Frankincense and Cancer, once again

We have written over and over again that, no matter what some instant experts on essential oils are telling you, Frankincense Essential Oil, whether taken internally, applied topically, or inhaled will NOT cure Cancer.  We wish it could. We would LOVE to tell you "Yes, this is the answer, the holy grail."  but it isn't.

However, what we have not stressed strongly enough is the fact that IF a person is battling Cancer, the use of Frankincense, and possibly other essential oils, can strengthen the cancerous cells.

This, from Robert Tisserand:

"Many essential oils have protective & antioxidant effects on our cells, and there is a reasonable chance that they will do the same for cancer cells – protect them from the chemotherapy – which of course would not be a good thing. This opinion is shared by many. It probably sounds odd – you’re thinking that frankincense oil should kill cancer cells and not protect them – but the only evidence for killing cancer cells (apart from one skin cancer report) comes from a few lab tests when high concentrations were used.

Moderate amounts of EO will not kill cancer cells, but could protect them. And taking large amounts of essential oil could very well interfere with the chemotherapy itself, by increasing or decreasing the concentration of drug-metabolizing enzymes in the liver. By causing a chemo drug to be metabolized more quickly, you reduce the duration of its effect. On the other hand if you inhibit its metabolism you reduce the efficacy of the drug. Neither of these is desirable, and chemo drugs are very carefully dosed for each patient.

For all these reasons, I suggest avoiding essential oils for one week before until one month after chemotherapy. After that time, frankincense oil may help with recovery of white blood cells, as also spearmint, dill and other essential oils.

Incidentally, almost all of the research on frankincense and cancer is on the extract, which contains boswellic acid, and not the essential oil, which does not. Frankincense extracts contain around 50% boswellic acid, which is a widely-studied antitumoral agent. However, getting such remedies to the target site in sufficient concentration to be effective is a challenge."    http://roberttisserand.com/2015/03/frankincense-essential-oil-and-cancer/

So, not only can ingesting Frankincense not CURE cancer, but it could both strengthen the cancerous cells, making them more resistant to treatment AND negate the dosage of chemotherapy or other medications.  

For those who want to ingest Frankincense "just in case" this should give you pause.

Robert Tisserand is the most highly respected authority on the safe use of essential oils that I know of.  His  Essential Oil Safety, 2nd Edition, is widely accepted as the most complete safety manual in our industry.