In 2016, I presented a conference on the uses of essential oils for chronic pain, injuries, and inflammation. Before delving into my knowledge, I wanted to understand people's views on aromatherapy, particularly in the sports field. So, I created a survey and shared it, awaiting responses. Fifty-one people participated, and the results were fascinating. 

One comment caught my attention: "Sounds like bullshit."

  

Most athletes knew about aromatherapy but weren't using it. I had to dig deeper to understand why."I'm only interested in treatments backed by sufficient scientific evidence.""Many articles argue that phytotherapy is either a placebo or a cure-all. It's hard to form an objective opinion.""I was given a comfrey and cayenne cream by an herbalist for a muscle overuse injury, but I discontinued use due to concerns about disrupting my natural pain signals."Interestingly, people thought they knew about essential oils but were filled with misconceptions or doubts about their effectiveness.« If there is sufficient scientific evidence for treatment with plants, then yes I am interested »




What is Aromatherapy?  

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils (EOs) for therapeutic purposes. 

EOs are the result of distillation, a process that extracts volatile essences from aromatic plants. It takes a significant amount of fresh plants to produce the 5-15ml of EO you buy, and plants with fewer volatile compounds will be more expensive. For example,   "it requires 6,000 pounds of melissa plant to distill just a single pound of melissa essential oil."

Important to Remember :  Essential oils are not natural products in the classical sense. They are highly concentrated and powerful. This is crucial to remember: just because a product comes from a plant doesn't mean it's harmless.

IF IT CAN BE DANGEROUS, CAN I STILL USE THEM?

Some people apply EO without any dilution. THIS IS WRONG. 

Some people think they can put EO in their eyes. THIS IS WRONG.

Some people add a few drop of EO in their water or in their coffee. THIS IS WRONG.

YOU SHOULD NOT TO THAT. EVER. 

As their names suggest essential OILS are lipophilic which means they cannot be diluted in WATER. They are hydrophobic.

EO must be diluted in a vegetable oil. They need a carrier unless you are doing an inhalation. Then yes, you can definitively use them for (non-)therapeuthic purposes.

There are three common ways for absorption:

1. Skin: when receiving a massage with EO or applying an ointment 
2. Inhalation or Diffusion: for therapeutic purposes 
3. Internal: through swallowing or absorption through vaginal or rectal suppositories
   

 
When apply on the skin EO compounds travel through the membrane through a process called diffusion before reaching the bloodstream. It is important to remember that:

• EO compounds can accumulate in fat tissues and be released slowly over time 
• EO compounds are highly volatile 
• Skin thickness varies across different body parts, affecting absorption rates 
• Only ~10% of applied EOs actually reach the bloodstream

To be effective, we want them where we need them most.

• There is a huge variabiliy of EO compounds entering the bloodstream and hence huge variability in plasma concentration between person, due to metabolism, hydration of the skin, temperature, amount of fat vs muscle etc

Inhalation is much stronger than diffusion since it is usually at higher concentration. Diffusion is mostly use to give a pleasant smell in a room while inhalation have more of a therapeuthic purpose. Smelling EO is an interesting choice since EO compounds will reach the bloodstream through the respiratory system but also bound with olfactory gland. Olfactory nerves and fibers will then transmit information to the brain. 

Finally internal use of EO requires A LOT OF precautions. In the world of aromatherapist some will argue that EO cannot and shouldn't be ingested for any reasons. Some will use it only for culinary taste (so very small concentration) and other will use it for therapeutic reasons (hence higher concentration). The internal uses of EO also differs strongly from countries to countries and I personally do not recommend internal use of EO for people unless they know exactly what they are doing or they have been talking with a certified aromatherapist.

Why?

Because one essential oil can have has much as 100ish different chemical compounds. Hence, one EO isn’t equal to one compound and to one biological effect. Also, one plant can have different varieties ... like lavender that has approximatly 40 differents varieties or mint that has around 20 or eucalyptus that has over seven hundred differents species. The composition of an EO will vary depending on the plant, the variety, the climate where the plants has grown, the amount of precipitation during the year, etc. Which means that where your EO comes from matters a lot.

