Geranium a very pretty looking flower carries with it a bundle of health benefits. Geranium also known as Cranesbill is indigenous to the Northeastern United States, where the herb has been utilized as a natural remedy for centuries. The plant features small flowers in a variety of colors. Many people feature the flowers in their gardens without even realizing the potential healing powers that the plants possess when used as herbs.
Geraniums look pretty, but the roots of cranesbill contain a powerful ingredient called tannin. Tannin is responsible for soothing the digestive tract, and it is useful in preventing and treating frequent diarrhea. Geranium has been used for centuries as a way to treat such problems. The raw plant was used in the past but it is available today in easy-to-use supplements.
Geranium best benefits those with mild gastrointestinal ailments. The presence of tannin in the herb may help alleviate diarrhea, inflammation in the bladder and other symptoms related to Crohn’s disease.
Historically, Geranium was also used in folk medicine to stop abnormal bleeding, including that related to menstruation and uterine problems. Tannins can also act as a natural astringent to reduce inflammation and redness related to skin conditions, such as sores. Geranium may be applied topically to help treat hemorrhoids.
Less common uses of the herb are for the treatment of eye conditions, such as conjunctivitis and moderate retina irritations. Diabetic patients may turn to Geranium as a possible natural treatment for vision problems.
Geranium oil is commonly used as an element in aromatherapy for its many health benefits. It’s used as a holistic treatment to improve your physical, mental and emotional health. Used by the Egyptians for promoting beautiful and radiant skin, geranium oil is now used to treat acne, reduce inflammation, alleviate anxiety and balance hormones. This sweet-smelling oil can also uplift your mood, lessen fatigue and promote emotional wellness.
Geranium oil is nontoxic, non irritant and generally non-sensitizing — and the therapeutic properties of include being an antidepressant, an antiseptic and wound-healing. Geranium oil may also be one of the best oils for such diverse dermatological problems as oily or congested skin, eczema, and dermatitis.
Geranium oil is extracted through steam distillation of stems and leaves of the geranium plant. The main components of this oil include alpha pinene, myrcene, limonene, menthone, linalool, geranyl acetate, citronellol, geraniol and geranyl butyrate.
Geranium Oil Benefits
Some of the most common geranium essential oil benefits are:
- Balances hormones
- Relieves stress
- Reduces depression
- Minimizes inflammation
- Improves circulation
- Alleviates the effects of menopause
- Improves dental health
- Reduces blood pressure
- Benefits the health of your skin
- Improves dental health
When an essential oil like geranium oil can address serious health issues like these, then you need to try it! This is a natural and safe tool that will improve your skin, mood and internal health.
Health Benefits of Geranium oil
1. Wrinkle Reducer – Because geranium oil is an astringent, it induces contractions in several parts of the body. It has the power to minimize the look of wrinkles because it tightens facial skin and slows down the effects of aging. Add two drops of geranium oil to your face lotion and apply it twice daily. After a week or two, you will see the look of your wrinkles begin to fade away.
2. Muscle Toner – Geranium oil helps in tightening and contracting muscles – this is again due to its astringent properties. It can prevent your muscles and skin from sagging, and it can give you a more toned abdominal section. Create a massage oil by mixing five drops of geranium oil with one tablespoon of jojoba oil and massage it into your skin, focusing on your muscles.
3. Infection Fighter – The antibacterial properties found in geranium oil help to protect your body from infection. Geranium oil can stop bacteria from growing on the skin, like on a wound. To do this, rub two drops of geranium oil onto the affected area and cover it with gauze; you can repeat this remedy twice a day until the wound or cut is healed. When you use geranium oil to fight external infection, your immune system can focus on your internal functions and keep you healthier. Athlete’s foot, for example, is a bacterial infection that can be cured with geranium oil. To do this, add give drops of geranium oil to a foot bath with warm water and sea salt; do this twice daily for the best results.
4. Healing Helper – Geranium oil helps to speed up the healing process of cuts, wounds and incisions. It also helps in fading the look of scars and other spots on the skin quickly.
Because geranium oil has powerful cicatrisant properties, it increases blood circulation right below the surface of the skin — this helps with the healing of spots caused by acne, cuts or wounds, surgical incisions or skin irritations.
