The Pennyroyal Myth Thrives

[Guest guest]

this was a topic on one of my aromatherapy a while ago. here

is a most informative post.

*smile*

 

chris

 

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Hi folks,

 

This is a post I made to the IDMA list sometime back. It's true that

the myths of AT still survive - they involve pennyroyal, sage,

rosemary - though we've about gotten around to everyone on that one -

there are few around who still hang onto the erronous information

about rosemary and epilepsy/high BP.

 

But this is intended to educate and make you think. Y'all keep

smiling.

 

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Sorry to hear of the poisoning but even if it's true, and I doubt

that it is - it's the hype and misinformation AT lives with that iss

the true culprit here - it's not an essential oil.

 

 

> On one of the lists on,this morning a note popped up about how a

young

> girl has ended up in the hospital, poisoned by pennyroyal. She is of

> course, pregnant. And now she is extremely ill and still pregnant.

 

You're talking about an effort to abort. Heck, one can poison

themself and cause an abortion with any essential oil if they use

enough of it - that is, if they don't kill themselves while trying.

And some folks have killed themselves while trying to abort with many

substances. But that's a whole different ballgame than discussing

contraindications 'cause we're not talking about accidental harm, but

unintentional harm. In fact, a good kick in the belly or aspirin or

whatever will do the same thing - but it ain't smart or safe.

 

 

> Apparently she found some pennyroyal essential oil and guzzled it

in the

> believe that it would abort the fetus.

 

Pennyroyal shares alleged contraindications with many other Mentha

oils, to include peppermint and spearmint, but you don't hear folks

hollering for you to avoid them. The fact is that somewhere in the

past, a rumor began than Pennyroyal was an abortifacient - which is

pure hogwash! Its an emmenagogue, as are many other essential oils,

and there a great difference between the two. Pennyroyal is

particularly valuable to women because two of the many things it does

is ease labor and menstrual complaints. You need to check Sylla's AT

manual on it - there's laundry lists of good uses.

 

 

> My question(s) is/are... Who distills Pennyroyal? Why distill

> pennyroyal? Who would SELL pennyroyal ( she apparently got it at a

> HEALTH FOOD STORE, oh the irony). This has me baffled.

 

Who produces anything that can be abused? Lots of good folks distill

pennyroyal for it's therapeutic values - same as for the other EOs.

Who would sell it - I would sell it - I do sell it. It's one of the

best sellers too. And I sell Backhousia citridora (Lemon Myrtle) and

many other oils that will poison you if you do stupid things - we all

sell them.

 

 

> Would anyone care to rip my veil of ignorance and enlighten me as

to the

> purpose of making a Pennyroyal E.O.?

 

I'm doing my best to do that now ... ;-) But since more than half the

EOs we use could have caused the same problem, your question would

have to apply to them too. Pennyroyal has gotten a bad rap.

 

Any oil ingested in large quantity can be dangerous but it's more

likely that the " victim " would die before the unwanted fetus. And

then again, the " victim " could survive after having gone through a

lot of misery.

 

We know that all essential oils are highly concentrated and more is

never better. If we abuse them, they are dangerous weapons - if we

use them correctly, they are wonderful, natural medicines.

 

Pennyroyal, like the other Menthas (peppermint, horse mint,

spearmint, etc.) are emmenagogues - that is, they assist delayed

menstrual flow. But then, MANY other commonly used essential oils are

also emmenagogues but pennyroyal is the ONLY one that's picked up the

erronous handle and the bad press of being an abortifacient.

 

Pennyroyal is a medicinal herb - it is not a food herb. People don't

normally ingest medicinal herbs - just as people don't normally

ingest rat poison. But due to extrapolation on the part of some

ignorant people in years past, the assumption was made that anything

that will cause menstrual flow will cause an abortion. The result was

some folks trying to abort by ingesting pennyroyal - but they could

have used peppermint - it has a fresher taste. The result will be

death or near death since the amount of pennyroyal it takes to kill

the fetus is approximately twice the toxic level the human body can

handle.

 

Therefore, by default we can say pennyroyal causes abortion - that

is, when the mother starts to check out of the net from self-

poisoning, the fetus also expires!~ Aspirin, alcohol, coffee or a

wire coat hanger will do the same thing but none of these can be used

accidently - as is the case with pennyroyal - it must be a voluntary

act.

 

There is not ONE CASE on record of accidental miscarriage or abortion

from use of pennyroyal - I did not say ABUSE - I said USE! I will pay

for any information anyone can provide contrary to this statement -

but rumors and second hand-information will not qualify.

