Jasmine, the well-known and popular flower, no doubt has a sweet, floral and aromatic fragrance that is simply enough to put you in a good mood and instil feelings of romance and creativity. In fact, the flower itself is often linked to romance, love and used to inspire poets to write their romantic sonnet pieces.

The essential oil of jasmine is extracted from many different species, but they mainly come from the Jasminum Officinale (Common Jasmine) flower and they are extracted from the plant’s white flowers, which only bloom during the night. The jasmine flower is widely used to symbolize a variety of things. For example, it is the national flower in Pakistan while the Hindus used jasmine as part of the religious traditions as it is considered to be a holy flower to them.

We know jasmine has a very rich, pleasing and sweet scent but do you know that the essential oil of jasmine contains numerous health benefits as well? From augmenting the mind to being able to address a variety of physical complaints, read on to find out more about the properties and health benefits of jasmine essential oil!

Health Benefits of Jasmine Essential Oil:

1. Provides Relief from Depression and Anxiety

Jasmine essential oil, when inhaled or applied topically onto the skin, is extremely uplifting as it provides a tremendous boost to your spirits! Its pleasing, rich and aromatic scent clears away all negative self-doubt and feelings of depression. In fact, jasmine essential oil is used by people experiencing grief to help them cope with depression as the oil facilitates the release of certain hormones such as serotonin.

Not only that, the oil can also help to combat feelings of anxiety, stress and tension as it relaxes your mind as well as induces peace and tranquility. It can boost energy levels when you feel tired or exhausted. For example, a 2010 research published in Natural Product Communications found that when jasmine oil was applied topically onto the abdominal area of healthy volunteers, they experienced heightened alertness and increased physical as well as emotional strength.

Also, research has found that jasmine oil releases a chemical compound called GABA which has a positive effect on nerve cells as it helps to soothe and relieve anxiety as well as promote tranquility. All these and without the dangerous side-effects that comes when you take prescribed drugs!

2. Heals Infections and Prevents Scarring

Jasmine oil also contains a lot of active ingredients, such as benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and benzyl benzoate which aids in killing off harmful bacteria and viruses on the skin and inside the body. As such, jasmine essential oil is such a great antiseptic agent to be used! It can be used to treat various wounds, cuts, abrasions and scrapes when applied topically onto the skin.

For example, a 2013 study published in International Wound Journal found that the topical application of ointment containing jasmine increased healing processes drastically. This can be attributed to jasmine’s property of enhancing the rate of collagen synthesis and improving the antioxidant status in the healing wound tissues. As such, you can use jasmine oil as a natural remedy to heal wounds and cuts.

Not only that, jasmine oil is a cicatrisant, which means it helps to reduce the scarring obtained from such cuts and wounds in the first place! It makes dark spots and marks fade away, eventually eliminating them altogether. New mothers can also use the oil to get rid of unwanted stretch marks.

3. Provides Relief from Respiratory Problems

Being an expectorant and an antibacterial agent, jasmine oil is also great for relieving common respiratory problems such as colds. It helps to remove excess phlegm and mucus along the respiratory and nasal passageways, thus helping to promote clear and unobstructed airflow as the congestion is cleared up. It can also help in getting rid of snoring due to this very expectorant nature.

Furthermore, as it is antibacterial, it also helps to prevent any infections within the respiratory system, thus preventing illnesses from getting worse. As such, this speeds up healing and recovery times drastically.

4. Tackles Insomnia

Jasmine essential oil, with its expectorant, antispasmodic and sedative properties, greatly helps in promoting a restful, peaceful and undisturbed sleep. This helps to promote your mental, physical and emotional health as getting a good night’s sleep is extremely vital for your smooth functioning and to enable you to be a productive member during the day time.

Therefore, if you suffer from insomnia, no need to get those sleeping pills which might carry unwanted and negative side-effects! Just diffuse some jasmine essential oil next to your bedside table to help you fall asleep.

Furthermore, a 2005 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that the odor of jasmine tea helped to decrease heart rates and produced feelings of calm in the subjects. This demonstrates jasmine’s sedative effects on both autonomic and nerve activity as well as mood states.

5. Aphrodisiac

Its aphrodisiac quality makes jasmine oil a perfect tool to induce romantic and love feelings towards your spouse or partners, due to its strong and aromatic fragrance. Because of this, it has been widely used in India and in neighbouring parts of Asia to decorate the bedrooms of newlyweds on their first night together.

Jasmine oil is also helpful when it comes to solving related problems such as premature ejaculation, impotency and frigidity as well as other sexual problems, as the oil also has an impact on the hormones within the body. As such, jasmine essential oil is useful for spicing up your sex life!

