates them, cures pain, reduces fever, and is good for liver. Furthermore, camomile essential oil sedates inflammation and hyper-reactions, improves nervous system health, aids digestion, reduces spasms, kills bacteria, increases perspiration, improves digestion, and fights infections. It is one of the most popular and useful essential oils out there

Properties: It is a stimulant, antispasmodic, antiseptic, decongestant, anesthetic, sedative, nerve pacifier, anti-neuralgic, anti-inflammatory, disinfectant, and an insecticide.

Health benefits: Camphor essential oil cures spasms, protects wounds from infections, eliminates congestion, desensitizes and acts as local anesthetic, calms nervous disturbances, cures neuralgic pain, soothes inflammation, fights infections, and kills insects

Properties: It is a Galactogogue, anti-histaminic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, stomachic, disinfectant, diuretic, emenagogue, expectorant, aperitif, astringent, insecticide, stimulant, tonic, and vermifuge.

Health benefits: It has been known to increase milk in the breasts, curb histamine to fight coughs, protect wounds against becoming septic, and is very good for the heart. Furthermore, this essential oil cures spasms and cramps, removes excess gas, promotes digestion, maintains stomach health, fights infections, increases urination and helps remove toxins from body. Finally, it regulates menstrual cycles, cures coughs, increases appetite, contracts gums and muscles, kills insects, stimulates secretions, and generally increases overall health.

Properties: It is considered an anti-spasmodic, and it also neutralizes the adverse effects of chemotherapy, reduces nausea. It is used as an antiseptic, anti-microbial, aphrodisiac, astringent, digestive, stomachic, stimulant, and diuretic agent.

Health benefits: It has been known to cure spasms, fight nausea, protect wounds and incisions, curb microbial growth, increase libido, contract gums, promote digestion, and maintain stomach health. It stimulates secretions and other functions, increases urination and thereby removes extra salt, bile, water, toxins and fat from the body

Properties: It is antiseptic, disinfectant, detoxifying, antioxidant, carminative, depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant, cytophylactic, and a tonic.

Health benefits: Protects wounds from becoming septic, fights infections, removes toxins from the body, neutralizes free radicals and reverses the effects of oxidation. Furthermore, it removes excess gas and does not let it build up in the body, while purifying blood by removing toxins, increasing urination, opening and regulating menses, stimulating secretions, and promoting the regeneration of new cells

Properties: It is commonly used as an anti-diarrheal, antidepressant, antiemetic, anti-galactagogue, antiviral, antimicrobial, antirheumatic and an anti-arthritic. Besides all those “anti-s”, cassia essential oil is also an astringent, carminative, circulatory, emmenagogue, febrifuge and a stimulant.

Health benefits: It has been known to eliminate loose stool and diarrhea while fighting depression and uplifting mood. It can also stop vomiting, reduce milk flow, inhibit microbial growth, treat rheumatism and arthritis, tighten gums & muscles and help stop hair loss. This powerful oil is also thought to reduce hemorrhaging, fight viral infections, remove excess gas, improve blood & lymphatic circulation, relieve obstructed menstruation, and reduce fever.

Properties: This lesser-known essential oil is anti-spasmodic, carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, nervine, stomachic, stimulant, and astringent.

Health benefits: It is commonly used to fight spasms, remove gases, promote sweating, open obstructed menses and regulate their cycles, strengthen the nervous system, maintain stomach health, and generally stimulate appropriate system functioning in the body.

Properties: It is anti-seborrhoeic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, tonic, astringent, diuretic, emenagogue, expectorant, insecticidal, sedative, and a fungicide.

Health benefits: Cedarwood is known to help cure seborrhoea, heal wounds, fight spasms, cause contractions in the gums, muscles, tissues, skin and blood vessels, while increasing urination and the subsequent removal of toxins, water, salt and fat from the body. It also regulates menstrual cycles, cures coughs and colds, kills insects, sedates inflammation and nervous disturbances, and inhibits fungal growth and infections

Properties: It is antibacterial, antifungal, anti-microbial, astringent, anti-clotting, stimulating, cooling, and carminative in nature.

Health benefits: It is frequently employed as a brain tonic, as well as for respiratory problems, skin infections, blood impurity, blood circulation issues, infections, wound healing, pain relief, birth control, menstruation problems, breastfeeding, heart disorders, diabetes, colon cancer, indigestion, and as a relief for bad breath

Properties: Citronella essential oil is an anti-bacterial, antidepressant, antiseptic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory and deodorant, all rolled into one. It is also diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, fungicidal, stomachic, stimulant, tonic and vermifuge. Perhaps most well known in recent years is its use as a very effective insect repellent.

Health benefits: This useful oil inhibits bacterial, microbial, viral & fungal infections while also killing insects, protecting wounds from becoming septic, relaxing spasms, soothing inflammations, eliminating body odor, stimulating perspiration, increasing urination and the removal of toxins from the body, reducing fever, and repelling insects. Finally, it is beneficial for stomach health and digestion.