 

We so-called alternative medicine folks are victims of our own

paranoia. Many of the writers of how-to books on aromatherapy are

concerned about covering their butts so they merely regurgitate the

information in the previously published books and the misinformation

continues. In fact, many aromatherapists know too little about the

essential oils they use - they think they know what they can do but

they don't really know why. The chemists know why an oil can do this

or that but few can apply it to alternative medicine. Ideal would be

the marriage of an aromatherapy practitioner and a chemist.

 

Any serious and knowledgeable writer will tell you that ABUSE of any

essential oil is dangerous and can be life-threatening. As can

crossing a street without looking both ways. But is keeping our kids

in the yard the best way to protect them from becoming victims? No!

We teach them the proper safety techniques for crossing streets. So

why don't folks in AT learn the facts and stop sticking their heads

in the sand?

 

Pennyroyal is a woman's EO - it is used for female disorders. It is

inhaled or massaged in a carrier for pelvic congestion, delayed and

painful menstruation and menstrual cramps - there are many

testimonials to the effectiveness and therapeutic value of this oil

and it is not to the advantage of anyone to avoid it's use due to

paranoia.

 

Also, it is written in Sylla's book under Genito-

Urinary/Reproductive, " At low dose non-toxic, non-abortive. " And

under Safety Data, Toxicity & Contraindications, it is

written, " Considered ORAL TOXIN; ingestion of large doses can be

fatal; avoid in PREGNANCY - abortive (See Footnote 17, Part I.) I

could make a list of 70 or 80 other commonly used EOs that also carry

this warning - EOs that would shock you - but I don't have the time

now. That Footnote states,

 

" Pennyroyal, as well as other ketone-containing oils, is frequently

misquoted as being neurotoxic and abortive. Over consumption is

likely to cause adverse effects (lethal dose for a three year old is

3 mls) but the amount required is similar to the amount required to

cause a toxic effect to many common over-the-counter drugs (e.g.,

Paracetamol). Death has been confirmed after the consumption of 25

mls of the oil; in other reports of unsuccessful attempted abortion,

two women consumed 7-10 mls and after being ill for a few days, both

recovered with no residual liver or other organ damage, which is

somewhat different to the organic damage occuring following

paracetamol overdose. (See Footnote 20) "

 

Footnote 20 states, " The fact that pennyroyal extracts have been

traditionally used to induce menstruation cannot be assumed to be

conclusive evidence of abortifacient activity. From the reported

cases of human toxicity resulting from attempts to induce abortion or

menstruation, there is little evidence of such action as even old

medical reports state that attempts to produce abortion were rarely

successful.

 

Once implantation of a fetus has occured, it can be extremely

difficult to shift, as was well known prior to the days of modern

abortion techniques. (BUTCH'S NOTE: BUT YOU CAN KILL IT BY POISONING

YOURSELF) In addition, factors controlling menstruation can be

totally under psychological influence and simply the fragrance may be

sufficient to loosen inhibition of bodily functions. It cannot be

assumed that any direct physiological actions are occuring from the

use of pennyroyal extracts. Reports that pennyroyal and pulegone can

cause contractions in isolated animal uterine muscle cannot be

evidence of abortifacient activity. The most common cause of uterine

muscle contraction is love making and breast feeding. These

activities are not usually discouraged in pregnancy due to abortive

actions.

 

(BUTCH'S NOTE, THE FOLLOWING IS IMPORTANT - FROM SYLLA'S MANUAL)

Public safety is compromised by myths promoted by herbalists and

supported by science professionals about the dangers of this oil. If

it were not due to these myths, then the numbers of cases around the

world of women who have poisoned themselves in vain unsuccessful

attempts to procure abortions would have been substantially lower.

 

(BUTCH'S NOTE: DOES THE ABOVE ANSWER THE QUESTION? SHOULD WE NOT

PRODUCE SOMETHING BECAUSE FOLKS ARE STUPID?) Sylla then continues:

 

" The most important hazard with pennyroyal remains the potential for

accidential consumption by a child **** The amount likely to be

absorbed through massage or inhalation is far below that amount, and

pennyroyal remains safe to be used in low therapeutic doses. " UNQUOTE

 

Then she refers to an article by Martin Watt, " Natural Toxins in

Traditional Medicine - Some Myths Removed, " M. Watt, 1994, and you

can see that at this URL http://www.nature-

helps.com/agora/pennyroy.htm

 

I am concerned with safety and truth as we all should be - but we

will never be able to clean up the garbage in this route-step,

cottage industry we call aromatherapy until we all become concerned

enough to become better informed, practice safety and seek

truth .....

 

Safety and truth are the two most important things and lack of either

will eventually bring the government in to take these wonderful oils

from our hands and put them in the hands of the corrupt medical

system.

 

I hope this answers your questions - but if it doesn't, would you

like 8 or 10 more pages? ... ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch

 

Purveyor of good things for smart people. Idiots are requested to not

order my oils because I don't want to be responsible for your abuse.