Ah-choo! Sniffle, sniffle. It’s that time of
year again. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, we are
in the midst of a widespread flu outbreak in all states except Oregon and
Hawaii.
We know the flu has something to do with people,
but what does it have to do with plants? Well, this week I thought I would
share a homemade plant-based hand sanitizer recipe I found online from Dr.
Lawrence Rosen.
Next to steering clear of folks who are looking
a tad under the weather and washing your hands with soap and water, using a
hand sanitizer ranks high on the list of good preventative practices.
Dr. Rosen is an integrative pediatrician who, in
this online article, says one of his “all-time favorite messages for families
is: Go to your kitchen cabinet before your medicine cabinet”. Now this is my
kind of doctor! He has a book called Treatment Alternatives for Children, but
states the remedies work for “big kids too”.
Here is his recipe for hand sanitizer, then we
will take a look at some of the individual ingredients to see why this
concoction makes sense. Fill a clean four ounce spray bottle with three ounces
of sterile water. Add one tablespoon of aloe vera gel, ten drops each of
cinnamon, clove, rosemary and eucalyptus essential oils, and twenty drops of
either lemon or orange essential oil. Shake well and spray two or three times
on your hands then rub them together. Dr. Rosen said to repeat this application
as needed.
I like this recipe for the same reasons Dr.
Rosen does – it contains “oils with proven anti-bacterial and anti-viral
properties” and there are “no irritating alcohol or hormone-disrupting toxic
chemicals found in many conventional hand sanitizers”.
Let’s look at some of the ingredients. Aloe vera
gel commonly used to treat burns and other skin irritations is an excellent
skin moisturizer. Cinnamon has anti-bacterial properties due to compounds such
as cinnamaldehyde and eugenol. Interestingly enough, eugenol is also found in
clove. Rosemary contains antifungal and anti-bacterial properties, like camphor
and limonene. Have you guessed that limonene is also found in lemons?
For some serious reading on anti-microbial
properties of essential oils, check out this paper posted on the National
Institutes of Health website. They have tables showing various plants and their
antimicrobial activity against particular human pathogens. Cool stuff! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206475/.
Dr. Rosen did not mention any precautions with
this recipe, but I do know from past experience that some healthcare
professionals do not recommend using essential oils on children.
If you would like to make the hand sanitizer
recipe in a one ounce travel size, Dr. Rosen provides a conversion here: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10371/diy-make-your-own-natural-hand-sanitizer.html. Not only will this recipe help prevent the
spread of disease, it smells good too!
Kelley
Rawlsky has an M.S. in horticulture and is the director of Bringing People and
Plants Together, an organization dedicated to bringing horticulture education
and therapy to the community. For more information: PeopleAndPlantsTogether@gmail.com or follow us on
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