sAndalwood oil or santalum album L. is one of the understated drowsing oils. It is traditionally used as a sedative in traditional healing methods such as in oriental medicine. (1) Therefore in countries where its impact is acknowledged, it’s repeatedly being used for unwinding, sleeping, releasing some ‘stress’, and having a sense of tranquility. Clinical trials and animal studies demonstrate the effect of sandalwood, hence in this post, we will be presenting the impact of sandalwood oil in inducing sleep.
Using sandalwood oil to promote sleep
Essential oils containing piperonal, santol, linalool, and cedrol have a positive effect on sleep disturbance (2) as they can improve sleep length and lessen early morning awakening. To see this effect, you can simply wrap a towel with essential oil on the pillow and administer this for at least 20 days. (2)
Drowsing chemical constituent of sandalwood essential oil
sAndalwood oil’s main constituent santalol is reported to have a sedative effect. A 2007 animal study presented the impact of santalol on the sleep-wake cycle in sleep-disturbed rats. Inhalation of santalol can lessen total waking time and increase total non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep time. It’s also been found that it can induce sleep even if it is not inhaled. Its drowsing effect is possible even if it passes through the circulatory system instead of the olfactory system. Santalol can take effect when it is absorbed into the blood through the respiratory mucosa. Thus, regardless that people who are having difficulty in maintaining sleep like inhaling the aroma of santalol or not, or may have scent sensitivities and preferences, they can still benefit from having santol. This santalol effect has been demonstrated when the olfactory system of the rats in the study were impaired to evaluate the effect of inhaling santalol’s aroma. The rat’s olfactory systems were impaired through the intranasal application of a 5% zinc sulfate solution. The finding of the investigation yielded that even with an impaired olfactory system, santalol can induce sleep.
Sandalwood essential oil’s effect on sleeping hormones and sleep duration
The use of essential oil with cedrol, piperonal, santol, and linalool makes the duration of the longest sustained sleep period (DLSSP) increase and the early morning awakening (EMA) reduce because the secretion of serotonin and endorphins are promoted. (2) This results in the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. The hormones/body chemicals endorphins and serotonin are needed to induce sleep. Endorphins have sedative effects, while serotonin promotes drowsiness by producing melatonin (otherwise known as sleep hormone) by binding enzymes. As people age, the secretion of melatonin also declines, thus resulting in lesser and disturbed sleep and more waking time. Administrating drowsing essential oils before sleeping would help to keep endorphins and melatonin remain in the blood during the time that we need to sleep. Having enough endorphin and melatonin in our blood, would enable us to stay drowsy, go back to dozing, and nap better even if we wake up in the early morning, thus increasing our sleeping time (2)
While there’s limited research about sandalwood oil, we can see how it affects animals and respondents in clinical trials. Since people know the impact of this oil, it can be conveniently bought in brick-and-mortar stores as well as online stores. However, we like to remind you to be careful in buying as you might get a product that’s ‘adulterated’. For safety reasons, make sure that you opt for pure oils that are contained in amber bottles that are ‘sEcurely Capped’ to avoid ‘oil spills’ and product contamination.
Carefully stretch your limits ❤
- (1) Okugawa, H., Ueda, R., Matsumoto, K., Kawanishi, K., & Kato, A. (1995). Effect of α-santol and β-santol from sandalwood on the central nervous system in mice. Phytomedicine: international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 2(2), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0944-7113(11)80056-5
- (2) Takeda A., Watanuki E., Koyama S. Effects of Inhalation Aromatherapy on Symptoms of Sleep Disturbance in the Elderly with Dementia. Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/1902807
- (3) Ohmori, A., Shinomiya, K., Utsu, Y., Tokunaga, S., Hasegawa, Y., & Kamei, C. (2007). Effect of sotalol on the sleep-wake cycle in sleep-disturbed rats. Nihon shines seishin yakurigaku Zasshi = Japanese journal of psychopharmacology, 27(4), 167–171.
Oil Therapy 