Why choose therapeutic-grade essential oils?

Plants have been with us for centuries, and when distilled properly—without adulteration or synthetic additives—their oils can truly support your health and wellness. 

To get the full benefits, it’s essential to choose therapeutic-grade oils that are pure, natural, and consistent.

The Therapeutic Difference

 Purity

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils are free from fillers, synthetic ingredients, and harmful contaminants, preserving the plant’s unique natural chemistry. No adulteration.

 Potency and efficacy

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils are carefully extracted using cold-pressed or steam distillation, to preserve their unique chemical profile and maximum potency.

 Lab-Tested & Certified

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils undergo rigorous in-house and third-party testing, and every bottle includes a unique, verifiable sourcing certificate.

 Sustainably Sourced

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils are harvested responsibly, supporting sustainable practices and protecting the environment.

 Consistent Quality

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils ensure unique chemical profile across every batch.

 Safe & Reliable

Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils are safe for aromatic and topical use when used as directed, with some oils also suitable for internal use.

Cheap Essential oils also smell nice!
Many people simply want a pleasant scent at home and appreciate a lower price. 

While they might smell good, without certified purity you never know what you’re exposing your body to—or how it might impact your health.

When Quality Is Missing

 Synthetic & Adulterated

Low-Quality Essential Oils are often synthetic or adulterated, potentially containing unknown or harmful substances.

 Unsafe & Ineffective

Low-quality oils are often synthetic or adulterated, and may contain harmful substances that make them unsafe, and ineffective to deliver reliable therapeutic results.

 Lack of Consistency

Low-quality essential oils are often inconsistent, meaning you never know exactly what is in the bottle. They are not suitable for therapeutic use and are primarily intended to provide fragrance.

 Untested & Untraceable

Low-quality oils are not lab-tested and lack verifiable sourcing, so you cannot be sure of their purity, potency, or safety.

 Unsafe&Unreliable

Ingesting low-quality essential oils is strictly prohibited. Without knowing what’s in the bottle, you can’t be sure what you’re putting on your skin or inhaling, making their use unsafe.

What should you do?
Be selective, when choosing essential oils. Research highlights the prevalence of adulterated and low-quality products, encouraging awareness and empowering consumers to make informed, conscious choices. 

⬇️ Let’s explore what the studies reveal! ⬇️

research first

Pubmed: Adulteration of Essential oils

PubMed research shows that adulteration of essential oils is not uncommon, often involving cheaper oils, synthetic additives, or dilution with vegetable oils. The study evaluates methods to detect such adulteration and ensure the authenticity of oils like bergamot, lavender, and tea tree.
 Read the full study!

MDPI Research: Ensuring Essential Oil Quality

MDPI research shows essential oils are widely used but often adulterated. The study highlights how they’re produced, their chemistry, and stresses the importance of verifying authenticity to help consumers make safe, informed choices.
Read the full study →

Did you know?

 There’s a 42 % chance that your peppermint toothpaste or gum contains adulterated or synthetic peppermint oil. Research found 21 out of 50 commercial samples were fraudulent, often containing cheaper oils or synthetic compounds—highlighting the need for strict quality control. ScienceDirect Research. 

  |  Read the Study!

 PubMed research highlights widespread adulteration in essential oils. For example, many products labeled as birch oil were actually wintergreen or even synthetic, made from expired aspirin! The common thread? Methyl salicylate—it smells like birch but has no real connection to the plant. 

  |  Read the research!

 The benefits of lavender oil depend on its precise chemical composition. ISO 3515:2002 allows wide ranges for key compounds (linalool 20–43 %, linalyl acetate 25–47 %), meaning one bottle may contain only half as much of a key compound as another. 

  |  Read ISO 3515:2002!
  
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Essential Oil History

 "The term essential oil was created in the 16th century and refers to the theory of “Quinta essentia”. Paracelsus defined the role of alchemy by developing plant extracts and herbal medicines." 

Paracelsus (1493–1541): German-Swiss alchemist and physician

 Paracelsus believed that the distillation process extracted the most significant part of the plant, namely, the “quintessence for healing” or “plant’s soul”, separating the “essential” constituents from the “nonessential. 

