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We’re not being biased when we say that nature is a powerful ally for living a healthy life and works wonders for skin -- it’s the simple truth. Yet, it’s becoming more important than ever to look to nature for help in fighting one of the most worrisome and overlooked health crises happening today.
Nature has an endless amount of wonderful benefits it offers us, especially when it comes to health and wellness. And now, essential oils derived from nature are proving their profound role in fighting antimicrobial resistance, something that is a very big threat to everyday life and health.
Haven’t heard much about antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? This is an article you’ll definitely want to read.
What is Antimicrobial Resistance?
We’ll keep this short and sweet since we’ve previously dived deep into everything AMR, so here are some must-know tidbits about antimicrobial resistance and how it affects you.
On a basic level, antimicrobial resistance is when microbes like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites become resistant to the treatments developed by scientists to fight them. And that is very bad for us.
This means that dangerous skin bacterias and infections that used to only be cause for worry for immunocompromised or elderly individuals are becoming superbugs that are immune to medicines and antibiotics, and are now affecting younger and healthier people. It’s an issue that is growing rapidly worldwide and something we all will need to be involved in to prevent it from becoming an even bigger issue.
A Brief Backstory on Antimicrobial Resistance
Antibiotics and resistant strains of microbes go hand-in-hand historically. In the 20th century, one of the greatest medical discoveries was made by Sir Alexander Fleming -- the discovery of penicillin. This revolutionised the way we could treat common bacterial infections that were once deadly and has saved hundreds of thousands of lives with antibiotics.
Unfortunately in recent history, the rise of self-medication, antibiotics in agriculture, wrongly prescribed medicine, use of harsh chemicals on our bodies, and many other reasons, have created an environment that enables these bacterias to thrive and adapt so that they are building up their own defenses and resistant to treatments.
Yikes, that doesn’t sound good at all! Though the news might be a bit of a downer, we’re going to flip it on its head and tell you how Mother Nature has the strength to stop AMR!
Boundless Benefits of Essential Oils
Throughout history, essential oils were used for a plethora of reasons in everyday life from keeping the body healthy, aromatherapy and relaxation, treatments for different ailments and injuries, and even fighting the spread of plagues.
At some point in the last century, we’ve lost touch with nature and its endless benefits. But that’s all changed in the last few years with the ever-growing interest in moving to more natural and holistic ways of living. This is also key in slowing the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
The power and potential of plants is enormous. Essential oils are naturally produced by plants to defend against threats like insects, environmental forces, and microbes. When we are able to extract these potent essential oils from various methods like distillation, we reap the boundless benefits of these plant defenses to protect against UV rays, fight infections, or even help us age gracefully.
More importantly, there are a handful of essential oils that pack an antibacterial and antimicrobial punch, like our very own mānuka essential oil from New Zealand. Which makes antibacterial skincare extremely important to incorporate in our lives.
What Essential Oils Fight Infections?
One way to fight AMR is by using the right treatments at the right times, but also treating our body to the healing potential of essential oils. Modern synthetic treatments are struggling to fight microbes that are adapting to then, yet microbes cannot build up a resistance to antibacterial essential oils.
Thyme Oil
Thyme is often used in cooking, but hasn’t been thought of as an antibacterial essential oil until recent studies have proven the effectiveness of thymol against killing bad skin bacteria.
Australian Tea Tree Oil
One of the most popular and effective essential oils for its antibacterial traits due to its concentration of terpenes, Australian tea tree oil has taken the hair and skincare scene by storm because of the wonderful smell and antibacterial-fighting benefits.
Mānuka Oil
Mānuka oil is pretty new to the essential oil party, but it is proving to be one of the most versatile and effective essential oils. Though not all mānuka essential oils are equal, each one has a vast array of skin benefits and bacteria fighting abilities.
What is the Strongest Anti-bacterial Essential Oil?
There is a plant-powered hero on the horizon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, and is also our hero ingredient in all ManukaRx products: East Cape Mānuka essential oil.
Because of the extremely high concentration of β-triketones only found in the mānuka plants in the East Cape of New Zealand, East Cape mānuka oil is the world’s most powerful antibacterial essential oil.
East Cape mānuka essential oil is up to 33x more effective than Australian tea tree oil at killing bad skin bacteria and infections, like superbugs such as Staphylococcus Aureus, and 1,000x more powerful than mānuka honey.
How East Cape Mānuka Oil Can Help Defeat Antimicrobial Resistance
East Cape mānuka essential oil is science-backed and proving to be a vital natural product for antimicrobial skincare. With its antibacterial benefits, it can protect your skin from severe infections like Staph while fortifying you against other bad superbugs.
Because of the antioxidant characteristics, mānuka oil also helps build up the skin’s defenses against free-radicals that can cause chaos for our bodies. Not only that, East Cape mānuka oil is anti-fungal, so it can help battle back issues with athletes' feet and other fungal infections.
All of the above can help to keep us from grabbing the first antibiotic ointment we can find which is a root cause of antimicrobial resistance and instead opt for a Natural Skin Ointment instead.
With antimicrobial resistance spreading due to misuse of medications for bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, essential oils like East Cape mānuka oil that is proven to kill these microbes can be indispensable for stopping the spread of AMR.
Ready to discover the amazing anti-bacterial benefits of East Cape mānuka essential oil and help curb AMR? Head to our shop and experience the positive impact of natural skincare today!