If your friend or your dad or your mom tells you "eucalyptus is great for cough" you now understand why this statement doesn't make any sense. Which eucalyptus? globulus? radiata? citriodora? polybractea ct cineol? camaldulensis?

Dr Petra Ratajc, biologist and researcher,  explains that there is approximately 37,2 trillion cells in the body. So in theory how much melecule could be in a drop of EO? She found that theoretically there are ~132 quintillion molecules of limonene in 30miligrams (~1 drop) of an EO. 

JUST SAYIN’ ~132 quintillion molecules in one drop. BE CAREFUL. 

Remember this was an 'ideal' calcul to know of how much molecules could be in one drop of EO. Dr Petra Ratajc chose to calculate it with limonene so this is not how much limonene you actually find in EO. Her point was that if ALL chemical compounds of an EO could enter the circulation (which means 100% of absorption) then we would have 4 million of molecules/cell (!). 

Now to put that into perspective she also explains that we have more that 40 million of proteins per cell hence a ratio 4/40 = 0,1. Also, it is not because a compound reach a cell that it will have an effect. 

Oh and also, 100% absorption is impossible, unless doing intravenous. 

Of course chemical compounds of essential oils are neither all known nor had been studied science. Science does explain a lot of how and why EO compounds work in our body, but there is also an extensive 'traditional' and 'empirical' knowledge of the use of EO.

That is why you should learn about EO before using them randomly.

I never stop learning and I did quite a lot of research to write this, so I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you've learn quite a few things.

Plantae, Trcheobionta, Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Asteridae, Lamiales, Lamiaceae, Melissa
Noms communs : Mélisse, herbe au citron, citronelle, lemon balm 
Parties utilisées : aériennes (feuilles, fleurs) 

Un peu d’histoire :

La Mélisse originaire du bassin méditerranéen est connu depuis l’Antiquité. 
Son nom vient du grec μελισσόφυλλον, qui veut dire « feuille à abeille » à cause de la forte attirance des abeilles pour cette plante.

On sait qu’au alentour de 1600, la plante arrive en France et devient populaire grâce à l’eau de mélisse de Carmes Boyer qui soignait migraine et maladie nerveuse. 

Botanique 

La mélisse est unevivace, elle nepousse pas trèshaut (de 30 à80cm) alors lorsde la récolte ilfaudra se baisser,car elle arrivesouvent à hauteurdes genoux.Elle s’étale sur 60 cm environ.Les feuilles vertessont grandes,pétiolées bordéesde dents obtuses(crénelées) et ontune odeurcitronnée etfraiche. Onreconnait les tigesdressées,rameuses, carrées et un peu poilues ainsi que les fleurs tubulairesblanchâtres, rosacées ou jaunes pâles en cyme auxiliaire quiéclosent de fin juin à septembre. L’enveloppe extérieur de la fleur(calice) est poilu et l’intérieur contient 4 étamines didynames (2sont plus longues que les 2 autres). Le fruit est akène (sec, à graineunique avec un péricarpe non soudé à la graine) long et ovale.

De quoi a-t-elle besoin? 

La mélisse à besoin de plus de lumière que d’ombre, elle peutcependant pousser dans des endroits semi-ombragées (un endroit65% du temps ensoleillé). Elle se cultive dans des endroitsprotégé du vent, sec, des sols bien drainés -pauvres ou riches-. Onla retrouve souvent en zones chaudes et sèches et dans des sols depH neutre à basique, sans salinité, pauvre en matière organique etétant plutôt argileux.

• Rotation : comme la mélisse est envahissante et à tendance àmourrir d’elle-même il est important d’avoir un plan de rotation.

Le cout de tatisane ?