5. Blood Clot Inducer – Geranium oil causes the contraction of blood vessels and, therefore, helps to stop blood flow; it also speeds up the formation of blood clots. This helps in the healing of wounds or incisions, and it keeps toxins from entering the body. This health benefits will even help to prevent hemorrhoids. Try adding one drop of geranium oil to ice cream or frozen soy milk. You can also add the oil to a teaspoon of wheat germ or flaxseeds.
6. Cell Growth Supporter – Geranium oil promotes cell growth; it helps to recycle dead cells and supports the regeneration of new cells. This will allow your metabolism to work more effectively. By using geranium oil in a diffuser or vaporizer, you can take advantage of this amazing benefit.
7. Urination Increaser – An increase in urination means fewer toxins in the body, and being that geranium oil is a diuretic, it will promote urination. Through urination, you release toxic chemicals, heavy metals, sugar, sodium and pollutants. Urination also removes excess bile and acids from the stomach.
8. Natural Deodorant – Geranium oil is a circulatory oil, which means that it exits the body through perspiration. Now your sweat will smell like flowers! Because geranium oil has antibacterial properties, it aids in eliminating bodily odors and can be used as a natural deodorant. The rose-like smell of geranium oil is a perfect way to keep you smelling fresh every day. Add five drops of geranium oil to a spray bottle and mix it with five tablespoons of water; this is a natural and beneficial perfume that you can use every day.
9. Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Prevention – Geranium oil is shown to trigger microglial cells, which release pro-inflammatory agents that combat inflammation in neural pathways – therefore preventing the formation of neurodegenerative diseases. Geranium oil works with the natural chemistry of the brain to prevent these scary conditions that lead to memory loss.
10. Skin Enhancer – Geranium oil helps in the treatment of acne, dermatitis and skin diseases. Try mixing a teaspoon of coconut oil with five drops of geranium oil, then rub the mixture onto the infected area twice a day until you see results. You can also add two drops of geranium oil to your daily face or body wash.
11. Respiratory Infection Killer – Geranium oil can prevent nose and throat infections, as it contains several chemicals that have antibiotic-like effects. When applied to the nose or throat, topically, the oil has a soothing effect and will reduce soreness. To take advantage of this benefit, use a diffuser, inhale geranium oil twice a day, or rub the oil on your throat and under your nostrils.
12. Nerve Pain Killer – Geranium oil has the power to fight nerve pain when it’s applied to the skin. Developing research suggests that applying rose geranium oil to the skin can significantly reduce pain that follows shingles, a condition caused by the herpes virus. Research suggests that the strength of the product used matters, as geranium oil in a concentration of 100 percent appears to be about twice as effective as a 50 percent concentration, so keep that in mind when you are shopping for geranium essential oil.
To fight nerve pain with geranium oil, create a massage oil with three drops of geranium oil mixed with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Massage this beneficial mixture into your skin, focusing on the areas where you feel pain or tension.
13. Mental Functioning Improver – Geranium oil has the power to improve mental functioning and uplift your spirits. It’s known to help people who suffer from depression, anxiety and anger. The sweet and floral smell of geranium oil calms and relaxes the body and mind.
14. Anti-inflammatory Agent – Inflammation has been found to be associated with just about every health condition, and researchers are furiously investigating chronic inflammation effects on health and possible preventive medical applications. Research shows that geranium essential oil has significant potential for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs with improved safety profile.
Geranium oil inhibits the inflammatory responses in the skin; this helps your body to fight many health issues. Arthritis, for example, is inflammation of the joints, and heart disease is inflammation of the arteries. Instead of taking a medication to reduce joint pain or lower cholesterol, reducing inflammation in the body is vital.
A 2013 study found that geranium oil is a safer and more effective ingredient for anti-inflammatory medication. Data supports that geranium oil reduces inflammation in the body, and there are fewer side effects from this essential oil than cholesterol and joint pain medications.
15. Insect Repellent and Bug Bite Healer – Geranium oil is used as a natural bug repellant. To make your own bug repellent, mix geranium oil with water and spray it on your body – this is much safer than sprays that are filled with chemicals. You can also add baking soda to this mixture to boost the effects. It also heals insect bites and stops itching; use it as a massage oil on itchy or irritated spots for relief.