Paracelsus (1493–1541): German-Swiss alchemist and physician

 An “essential oil” can be defined as a “product obtained from a natural raw material of plant origin, either by distillation with water or steam, or from the epicarp of Citrus sp. fruits by a mechanical process, or by “dry distillation”. Essential oil is then separated from the aqueous phase by physical means. 

"Association Française de NORmalisation” and the "European Pharmacopoeia"
  

Evidence&Reports

Research data shows that the multiplicity of pharmacological properties of essential oils occurs due to the chemical diversity in their composition and their ability to interfere with biological processes at cellular and multicellular levels via interaction with various biological targets. 
PubMed/MEDLINE, 2023
The lipophilic profile of these components contributes to their ability to penetrate cells and tissues to reach biological targets and carry out the pharmacological response. Their constituents cross the biological membranes of infected cells and/or microorganisms with ease and cause their death. ​PubMed/MEDLINE, 2023​​​
The pharmacological profile of essential oils includes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant activities, among others. Essential oils are composed of approximately 20–60 components at different concentrations, but some of them may contain more than 300 different substances. PubMed/MEDLINE, 2023
The antioxidant activity of some constituents of Essential Oils suggests their possible action in restoring balance in pathological disorders associated with oxidative stress, including inflammatory and tumoral processes. ​PubMed/MEDLINE, 2023​​
MDPI Research reports that none of the 27 commercial “birch” essential oil samples tested contained the natural chemical markers for true birch oil — many instead showed markers for wintergreen oil or synthetic methyl salicylate.
MDPI Research, 2022
Wild-Orange Oil & Limonene (2023)The MDPI study found that wild-orange essential oil (Citrus sinensis) contains ~70 % limonene and demonstrates significant anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cytotoxic and skin-protective properties, highlighting the therapeutic potential of wild orange essential oils and its major compound. MDPI Research, 2024
The MDPI study found that inhalation of wild-orange essential oil (Citrus sinensis) and its main compound limonene improved behavior in chronically stressed mice. Limonene, the most abundant compound in the oil and in the mice brains after inhalation, also modulated neurotransmitter levels and regulated the HPA axis, highlighting its potential mood-supporting effects. PubMed PubMed Research 2019
The MDPI study found that essential oils from orange, pummelo, and tangelo peels contained 80–95% limonene in orange peel oils. Limonene was highlighted as a key contributor to the bioactivities of citrus oils, including their antimicrobial potential. MDPI Research, 2024

"The Oil Effect"

"The Oil Effect" thumbnail
 
Roseman University Researchers Study dĹŤTERRA Essential Oils

The results of our research show that the implications of ‘The Oil Effect’ are significant,” says Dr. Le.
His studies suggest that essential oil quality depends on both chemistry and biochemistry, and that advanced biochemical analysis is essential to truly evaluate an oil’s quality.

3 ways to use therapeutic-grade EOs 

  • Aromatic

    Breath in directly or use diffuser

  • Internal

    Place a drop under tongue, in veggie cap or in water

  • Topical

    Apply to reflex points, or bottom of feet or specific areas

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👨‍⚕️ Wolfgang Köbel is a German-born naturopath, aromatherapist, and phytotherapist based in Budapest with over 30 years of experience. He combines deep expertise in aromatherapy and essential oils with extensive knowledge of conventional care to offer truly holistic solutions.

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F.A.Q

Essential oils (EO) are complex mixtures of volatile compounds that are characterised by important biological activities for the plant itself and for humans who have learned to exploit their properties over the centuries. Definition by Research on PubMED, 2022
Research on PubMed/MEDLINE, 2023 data show that the multiplicity of pharmacological properties of essential oils occurs due to the chemical diversity in their composition and their ability to interfere with biological processes at cellular and multicellular levels via interaction with various biological targets. Their pharmacological profile includes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant activities, among others. Essential oils are composed of approximately 20–60 components at different concentrations, but some of them may contain more than 300 different substances.
The lipophilic profile of these components contributes to their ability to penetrate cells and tissues to reach biological targets and carry out the pharmacological response. The antioxidant activity of some constituents of EO suggests their possible action in restoring balance in pathological disorders associated with oxidative stress, including inflammatory and tumoral processes. The bioactivity in anti-infectious screenings shows the ease with which EO and their constituents cross the biological membranes of infected cells and/or microorganisms and cause their death. PubMed/MEDLINE Research
Nature provides plants with a wonderful gifts: with natural chemical compounds that are vital for the survival and protection of the plants. When essential oils are distilled right, are pure, unadulterated and consistent, these natural chemical compounds will remain in the essential oil, which will help us help improve our health and wellness.
Purity in terms of essentials oils can be defined as lack of adulteration.
Without purity you don´t know what you are putting on your body on your skin and and what goes in your lungs. Without knowing what is in the bottle you are not safe.
Consistency means that the potency of the chemistry in every drop is for all intents and purposes the same year to year and batch to batch.
Because of dosage. If a manufacturer of essential oils does not have consistency, then consumers have no idea how to dose essential oils to have the same effect time to time, year to year.
The adulteration of EO is not uncommon along supply chains, thus generating concerns in the EO industry. EO can often be adulterated via the addition of cheaper EO (e.g., sweet orange added to bitter orange, corn mint added to peppermint or lavandin added to lavender),  via the addition of cheap synthetic materials (e.g., synthetic linalool and linalyl acetate added to bergamot EO) or via dilution with vegetable oils. Research published on MDPI, 2021