Pour 400g de mélisse environ, ilfaut environ 5 heure de travail.Mise en perspective pourexpliquer tout ça:La mélisse comme toutes autresplantes est constitué d’eau, aprèsséchage, dans le cas de la mélisseles feuilles perdent jusqu’à 60%de leur poids !!Donc, 400g de mélisse sècherevient à 1kg de feuilles … sanscompter que lorsque l’on récolteil faut effeuiller c’est-à-dire, negarder que les feuilles (et jeter lestiges) qui correspondent à 50%de la récolte. Donc d’aprèsl’herboristerie Verte Santé, pourobtenir 2kg de mélisse (feuille,tige) il faut environ 30min de récolte, l’effeuillage prendenviron 3heures, le séchage 1h30,et ensuite … si on le souhaite lamise en sachet.Deux kg de mélisse à sécherrequiert environ 23cm carréd’espace. Car selon EntrepriseAgroExpert inc. «La surfacerequise pour sécher 1800 kg de mélisseverte (densité 250 à 300 kg/m3 )récoltée sur 0,25 ha en 2 à 3 jours estd’environ 200 m2 pour une épaisseurmoyenne de plante verte de 3,5 cm. » .

PROPRIÉTÉS MÉDICINALES :

La mélisse est INCROYABLE, elle possède beaucoup de propriétés médicinales trèsintéressantes (en plus d’avoir bon goût!). On la transforme de plusieurs façon, dans des recettesde cuisine, en infusions, décoctions, teintures, eau de mélisse, élixir floral ou encore huileessentielle (tout de même rare …. et très cher!).

Ce que dit la science : 

• Action anti-bactérienne et antifongique principalement grâce aux HE(Mimica-Dukic et al., 2004) et aux triterpènes (Han et al., 2009) 

• Action cytotoxique et hémolytique principalement à cause destriterpènes (Han et al., 2009). La mélisse a été utilisé et étudié pourson action cytotoxique et son action anti-angiogénèse surtout dans lescas de cancers (leucémie, cancer du colon) 

• Action inhibitrice sur GABA-T principalement grâce auxtriterpénoïdes suivant : acide ursolique et acide oléanolique (Awad etal., 2009)=> qui expliquerait les propriétés suivantes :- « anti-mélancolique » , anxiolytique, diminue les symptomes liés austress, à l’angoisse et l’anxiété 

• Action inhibitrice de la MAO-A (Lopez et al., 2009) expliquerait leseffets vivifiant, tonique nerveux et anti-dépressive de la plante.Combiné avec l’action antioxydante de la plante, celle-ci a une actionneuroprotective 

• Action antioxydante principalement grâce aux phénols (Caniova andBrandsteterova, 2001) 

• Action inhibitrice de l’enzyme acétylcholinestérase (Ellis, 2005;Cummings, 2000) qui serait responsable de l’amélioration de lamémoire, la concentration, l’humeur et de la cognition en général.Ceci expliquerait l’utilisation de la plante pour les maladies d’Alzheimer, la schizophrénie, la démence 

• Action anti-inflammatoire, anti-cancer, anticoagulante, immunomodulatrice, anti-tuberculeux, antihistaminiqueprincipalement grâce aux flavonoïdes (Cao et al., 2015)La mélisse peut être utilisé pour traiter des maladies comme l’asthmeou l’arthrite (Birdane et al., 2007) 

• Plusieurs molécules sont responsables de l’action cardioprotectricede la plante. La prise de teinture en interne permettrait de réduire lesarythmies (dysrythmie, tachycardie, bradycardie), la fibrillationventriculaire, l’extrasystole ventriculaire (Akhondali et al., 2015) 

• C’est les huiles essentielles qui semblent être responsable de l’effethypoglycémiant de la mélisse. Ce qui expliquerait son usagetraditionnel pour le diabète, mais aussi l’obésité et l’hyperglycémie.

• Hypolipidémique, diminue le cholestérol LDL grâce à acideursolique et acide oléanolique (Somova et al., 2003) 

• Action antispasmodique, relaxante et efficace contre la colique dunourrisson

• À ne pas oublier qu’elle est digestive, carminative, apaises lestroubles digestifs, les palpitations et l’hypertension. 

Ref : Shakeri, A., Sahebkar, A., & Javadi, B. (2016). Melissa officinalisL. – A review of its traditional uses, phytochemistry andpharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 188, 204–228.

