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If you’re only using essential oils for your calming aromatherapy practice, it’s time to think outside the diffuser. In addition to providing us with a sense of relief and helping us sleep, de-stress, and relax after some comically horrible days, oils derived from plants and even fruit can actually work wonders on our physical health and body. While you’re eating clean, doing cardio, and planking every free moment you get, consider incorporating these four essential oils into your routine — believe it or not, they can help get rid of belly fat.
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Cinnamon Oil
Cinnamon is incredibly effective at burning fat, especially stubborn fat cells that love to accumulate in the belly. You can make your own cinnamon oil by filling a glass bowl with olive oil, adding 5 to 6 cinnamon sticks, and covering it and allowing it to sit in a warm spot for about three weeks (or buy edible cinnamon oil at a health food store if you lack the patience of a saint). Add a few drops of this oil to oatmeal or rice pudding for a healthy, sweet, fat-burning treat.
Ginger Oil
Ginger helps reduce inflammation in the body, improves digestion, and acts as an appetite suppressant. Ginger root mixed with coconut oil (which you can find at a health food store) is a delicious dressing to add to salads and can be used in place of olive oil or vegetable oil when cooking beef, chicken, or vegetarian rice bowls.
Peppermint Oil
Not only can you mix peppermint essential oil with a carrier oil like almond oil and use it as an anti-cellulite treatment on every party of your body (including your belly), but it also has amazing fat-burning properties when ingested. Edible peppermint oil added to tea acts as an appetite suppressant, can relieve upset stomach, and has been shown to boost your metabolism.
Grapefruit Oil
As a topical treatment, grapefruit oil added to almond oil (or another carrier like sesame) is a sweet-smelling and effective skin smoothening goodie. Mix a few drops of grapefruit oil with patchouli oil, add it to a cotton ball and breathe in before you plan on sitting for a meal. There’s evidence that the scent alone can decrease your food cravings, which may lead to healthier choices in moderation.
