X-rays, whether administered at a hospital or through an airport security scanner, can pose risks to the human body. But can those same risks harm your essential oils? The short answer is yes, but any damage that occurs is not nearly as significant as you may think.
When your essential oils are exposed to X-rays or other sources of high-frequency electromagnetic energy, some of the molecules within the oils will come into direct contact with the X-rays and fracture into smaller pieces. These fragments are known as free radicals. In basic terms, a free radical is a molecule that possesses an unpaired electron, and these unpaired electrons begin to search for another molecule to bond with. Typically, we have been taught that free radicals are harmful, and within our bodies, they can lead to disease by causing injury to organs and other tissues. However, free radicals within essential oils are not nearly as destructive as you may think.
When an essential oil is exposed to X-rays, the damage that occurs affects only a small portion of the oil. Why does this happen? The chemical components that make up each essential oil are small and have enough space between them so that they can handle exposure to X-rays far better than our bodies can. It is the space between the molecules that contributes to the frequency of each essential oil and allows the particles to move around freely. These combined factors reduce the fragmentation that an essential oil can experience.
So, how do we get rid of free radicals once they are formed? Antioxidants are nature’s way of taking care of free radicals. Antioxidants move throughout our bodies and bind to free radicals to prevent any damage to our tissues or organs. Many essential oils are natural antioxidants, so their chemical components give them the ability to self-repair free radical damage. This means that essential oils have a built-in ability to seek out and repair fractured molecules.
So, if you are heading to an airport, there is no need to worry about your essential oils. Once you pass through airport security, you will just need to give them a little bit of time to mend any damage that may have occurred during exposure. Now that you know how essential oils can repair themselves when exposed to X-rays, you can have a better idea of how we use essential oils within our own bodies to deal with free radicals and the harm that they can cause.
Do you travel with your essential oils when you go on holiday?
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