16. Astringent: The main function of an astringent is to induce contractions in various parts of the body. Accordingly, Geranium Oil makes the gums, muscles, intestines, skin, tissues and blood vessels to contract. Furthermore, this includes the contraction of abdominal muscles which gives you a better, toned look. Geranium essential oil can also prevent muscles and skin from sagging, as well as the untimely loosening and loss of teeth by tightening up the gums. Finally, it can reduce the presence of wrinkles by tightening the facial skin, thereby delaying some of the effects of premature aging.
17. Vulnerary: Geranium Oil speeds up the healing process of wounds, cuts and surgical incisions. This property makes it a vulnerary. Perhaps, it is due to its other qualities as a hemostatic, styptic, antibacterial, antimicrobial and cytophylactic substance that also make it a vulnerary, but the end result is the same!
18. Cicatrisant: Everyone wants their skin to be free from scars and after marks of fat-cracks, surgeries, boils, acne or pox. Unfortunately, many people end up spending a fortune and trying all the available cosmetic solutions on the market and still don’t get the desired results. They could have avoided a waste of time and money had they tried Geranium Oil first. It is a powerful cicatrisant, so it helps the scars and other spots on the skin to fade and vanish. It facilitates blood circulation just below the surface of skin and also helps promote a uniform distribution of melanin.
19. Hemostatic: Geranium essential oil can stop hemorrhaging in two ways. First, as an astringent (more specifically, a styptic), it causes the contraction of blood vessels and helps to stop blood flow, as discussed above. Second, as a hemostatic agent, it speeds up coagulation and the clotting of blood, which aids in the healing of wounds and the prevention of toxins from entering the bloodstream through open or unclotted wounds.
20. Cytophylactic: Geranium Oil promotes cell health, encourages the recycling of dead cells, and the regeneration of new cells. This helps in the growth of the body cells as well as the gametes, by making the body metabolize things efficiently.
21. Diuretic: Geranium essential oil has diuretic properties, which means that it increases urination. Urination is one of the three natural ways to remove toxins from the body. The other methods are excretion and perspiration, but urination is the most effective of the three. These eliminated toxins are urea, uric acid, bile salts, pathogens and other synthetic or chemical substances, heavy metals, pollutants, and even sugar. Moreover, each time you urinate, fats amounting to 4% of the volume of urine and excess water are also removed from the body. Urination aids the digestive process and prohibits the formation of excess gas in the intestine. It is also an effective way of removing excess acids and bile that is secreted by liver. Urination also reduces blood pressure because the more you urinate, the more sodium is eliminated, causing blood pressure to fall.
One interesting study measured the effects of geranium oil’s ability to suppress candida cell growth in mice. The mice intravaginally received geranium essential oil, and this significantly decreased the amount of candida cells in the vaginal cavity. These findings suggest that vaginal application of geranium oil or its main component, geraniol, suppressed Candida cell growth vagina and inflammation.
Another 2013 study, involving 20 patients, measured the effects of geranium oil on hemorrhage episodes. The study lasted 183 days; at the end, 75 percent of the patients felt an improvement with the treatment. With no adverse side effects, geranium oil proved to be a compound that significantly reduces the number of hereditary hemorrhage episodes that occurred in these patients
Geranium Oil Side Effects
Geranium oil is usually applied to the skin, and some people can develop a rash or burning sensation. It’s best to test the oil on a small area first. Geranium oil can also cause eye irritation if applied to the face. If you take geranium oil by mouth, stick to consuming it in smaller amounts because the safety of the oil when taken in larger amounts is not known.
Being that geranium oil is a styptic, it causes the blood vessels to contract and slows down or stops the flow of blood. This can be a health concern for people with high blood pressure and who are at risk for cardiovascular diseases like stroke, atherosclerosis and heart attacks.
Geranium oil influences hormone secretions, so it’s not advised for use by pregnant women or for women who are breastfeeding. It’s still unclear whether or not these hormone secretion changes transfer to breast milk. Geranium oil should not be used on babies and young children due to the delicate nature of their skin and the possibility of toxicity.
It’s best to dilute geranium oil with a carrier oil when you are applying it directly to the skin. Try mixing geranium oil with equal parts coconut, jojoba or olive oil.
Extracts of the geranium plant Pelargonium sidoides inactivate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and prevent the virus from invading human cells. In the current issue of “PLOS ONE,” scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München report that these extracts represent a potential new class of anti-HIV-1 agents for the treatment of AIDS. Check out the detailed study at: http://womenfitness.net/news-flash/geranium-extracts-stop-hiv/