This is another question I hear regularly. The answer, in short, is yes. However, before you make the choice to ingest ANY essential oil, you need to do your due diligence and use common sense. I say this for a couple reasons. First, every study that has been conducted and determined that a particular essential oil was unsafe was done with ingesting essential oils. Second, when you ingest an essential oil in a gelatin capsule, it has to go through the digestive system before it can enter the blood stream and reach the area of the body you want it to work on. Yet, when you apply an essential oil topically, the molecular structure of the oil allows it to enter the blood stream and penetrate cell walls where it can quickly begin to feed, balance, and heal the cell.
So, for me, the question really shouldn’t be is it SAFE to ingest essential oils, but rather is it NECESSARY to ingest essential oils.
But what about cooking with essential oils? Well, yes, I have used essential oils in foods and drinks – not always with success. 🙂 One drop of rose essential oil in a gallon of lemonade was PERFECT! One drop of peppermint essential oil in a gallon of limeade was way too much! One drop of coriander oil in a 6 quart bowl of salsa was PERFECT when I forgot to buy cilantro. So while essential oils can be used in cooking, remember that it takes between 100 pounds of plant material and 1,000 pounds of plant material to make 1 pound of essential oil and you’ll rarely (if ever) want to use more than a couple drops of Butterfly Express essential oil in a recipe. If you have a recipe that calls for more than 3 drops of essential oil, they may be referring to a lower quality or lower potency essential oil and you’ll want to start off with one drop of Butterfly Express oil – or less – and taste before adding more. FYI, to use less than a drop of essential oil, dip a tooth pick in the bottle of essential oil and then drag the toothpick through the batter or whatever you’re cooking.
