John Myers
Essential oils have a wide range of uses: lemon oil is suitable for consumption – and at the same time for external use. Here you can find out how lemon oil can best be used as food and for skin care.
Lemon oil as care and food
Fresh, sour, fruity – we associate lemons with stimulating properties that enrich the menu in many ways. Our citrus recipes and information will give you inspiration on what you can do with the tangy fruit. Lemon oil also has a wide range of effects, just as high-quality oils are an important part of a healthy and balanced diet. This means, for example, olive oil, rapeseed oil, linseed oil, and nut oils, which are explicitly intended for cooking and baking. Lemon oil for oral use also falls into this category if it is labeled as such. The situation is different with fragrance oils: Whether you can drink essential lemon oil is controversial. The highly concentrated oil can cause side effects such as mucous membrane and stomach irritation – especially if it is dosed too high and not diluted. Also, the positive properties such as an immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, or relaxing effect have not been scientifically proven.
Fresh kick for food: Lemon oil as a flavoring agent
Whether used internally or externally, make sure that the oil is of good quality. When you make lemon oil yourself, you have full control over the individual ingredients and the entire manufacturing process. Simply put the peel of two organic lemons in 500 ml olive oil and let the mixture infuse. You cannot produce fragrance oil yourself at home due to the complex process – you would need thousands of lemons for one liter of essential lemon oil. Food-grade lemon oil is ideal for dressing salads, refining sauces and desserts, and flavoring water. Baking with lemon oil also adds a fresh touch to cakes and cookies. Since the oil tastes very intense, the rule applies here: less is usually more.
External use: Lemon oil for skin and hair
As a beauty product, you should definitely dilute lemon oil, otherwise, there is a risk of side effects. It is often sufficient to add one or a few drops to a cream, base oil, or shampoo. Since the skin can become more sensitive to light as a result of the application, you should avoid the sun afterward. Lemon oil can have a skin-tightening, cleansing, and antibacterial effect. In the hair, it can fight dandruff and lighten a blond mane. Another area of application for lemon oil is fragrance lamps – the smell drives away insects! It can also be used for washing dishes and as a cleaning agent in the household, as it dissolves fat.