6. Promotes a Healthy Skin

Because of its antiviral and cicatrisant properties, jasmine essential oil is also a useful alternative to promoting a better and healthier skin, with smooth complexion. This is because it can help to kill off any bacteria that causes acne and prevents it from spreading to other parts of the face. With its anti-scarring properties, jasmine oil is also great to treat the acne blemishes, dark spots and other scars. Not only that, it can be used to treat other dermatological conditions such as eczema or psoriasis.

7. Provides Relief from Menstruation Pain

Due to its emmenagogue properties, jasmine essential oil effectively provides pain relief and comfort from symptoms associated with menstruation. It regulates menstrual cycles as it prevents obstruction and blockages which can be painful and discomforting. Furthermore, it helps to alleviate other common symptoms of nausea, fatigue, annoyance and mood swings that are associated with menstruation.

Not only that, jasmine essential oil is great for maintaining the health of the uterus as it tones the uterus and regulates the secretion of hormones to ensure the proper and smooth functioning of the uterus. This thus helps to prevent the onset of various uterus-related diseases. Also, using jasmine oil either as a form of aromatherapy treatment or applied topically onto the skin helps to decrease menopausal symptoms, thus providing immense menopausal relief.

In fact, a 2008 study that was published in Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine carried out an experiment whereby a mixture of lavender, rose geranium, rose and jasmine essential oils that were further mixed with primrose and almond oils to create an aromatherapy massage blend that was to be applied topically onto 27 women. It found that this is effective in treating menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, depression and pain.

8. Helps with Post-Pregnancy Problems

The essential oil of jasmine can also aid in post-pregnancy recovery and helping to alleviate some of the common problems experienced by new mothers in their post-pregnancy period. This includes anxiety, depression, sore and aching muscles as well as low energy levels. It helps to regulate hormonal secretions, thus ensuring that the hormone levels within your bodies are stabilized and maintained.

With its cicatrisant properties, jasmine essential oil effectively helps to get rid of stretch marks and scarring brought about by childbirth. And with its sedative and uplifting benefits to the mood, it helps to combat postpartum depression levels! Moreover, being a galactogogue, jasmine helps to increase milk secretion from the breasts, which makes it a useful agent for lactating mothers.

How to Use Jasmine Essential Oil?

Now that you have read about the wonderful benefits of jasmine essential oil, below are some of the top ways you can use the oil in your everyday use to utilize its benefits fully!

• Direct Inhalation - You can directly inhale jasmine oil from the bottle in small doses. To clear respiratory congestion, you can also create a natural vapor rub by mixing jasmine oil with coconut oil and eucalyptus oil.

• Aromatherapy - Using a diffuser, oil burner or vaporizer, you can diffuse the oil and put it in your room, house or workplace and let the aromatic wafts engulf you to promote relaxation and concentration. It blends well with other essential oils, such as lavender oil or frankincense oil.

• Topically - You can apply it topically onto the affected parts of the skin or add 1-2 drops of it in your daily skincare products to promote better complexion. If you want to apply it directly onto the skin, it is wise to mix with a carrier oil (such as coconut oil) first, especially if you have sensitive skin.

• Bath - You can add a few drops of the oil into your warm, bathing water to unwind after a stressful day at work.

Jasmine essential oil is generally considered to be very safe and non-toxic as well as non-irritating for use. However, it carries with it risks of allergies, sensitivity or even irritation if you have sensitive skin. Thus, it is wise to always do a skin patch test first and dilute it with carrier oils should you have sensitive skin. Furthermore, jasmine essential oil should not be ingested.

If the aroma is too strong and intense, you can always mix it with coconut, almond or jojoba oil. Also, even though jasmine essential oil greatly helps when it comes to pregnancy and lactation, it is always better to consult your doctor first and seek for his/her professional medical advice before using essential oils as a form of treatment if you are pregnant or nursing. This is because jasmine oil has an effect on hormones due to its phytoestrogen effects, thus, it is always safer to seek the advice of a medical expert.

References:

Hongratanaworakit T, “Stimulating effect of aromatherapy massage with jasmine oil”, Journal of Natural Product Communications (2010); 5(1)

Chaturvedi AP, Kumar M, Tripathi YB, “Efficacy of Jasminum grandiflorum L. Leaf extract on dermal wound healing in rats”, International Wound Journal (2013); 10(6)

Kuroda K, et al., “Sedative effects of the jasmine tea odor and (R)-(-)-linalool, one of its major odor components, on autonomic nerve activity and mood states”, European Journal of Applied Physiology (2005); 95(2-3)

Myung-Haeng Hur, Yun Seok Yang, Myeong Soo Lee, “Aromatherapy Massage Affects Menopausal Symptoms in Korean Climacteric Women: A Pilot-Controlled Clinical Trial”, Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2008); 5(3)