Oregano Oil

Georgetown University researchers have found that oil of oregano appears to reduce infection "as effectively as traditional antibiotics."

Oil of oregano is effective against Staphylococcus bacteria and was comparable in its germ-killing properties to antibiotic drugs such as streptomycin, pencillin and vancomycin. [Science Daily 10/11/2001]

British researchers reported oregano oil had antibacterial activity against 25 different bacteria. [Journal Applied Microbiology, Volume 88, February 2000] A clinical study in Italy has shown that oil of oregano can be used to treat intestinal parasites. [Phytotherapy Research, Volume 14, May 2000]

One study, published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology in 1999, compared 52 plant oils and extracts. Oregano essential oil was found to have significant antibacterial action against a wide number of bacteria including E coli, Staph, Salmonella enterica, and Klebsiella pneumonie, which is a pneumonia that frequently occurs in people with a weakened immune system. The following year, the Journal of Applied Microbiology published a study by Scottish researchers that showed oregano essential oil to be effective against 25 different bacteria. Other studies, such as the one done by researchers at the University of Tennessee in 2001, also showed oregano oil to have powerful antibacterial properties.

Research published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology in 1988 found oil of oregano to be an excellent antifungal, completely inhibiting the growth of the nine fungi tested. Since that time, numerous research studies have been published that repeatedly show the ability of oregano essential oil to kill yeast, including Candida albicans.

Oil of oregano is not to be confused with common oregano in the kitchen spice cupboard, which is usually marjoram (Origanum majorana or O. vulgare) rather than true oregano (Origanum vulgare).

Antibiotic resistance has become a real problem as various germs have become more and more resistent to various antibiotics.  Drug resistance does not develop against naturally-occuring antibiotics such as garlic and oil of oregano.