In one word the addition of something to an essential oil or the fabrication of an essential oil by chemists.
The EO marketplace is rife with counterfeited, adulterated, or misrepresented products. A Research published at MDPI, 2022 proves this statement and highlights the importance of the empowerment of individuals to recognise and avoid counterfeited, adulterated, or misrepresented products. Authentication and certified source is highly important.
Usually adulteration of the essential oil is done for the purposes of increasing the profit.
The essential oil industry as a whole is riddled with adulterated products.
The natural chemical compounds found in the different parts of the plants, has been identified. The science of chemistry found simple ways to synthesise these chemical compounds. Producing the synthesised versions is highly cost-effective. However, researches show that they have no benefits to offer, the contrary the use of these EO are unsafe. In one word, as long as we do not know what in the bottle is, safety is never ensured.
It brings up concerns from a transparency, safety and efficacy perspective.
Some people want just a nice smell in their home and are happier paying that smaller price for that nice smell in their home. Cheap essential oils are fabricated, are not pure and are not consistent. People will not get safe and efficacious results by using them and that nice smell is going into your lungs. Without purity you don´t know what you are putting on or into your body.
The secondary market is so rife with adulteration that essentially you cannot have pure and consistent essential oil if you are purchasing it on the secondary market.
dĹŤTERRA puts in tremendous efforts in making a pure and consistent essential oil, free of adulteration and with consistent chemistry that you can rely on, bottle to bottle, year to year.
You have to own your supply chain all the way through to gurantee that your customer will receive pure, unadulterated and consistent essential oil.
The main trend in the essential oil industry is something that is chemically indistinguishable from something that is pure and natural, but is not pure and natural.
Peppermint essential oil is one of the most widely used oils in the world—from toothpaste and gum to cosmetics and cleaning products.
But not all peppermint oils are what they seem.A scientific study found that 42% of commercial peppermint essential oils were adulterated or synthetic, meaning nearly half of the bottles on the market aren’t truly natural.  ScienceDirect Research, 2025
In many cases, peppermint oil is broken down into its chemical parts using high-precision distillation. These isolated compounds are then reassembled in a lab to create a product that smells like peppermint—but isn’t. The result? A synthetic imitation that lacks the rich, balanced chemistry and therapeutic power of the genuine plant.
dĹŤTERRA is the only company marketing a birch oil that is not only pure birch, but has any birch in it. Birch on the bottle no birch in the bottle. The product in the bottle was either fabricated from wintergreen or completely fabricated from expired aspirin. Methyl salicylate is the main chemical component of both wintergreen and birch essential oil. A simple organic chemistry and aspirin turns into methyl salicylate. Highly cost effective. Might smell like birch, but has nothing to do with birch at all.
The International Standards Organisation sets standards also for the essential oil industry. The benefits of essential oils derive from their chemical composition. If the chemical composition is right the essential oil can have a positive effect. The International Standards Organisation sets the range of 20 % to 40 % for chemical composition. Meaning that one bottle can contain 40 % of active ingredient component while another one only 20 %.
Consumers need to be very choosy. The essential oils go in your lungs, on our skin and in your body, and affect your chemistry. These plants have been with us a long time, and if we do these plants, these essential oils right, they will help improve our health and wellness, but we have to be using a pure, unadulterated and consistent product.