Calendula Oil: Nature’s Proven Wound Healer
Infused Calendula oil has long been used as a component of natural skin care preparations for its special soothing properties. The oil of the flowers had not been available as an essential oil for most of its history, as the flowers had been too delicate to process in the typical steam distillation process. With the recent introduction of the Supercritical cold-extraction process, a concentrated Calendula CO2 essential oil is now readily available, making it very easy to include this wonderful concentrated in any skin care and wound healing recipe. This new Calendula extract has been the subject of much research over the last several years, confirming its nearly miraculous regenerative, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions — further encouraging its use for natural skin care products, whether purchased already blended or for you to make a personal formula at home.
Calendula Flowers: Nature’s Gentle Healer
Calendula flowers, a particular kind of Marigold, is a genus of 20 species of herbaceous plants in the Daisy family. Calendula infused oil — made by soaking the flowers in olive oil — is highly regarded as a base of soothing skin formulas, with cooling and hydrating effects. It has been a popular ingredient in formulas for eczema and baby’s needs — or anywhere skin irritation is being addressed. The infused oil had limitations in that the base oil needed to be the infused oil itself, limiting other carrier or base oils included in the formula. Even very small quantities (1-3%, or 8-24 drops per ounce) of the essential oil added to your recipes can have dramatic results
Calendula Essential Oil Made Available By High Technology
The Calendula essential oil concentrate is often labeled as Calendula CO2, meaning all the lipid-soluble components of the plant have been extracted using pressurized, liquified carbon dioxide. At the end of the process, the carbon dioxide is released and only the essential oil remains. A search through the data provided by the US Nation Library of Medicine uncovers hundreds of references to Calendula officinalis extract. The database is hosted at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — simply search for the therm “calendula” for pages of facinating results to browse through.
The Data Is In: Calendula Has A Wide Range of Therapeutic Activity
The research focuses on several of Calendula’s healing properties. Scientists have investigated the following effects of Calendula: an increased rate of wound healing, treatment of radiation burns from chemotherapy, powerful antioxidant activity, inflammation reduction, liver protection, plus anti-parasitic, antibacterial, antiviral, antispasmodic and even anti-tumorial effects. Most of the conclusions of these studies straightforwardly hail the healing effects of Calendula; in Volume 20, 2009 Journal of Basic Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology, Indian scientists note “The data indicate potent wound healing activity of Calendula officinalis extract”. Other researchers concluded in the 2009 Indian Journal of Experimental Biology: “Results suggest a protective role of the flower extract of C. officinalis against…hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity) and cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity (kidney toxicity)…has been found to contain several carotenoids of which lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene predominate…action of the flower extract may be due to its antioxidant activity”. One can read a great many of these studies coming to the same conclusions — that Calendula extract (ie. the CO2 essential oil) has nearly miraculous healing powers. So then, how to use it? Let’s have a look at some classic methods.
Creating Recipes at Home with Calendula
The easiest uses of Calendula essential oil will be in externally-applied topical formulas. Simply include a few drops per ounce of your recipe. For example, an excellent wound-healing AND anti-inflammatory blend could be made with 3 milliliters of Helichrysum italicum essential oil (a profound wound-healing and pain relieving essential oil) and 1 milliliter Calendula essential oil in a base of equal parts Tamanu, Coconut and Rosehip seed oils. This would be useful for treatment of wounds after accidents or surgery (while it should not be applied directly to open wounds — around the open area would be fine). A stronger formula would be useful for deep tissue injuries, like sports injuries, muscle strains, sprains and the like. Use up to 25% Helichrysum and 5% Calendula in a simple base of pure Jojoba oil, massaging into painful areas up to 3 times daily. This type of formula utilizes the strong anti-inflammatory action of Helichrysum along with the wound healing and antioxidant effects of Calendula to speed healing and relieve pain of connective-tissue damage. Calendula is safe for use with both children and the elderly, though the overall concentrations of these formulas should be reduced accordingly depending on the age group (there are many online references for essential oil concentrations with different age groups). Beyond wound healing, simply antioxidant activity in skin preparations will limit free-radical damage that is often associated with skin aging, making Calendula a great ingredient in every beauty-care recipe.
Organ Supportive Formulation
Calendula’s organ-protective effects can be utilized by applying the essential oil to the feet, which are highly receptive to the energetics of essential oils. The liver and kidney points are directly behind the ball of the foot, at the front of the arch. One can make one ounce of an organ-supportive blend by using 3 milliliters of Calendula, 1 and 1/2 milliliters each of Helichrysum italicum, Blue Tansy and Carrot Seed essential oils in organic Coconut. Regular massage in the area described with this blend is intended to ‘clear’ these organs and support their healthy function. With further dilution, this formula can be massaged in the low back and abdomen for further therapeutic support.
Safe, Safe, Safe
Calendula essential oil has been listed by the FDA as being safe for ingestion in commonly-used amounts. What does this mean? When essential oils are ingested, they are typically consumed by the drop, and usually in the range of only 1-3 drops per day. Ingesting the oil may be a way to utilize the liver and kidney anti-toxicity protective effects described in the research. While typically essential oil ingestion is frowned upon in the United States, the real challenge is proper education about dosages. Calendula CO2 extract specifically should be quite tame, although perhaps the most tasty thing one has ever put in their body! Ingestion of 3 drops daily, put in an empty cellulose capsule if you like, may impart a range of benefits, from antioxidant activity, to chemo-protective, to antibacterial and antiparasitic potential actions.
Calendula: Now One of the Most Highly Regarded Natural Medicines
Calendula is a profoundly-healing plant, with both extensive folklore as well as scientific research supporting its use. An effective and easy method of using Calendula essential oil is to use it therapeutically in instances of skin irritation and wound healing of all varieties. Calendula and Helichrysum essential oils synergize to enhance the rate of wound healing, the reduction of inflammation, and therapeutically for injuries to the musculoskeletal system (painful joints, muscles, tendons and so on). Calendula extract has also been noted by researchers as supportive and protective for both the kidneys and the liver, and has other protective effects for nearly every aspect of one’s physiology. If these effects of Calendula seem like something you or your loved ones could use, its long history of direct application in therapeutic use along with scientific validation make it a worthwhile product to investigate further.