Photo de 2016, à l'école d'herboristerie, lors de notre cours de "culture biologique de plantes médicinales". J'avais (j'ai toujours) un amour particulier pour la mélisse, sa forme, son odeur, son goût et ses propriétés.

Idées de recettes : 

 La mélisse peut être utilisé en thérapie sous plusieurs formes : infusion, macérat huileux, teinture alcoolique ou avec vinaigre, vins médicinaux.Mais nous pouvons aussi la cuisiner : sauce, tofu mariné, soupe, boissons ! Les possibilités sont infinies.

It was on June 23rd, 1722, that The London Journal reported : 

 "Boxing in publick at the Bear Garden is what hath lately obtained very much amongst the men, but till last week we never heard of women being engaged that way, when two of the feminine fender appeared for the first time on the theatre of War at Hockley in the Hole, and maintained the battle with great valour for a long time, to the no small satisfaction of the spectators."

Fast-forward to today, women have been hitting the gym more and more over the past three decades. In fact, over the past ten years, I've seen an astonishing increase in women participating in combat sports. As someone who started training 20 years ago, I'm constantly amazed by the growing number of women joining the ranks.While there's still a lingering sexism in combat sports that needs to be addressed, it's heartening to see women being accepted as equals in their chosen disciplines. However, there's another aspect that's often overlooked: our bodies are different.As a young teenager training in kickboxing, I was frustrated by people asking me how I could handle bigger and stronger men. And I was angry at many men in the gym who treated me differently because I'm a woman. I believed then that men and women have the same capabilities and are created equal. But as I grew older, I realized that we don't have the same bodies. 

While I do not know what a male body goes through during training, I know what my female body is going through. 

Around my 18th birthday, I decided to stop taking oral contraceptive pills due to health concerns. Since then, my menstrual cycle has been unpredictable. Sometimes I'd go months without menstruating, only to suddenly experience a prolonged period. It was frustrating. 

However, over the past year or so, my body has finally settled into a regular cycle – you guessed it –

 …. YES! MENSTRUATION ! 

 I was surprise to read that menstrual dysfunction (such as infrequent or lack of menstruation) were not incommun in women athlete. Young athlete with low body weight may have a delayed menarche (first menstruation), breast development and bone developpement (peak bone mass may not be attain and lead to osteopenia, scoliosis, osteoporosis or higher risk of injuries) [3].

 The fact that we are «exposed to a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of endogenous sex steroid hormones » [2] together with substantial interand intraindividual variability between us…. there is no conclusive scientific evidence that menstrual cycle impact physical and mental performance in sports. Let me tell you something : it does have an impact. And though admitting this has been tough for me, I’m now happy to be the best version of myself and not the best version (I will never be) of the entire world.It is known that estrogen and progesterone, can influence ventilation, substrate metabolism, and thermoregulation during exercise [5]. Reproductive hormones level between men and women being different, they lead to physiological difference between men and women. And … there is also differences between women athletes taking or not oral contraceptive.Elite women athletes where found to have lower testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) levels all the time (pre, during, and post competition or training) when using oral contraceptive (OC), see Figures from Crewther et al. (2015). Even if changes in theses levels are comparable in both groups [1]. As Crewther et al. (2015) wrote « In terms of practical applications, a reduction in T availability with OC usage could possibly influence explosive performance [6], perceived playing abilities [17], and voluntary training loads [10]. 

Synthetic steroids used in contraception can also modify various metabolic processors (e.g. lipid and carbohydrate metabolism) [40] and thus, access to energy resources under training and competition stress. »Female athlete have better pulmonary capacity than sedendary women, they still «demonstrate greater expiratory flow limitation, an increased work of breathing, and perhaps greater exercise induced arterial hypoxemia compared to men »due to the influence of the reproductive hormones. [7]Women in sports can suffer from painful stress on the fascial attachments to the pectoralis muscle, breast displament or trauma. [4] 

 We all know as athlele that peak performance is linked to mental and physical capacities, training and functions.Women and men may be likely to have different responses to physical (and also psychological) stress during training or competition, therefore influencing their performances.