Fennel: The Plant, The Seed and The EO, Uses and Applications.

Today we are going to be looking at a plant, more specifically Fennel Seed and Fennel
Essential Oil. Fennel is a really cool oil in that it does so much and can be used on many
applications.
Normally, you can buy the Fennel plant in the produce section of the grocery store.. The
plant can be used raw or slightly cooked. Over cooking it should be avoided as it degrades the qualities of the actual use of the plant. You can eat virtually the whole plant. I personally like to use it in the raw state and use it as a side dish or as a stand alone snack. With Fennel, it is one that you will either love or hate, depending on if you like Black Licorice.
Usually, it will have a very strong to slightly strong Black Licorice taste and even aroma.
There are two main chemo/variety types, if you will, of Fennel. One is referred to as Sweet Fennel and the other is Bitter Fennel. Overall, most of the time these two varieties are very close in their chemical profile. Normally, the big difference or what makes the difference is the growing conditions in which the plant is grown in. In simple terms, the pH of the soil will sway the difference. But overall, it is one of those things where people will fight and argue over which is best. In reality, it really depends on what purpose the oil is used for and the seed use doesn't make a lot of difference in which one is used. Generally, the plants used for essential oil productions are grown in desert environments, with Egypt and surrounding areas growing most of the Fennel used for aromatherapy purposes.
When it comes to herbal applications, most herbalists will promote the use of Bitter Fennel. Most of the time, the Sweet Fennel is used for cooking purposes within the culinary world.
Somewhere along the line in American Aromatherapy the use of Sweet Fennel was
promoted and so in present day aromatherapy here in the US, we see Sweet Fennel being the predominant type of Fennel that is used. But as mentioned before, in general terms, either one will work just fine for most applications.
The next aspect of this plant is to use the seeds. Normally, the seeds are the primary part of this plant that are used. Here we see the seeds being used in herbal tea and for essential oil production. Normally, with the herbal tea application of the seeds, the general recommended use is to use 1 to 2 grams of seeds in 150 ml. of boiling water. Let it seep until it is cool enough to drink. Then bottoms up. Of course you can adjust the seed amount for your personal preferences. If you are using the essential oil version of the plant, then external applications will work really well. In clinical applications, sometimes it is used in oral preparations.But in using in this manner, unless you are qualified to do so, then topical applications will work just fine.
With the use of Fennel Essential Oil, whether it is Sweet or Bitter types, Fennel is used in working with gender specific issues and for issues that are not gender specific. So it is really a very versatile oil. With both gender applications it is used for sore throats, upper respiratory infections. It can be used to work with emotional stress as well. In clinical trials it
was shown that breastfed babies, when the nursing mothers used Fennel, that infants with colic clearly showed a decreased crying time over the mothers that did not use Fennel.
Females have found that Fennel helps to reduce pain associated with menstrual cramps. Fennel has been shown to contain Anti Inflammatory, Analgesic and Antioxidant properties. It has also been shown to increase libido in both genders. Fennel has also been shown to reduce intestinal spasms and to increase small intestinal mobility. IE; it is great as a digestive aid. With females, it helps to increase milk production, helps to facilitate childbirth and promotes menstruation.
Although Fennel does wonders for use in working with women and their female issues, it works much more pronounced with Males. Within this area is with Testosterone. With this hormone, it deals with it in both genders. But with males it helps to alleviate Male Climacteric Symptoms, IE; what most people associate with low Testosterone. Basically, it is this area where the whole ED thing is centered around and in females it is CD, so it helps here, with both genders. Without going into a lengthy discussion here, in simple terms it helps the male in exemplary measures. But most importantly, it helps to alleviate the CV issues, IE; strokes and heart attacks, that are associated with testosterone supplementation use.
In other more specific use, and here I am inserting some of my opinions based on
experience. After all, I am thinking I can do that since I am writing this essay and very few people actually read them, so no big deal, right? So here goes. In what I have seen, Fennel really should be included in any treatment plan where Hepatoprotective activity is being pursued. In simple terms this means anything to do with Liver health and support.
Everything from research to actual outcomes, would support this claim. Also, way back when we first started having military people coming back from round 2 in the sand box, in the aromatherapy circles, we had a huge need to help them with a parasitic infection that many of them picked up while there. After a lot of research and work, I ended up developing a blend, perhaps one of my most effective blends. That blend is one that I have never allowed to be sold in these MLM joints.(Too much emotional drama to make stuff actually work). But I have allowed it to be sold in NHR, that blend being De Plague. Yes, I have control issues with some things that are close to my heart. Anyway, my reason for bringing this up is that I use Fennel as a major control oil in this blend. It works wonders for certain classes of parasites. Although I have adjusted this blend over the past 20 years to fit the mutation type situations with these really hard to deal with parasites, the Fennel oil and its role has not changed. It is a fantastic stabilizer of Calcium, with Calcium being a key to dealing with parasites. This also helps to deal with other issues, such as RA.Since I have to deal with RA, the Fennel and especially the De Plague blend makes things really much better for me.

So basically, if you are dealing with anything Calcium, then Fennel may help to make that issue work more in your favor.
So there you go. Since Fennel EO is a moderately priced EO, it is well worth what it costs
you. Good luck and thank you for your support.
KK