Wintergreen

wintergreen-04Wintergreen has always been a very dear plant to native americans. They used to chewe wintergreen when running long distances to increase endurance and respiratory capacity. Wintergreen has cooling and soothing properties,  specially soothing for head tension and in massages and muscles after exercising

Mentally wintergreen is stimulating and increases attentiveness. It is interesting that this plant associates with many of our senses: smell, taste, touch and hearing (sound). Wintergreen essential oil can penetrate deep within the body it can increase the vibration of the body and enhancing sound on all levels. The odor alone is said to do this. Because of this, it was used during spiritual ceremonies, especially where sound was used (meditations, chants, etc). It brought back harmony between the earth and its people through awareness.

This increase in vibration opens spiritual awareness and leads to introspection of divine and self love. This will be particular helpful to those who are very left brained (logical), and need to expand further into their intuitive side (right brain).

Young Living’s natural Wintergreen essential oil is one of the few examples of true wintergreen essential oil on the market. Most retail, direct marketing, and internet sales of “wintergreen” are actually “fake wintergreen” or “synthetic wintergreen”. Natural Wintergreen is composed of mostly one component, methyl salicylate. In natural Wintergreen methyl salicylate makes up 97-98% of the essential oil.

In “synthetic or fake wintergreen” methyl salicylate makes up 99.0-99.8%. Synthetic wintergreen is made in a chemical factory with chemicals derived from petroleum crude oil.

Wintergreen1The peak representing methyl salicylate is at about 20 minutes in the chromatogram. The natural component to the right at about 22 minutes is ethyl salicylate – both are esters that have a nice, pleasing aroma.

Natural Wintergreen also contains four other minor components: alpha-pinene (11 minutes), beta-pinene (13 minutes), 1,8-cineole (14 minutes), and linalool (16 minutes).

The six components are listed in the international standard for natural wintergreen (ISO Method 21390). Young Living Wintergreen is natural wintergreen that conforms to these minimum standards. Often “fake wintergreen” brand containe synthetic by-products of chlorinated salicylate and methyl paraben. Some wintergreen brands prepare elaborate “disguises” to create “better” smelling oils. Unfortunately, their wintergreen oils are not natural – they just market them as being “natural”.

Natural wintergreen essential oil grows wild in North America and Greater China regions. Birch and wintergreen are the only plants in the world that naturally contain methyl salicylate.

Wintergreen essential oil (Gaultheria procumbens) is created by steam distilling the leaves of the plant. The benefits and uses for wintergreen are really incredible. Wintergreen essential oil has a refreshing, minty, and sweet aroma. This stimulating and invigorating scent makes it an ideal addition to lotions and ointments that are applied after activity. Wintergreen includes the naturally occurring constituent methyl salicylate, and is an important ingredient in Deep Relief™ Roll-On, Ortho Ease® and Ortho Sport® Massage Oils, PanAway® essential oil blend, and BLM™.

Mary&Gary Wintergreen