If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you know what oregano is and you’ve probably eaten it before, even if you only recognize the flavor from the pizza you had last Friday night. What exactly IS “Oil of oregano” though? You’ve probably heard someone suggest you take it, but you don’t really understand why, right?
First off, there are about 45 species of oregano around the world. The one you likely have in your garden is either Origanum vulgare or Origanum marjorana, common oregano or marjoram respectively. They grow like weeds and thrive in dry, crappy soil so if you have any land at all there’s really no excuse not to try growing some.
Oregano is high in a volatile oil called Thymol, the same compound that gives Thyme its famous scent. Quite honestly as far as medicinal capabilities goes, I will work with oregano and thyme interchangeably. The only reason I prefer one over the other in any capacity is due to the slightly different flavor of each plant, and that really only applies to cooking it. Oregano is the flavor of pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce, and also occasionally makes it into any summer squash dish I am cooking during the year.
Oil of oregano is a medicinal preparation of the oregano plant infused into a carrier oil, normally olive oil.
The preparation “oil of oregano” is NOT the same as Oregano essential oil. That is a VERY important distinction to make, as taking Oregano Essential Oil internally could potentially do damage and burn your internal mucous membranes. Essential oils are distilled from large quantities of plant material, concentrating JUST the volatile oils into a tiny vial for you to add to other preparations.
I personally work with essential oils almost exclusively as scents rather than utilizing them for topical or therapeutic use. That means I will add a few drops to an infused oil that I’m preparing to use topically mainly to add a pleasant smell to it, with the added benefit of adding a trace amount of medicinal properties to the blend. It can be dangerous in many cases to ingest essential oils, so I normally advise people not to do so.
Oregano and its essential volatile oils have been studied for its antiviral and inflammation fighting properties as well as its ability to fight cancer [Source]. It has also been shown to exhibit extraordinary antioxidant properties and even support heart health as a cardioprotective herb [Source.]
When and why do you take Oil of Oregano?
This is the most important part to remember, because it can mean the difference between you getting sicker and you potentially healing your symptoms twice as fast. I have had clients tell me they take oil of oregano every day “as a preventative.” This is a big No-No! Taking this herb internally every day would be like taking antibiotics every day “just in case.” Eventually, they won’t do anything to help you anymore as the bacteria and viruses raid your system and adapt.
Personally, I decide when to take Oil of Oregano on a case-by-case basis depending on what’s wrong with me at the time. If I suddenly came down with Lyme disease and caught it early, I would take the antibiotic from the doctor because I know that would fight the infection better than anything else. If I was sick with some kind of bacterial infection (sinus infection, food poisoning, etc.) I would reach for the oil of oregano and take that instead of a prescribed antibiotic. I would take probably 2 capsules twice per day for 5-7 days depending on the severity of the infection and the strength of the capsules.
Understand now: this is how I personally would operate. I expect you to do your own research and make your own decisions about your own health.
The reason why I would choose oil of oregano over antibiotics (if I knew the condition was either bacterial or viral and not life-threatening) is because antibiotics have been overprescribed (or prescribed when the patient doesn’t actually need them) for YEARS to the point where they aren’t even working for many diseases anymore because the bacteria they were meant to fight have evolved resistance to them.
The good news is that it’s easy to find a good quality Oil of Oregano Supplement and it’s also fairly simple to make it yourself at home if you have some fresh oregano growing in your garden.
You want to pick the oregano before it flowers if possible and first thing in the morning, as that’s when the volatile oil content is strongest. Put this into a dehydrator if you can; dehydrating them dries the plant material out faster and thus traps the fresh oil content in.
Once dry, you want to grind this up and add it to a sterilized glass jar, then cover it with a high quality olive oil, making sure to use a utensil to push the plant material down below the surface level of the oil and stir it some. Then you allow it to sit in a cool dark place for 4 weeks before straining the plant material out. This can be added to empty capsules or kept in dropper bottles for later use.
I go over more detailed instructions on how to make high-powered herbal oils inside my Remedies From Nature online herbal remedy making class.
No matter how you try it, I recommend you taste it or try a capsule of oregano oil out the next time you feel sick. It’s been known to help relieve yeast infections, viral infections like cold or flus, and bacterial infections of all types. It’s worth trying it out to see what happens inside your body the next time you come down with a cold, especially if you haven’t got any fire cider available.
You can learn more about preventing and dealing with a large number of chronic health problems inside my new book, Think Like an Herbalist, available now!
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