Personal Use
Bitter almond is an essential oil that I use more with pets than with people. Of course, you need to be formally trained when using essential oils with animals. If you are interested in this please check out the online 25 hour workshop offered on Pets and Essential Oils.
Bitter almond has been used in the fragrance and flavoring industry for ages, but this essential oil is way more powerful than just to be used in this manner.
The main component of bitter almond is benzaldehyde and there is much research on this for the treatment of cancer. Benzaldehyde has been proven to stimulate natural killer cells. In a study in way back in 1986, Ochisi showed that benzaldehyde normalized white blood cell count on mice that had diminished white blood cell activity of 50%.
It has also been shown to be effective against E. coli
"Bitter almonds" you see for sale/on ingredient lists are usually the seeds of stone fruit like apricots, cherries, and peaches. This bitter almond essential oil is from the aprocit tree.
