What we know about the plant kingdom and radiation protection

Last evening's news about the vulnerability of Ukraine's nuclear facilities gave rise to a number of emails and texts asking me  about oils that can protect from radiation exposure or treat radiation exposure.  There is a body of research on this topic as plant extracts and plant chemistries have been studied for their effects on people exposed to radiation, including atomic bomb survivors and nuclear disaster survivors, as well as those who are exposed to ionizing radiation therapies for the treatment of cancer, and those who work in the radiation industry.

I am including a link to an article I found of interest from a press release in 2020:  https://www.healthcanal.com/cancers/240995-compound-found-coriander-ginger-may-help-protect-negative-effects-radiation-exposure.html

Research conducted by colleagues at Okayama University in Japan, indicated that plants containing linalool (like ginger, lavender and coriander) showed potent radioprotective activity.  The article goes on to identify essential oils deemed to have radiation protective advantages  The first that is highlighted is Peppermint (Organic).  They link the word organic to the term "genuine" in describing the type of Peppermint essential oil studied, however, I would think that non-synthetic, or unadulterated Peppermint would be effective as well.  Wisdom of the Earth has three peppermint oils, one of which (the one from India) is certified organic, but all three are pure, are unadulterated and have not been chemically altered.

A 2006 study found that Rosemary cineole (plant image shown above) had radioprotective advantages in mice.  A 2007 study also mentioned in the article showed that Rosemary demonstrated good free radical scavenging capability and cell-protective effects.  While they suggest cooking with rosemary to obtain these benefits, Rosemary essential oil would be much more potent and is readily available to the body by topical application, versus ingesting the plant rosemary in food, which will be broken down by the digestive system, and thus less directly affects the body.

So my takeaway from this article is that essences containing linalool or cineole would be useful to have for preventive measures, whether it be general environmental toxicity, exposure to radiation from cancer treatments or work-related activity, or, in the worst of circumstances, radiation exposure due destruction of nuclear energy plants due to weather, earthquakes, malfunction or human destruction.  Some plants (and the derived essential oils) not mentioned above would also be Basil linalool and Myrtle linalool.  By including that chemical reference in the WOTE label name, we are indicating that there is a high proportion of linalool in the oil's make-up.  There is also Marjoram cineole in addition to our Rosemary cineole.

I always feel that having these medicines available to us is such a blessing and a privilege, and research such as that touched on above confirms what we have known and teach to our students...that Mother Earth provides for us and offers healing and protection, as well as food and shelter through Her abundance of medicinal plants, and, through the efforts of our beautiful farmers, an abundance of readily available pure and potent essential oils.  We are proud to offer you genuine, single essential oils, as we know they provide the highest medicinal benefit compared to oil blends, standardized oils and diluted oils.

These highlighted essences and other healing oils are available via the on-line store on Wisdom of the Earth, or calling us at 928-649-9968 or emailing us at [email protected].

I hope these ideas and information are useful to you.  Please join us at Wisdom of the Earth in holding the people and the country of Ukraine in light and love, and in our heart-felt prayers.

Love, Audre Gutierrez
Owner, Wisdom of the Earth