Unless you've been living without internet, you know essential oils have exploded in popularity. Though millions love their oils, there are still some cynics or skeptics.

Vanessa and I get a message from someone almost weekly, wondering about our thoughts on a new post, from someone hellbent on scaring people away from essential oils.

The internet is a great venue for skeptics, cynics, or haters to invoke fear and anger about virtually any topic. They often leave their readers utterly confused about what's fact, and what is opinion.

For those who are new to essential oils, or are on the fence about whether or not to try them, these emotionally-charged posts often create fear and doubt.

For me, the situation is nothing new. I've seen the same pattern play out about nutritional supplements, diets, exercise, and many other health-related topics.

The adoption of any new idea or paradigm shift always attracts detractors, not just health-related stuff.

Remember, people ridiculed the idea that the earth was round, that the Wright Brothers could fly, and that Facebook would be anything more than a college-based website.

Over the past ten years, essential oil use in America has gone through a significant paradigm shift. Along with millions of promoters, essential oils have also attracted many naysayers.

So, with all the messages and questions we receive about the latest alarmist's article, I found that it wasn't a great use of time to reply to each one, one-at-a-time. I decided to summarize my answer in a single post to refer them to, as well as to help those who wonder but don't ask.

I will not debate every point people make against essential oils, especially those that are just nonsense. I simply want to dispel some myths, correct some misinformation, and help you think a little differently.

I could have written similar articles over the years on high-dose vitamin D, low-carb or high-protein diets, CrossFit, or Bulletproof Coffee™, when each of those ideas gained popularity, as well as opposition. Today, they're pretty much accepted as healthy and beneficial.

In full disclosure, my wife and I are distributors of essential oils. Our passion for health and fitness, and relentless pursuit of exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle options to improve our own health and others’, led Vanessa to essential oils in 2014. Not only did we realize the potential for our health, but Vanessa also saw the opportunity to build a business promoting them. It grew so fast that I resigned from my Senior Director role at a major fitness company a year later, and joined her.

I point this out because someone might say I'm biased based on my affiliation with the company we promote. From my point of view, we wouldn't represent the company or promote essential oils if they weren't effective, as we've built our career and reputations around delivering quality health and fitness content and education. One point of view would be to dismiss this article because of my bias. Another would be to realize I believe in them enough to be biased about them in the first place. You can decide for yourself.

The Four Stages of Idea Acceptance

History has a way of repeating itself. What we've seen with essential oils, we've seen with any new paradigm shift.

Adoption of a new idea or paradigm is a four-stage process, described in Virus of the Mind by Richard Brodie:

Complacency/Marginalization: Early on, most people shrug off the new idea. Actually, when Vanessa got started with essential oils in January of 2014, I gave it little attention myself. I said, "I'm glad you found something you're interested in, but I doubt they work very well, because I haven't heard of them." I pretty much blew them off, which is something I'm embarrassed to admit today. It wasn't very manly.

Ridicule: Often, when others don't understand a new idea, they laugh at it or mock it. Because it contradicts their beliefs,