Belief in any product makes that product useful.

People who use essential oils believe.

“It’s unreal what lavender can do,” said Karen Heun, of Otho, one of a handful of women gathered in Fort Dodge recently to discuss essential oils and learn more about them.

Heun has used essential oils for five months, often diffusing the scent into her workplace as well as her home. She calls it soothing.

Lavender is known for its calming effect.

“If I can do something naturally, I’m going to do that,” Heun said.

It’s the natural approach to living that’s making essential oils so popular, said Erin Essy, a Young Living representative from Des Moines.

“You can use essential oils in conjunction with one another,” she said. “You don’t have to use just one or the other.”

Essy and Kristina Smith have absolute faith in the Young Living essential oils because those oils are 100 percent pure. Oils that smell sweet, they say, have additives. Because Young Living oils are pure, they may be taken internally.

“It’s something that nature has provided us,” Essy said. “It’s 100 percent therapeutic. All nature. Highly concentrated.”

For example, the Young Living ningxia red drink, made of ningxia berries and essential oils and taken daily to support overall health, has been shown to be full of antioxidants. One ounce of the drink equals the amount of antioxidants found in 73 strawberries, 130 tomatoes or 22,814 almonds.

The United States Natural Library of Medicine says, “antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. Antioxidants are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables. They are also available as dietary supplements.”

Anyone interested in using essential oils should talk to her doctor before starting, Essy said. “Don’t self-diagnose.”

Essential oils can vary slightly from bottle to bottle for the simple reason growing conditions may change. It’s like growing grapes for wine, everything depends on the weather. The oil is basically the same, just as wine would be the same, with just a tweak difference.

“Oils never expire,” Essy said. “It’s best to keep them in a cool, dry place, but they never expire.”

The women agree that using essential oils is a personal thing.

“We cannot treat, diagnose or cure, so we cannot make any claims,” Smith said. Anyone who uses oils must decide for herself what benefits she gets. But, make sure you’re drinking lots of water when you’re doing oils.”

She knows people may be skeptical of using essential oils.

“You have to be open to it,” she said. “People have to have their own ‘aha’ moment with this.”

Theresa Echelberger works with essential oils in both Fort Dodge at the Radiant Skin & Spa and in Webster City at Future of Health. She also is a massage therapist. She uses doTerra, Rose Mountain and Rocky Mountain oils.

The main benefit of using essential oils, Echelberger said, is “balancing the body’s megahurtz, that’s the energy within the body.

“All plants contain a vibration,” she said. “The essential oils contain this vibration when extracted.”

All three women work with a hand scanner called a zyto scan.

“You put your hand on it,” Echelberger said. “It hooks to a computer program that sends energy pulses through the computer and tells what is needed to balance out the body.”

She said most people need balance these days.

“People don’t eat what we should and we don’t get the sunlight we need,” Echelberger said. “All that has to work together to balance out the body.”

Essential oils are used to help with that balance.