Have you ever looked at a bottle of doTERRA oil or supplements and wondered,

How do they know this works?

It’s not like someone just mixed some ingredients together, slapped on a label, and called it a day (although some brands might!). Our well-researched supplements go through a process—kind of like an audition, but instead of proving it can act, the oil or supplement has to prove it’s safe, effective, and worth taking. So how does a supplement go from just an idea to something backed by science?

All supplement research starts with a question. Scientists might ask:

Does this essential oil help relieve anxious feelings? Can this plant extract support healthy sleep?

Sometimes, researchers get ideas from traditional practices, nutrition studies, or by noticing patterns in people’s diets. For example, people living in the Mediterranean regions have diets rich in olive oil and herbs like oregano and thyme, and they often have vibrant wellness and impressive longevity. Could essential oils from oregano and thyme also help improve wellness?

But an idea alone isn’t enough. Before an oil or supplement can be tested on people, it has to go through preclinical research. In this phase, researchers begin testing in computer simulations (called in silico studies) and on cells in petri dishes and test tubes (called in vitro studies). These tests give us important information about how the ingredients interact with cells. It helps us understand what kind of effects we might expect in humans, and what kind of dosage to use. doTERRA scientists are always combing through the scientific literature to see what kinds of studies other people have done with essential oils so we can make sure our results make sense.

Now comes the exciting part: testing the supplement on real people! But researchers can’t just hand out pills and see what happens. They have to follow strict guidelines to make sure the results are scientifically valid and ethical. There are hundreds of pages of regulations when it comes to clinical research – we’ve studied for years to know our stuff.

One of the most important parts of clinical trials is study design, the way the test is structured. There are all kinds of designs we might use, depending on what we want to study. A simple design we often use is called open label. In this study, participants know what oil or supplement they are taking, and measurements are carried out before and after they use it. This is a great design to see how something works “in the real world” rather than in a tightly controlled environment that may not be very representative. If we do want more control in a study, we can use randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies.

Here’s what that means:

• Randomized: Participants are put into groups at random.
• Placebo-controlled: Some get the real supplement, while others get a placebo (a fake version that looks the same).
• Double-blind: Neither the researchers nor the participants know who got the real supplement.

Once we have the idea and the design figured out, then the real work begins. We prepare an application for an ethical review board to consider. This application is typically more than 100 pages long and contains minute details about how we plan to run the study. It also includes safety information, formulation specifics, and all sorts of contingency plans. We have to specify what kinds of participants we’re looking for, how they will be recruited, how they’ll be informed about the study, and even how much they will earn by participating. If the review board feels like we have a study that provides more benefits than risks to our participants, they approve it and we move forward.

When we’re ready to start a study, we carefully choose participants based on specific factors like age, gender, health conditions, lifestyle, and whether they take medications that might interfere with the supplement. If you’ve ever joined us for a clinical trial, you know that we ask a lot of questions to make sure our participants are a good fit to take part in the study.

Clinical trials don’t happen overnight. Each study can take weeks, months, or even years to carry out. Trials are also categorized in phases, like levels in a video game.

• Phase 1: A small group (10-50+ people) to test safety and basic effects. doTERRA scientists do a lot of work here because there are relatively few human clinical studies on essential oils. Our pharmacokinetic study on Lavender, our test of doTERRA PB Restore®, and our initial study of the MetaPWR® Assist supplement are examples of this type of study.
• Phase 2: A larger group (50-500 people) to see if it actually works. Our studies of MetaPWR® Advantage, Mito2Max®, Frankincense, and EO Mega® + are examples of this type of study.
• Phase 3: An even bigger group (500+ people) to confirm the results and check for long-term effects. These types of studies are most commonly done by pharmaceutical companies, rather than supplement companies.
• Phase 4: Also called Post-market Surveillance. This type of study happens after an essential oil or supplement is on the market, and researchers want to see how it is performing for actual users over time (hundreds to thousands of people). Our MetaPWR Challenge and doTERRA Serenity® Challenge are examples of this type of study. After testing, scientists analyze the results. They look at things like:
• Did the supplement work?
• Did people experience any side effects?
• What was the best dose?

If the results are strong, we publish the study in a scientific journal and use the data to support product claims. This can directly help our customers and Wellness Advocates by providing you with powerful proof that our products work. We want you to have product claims that are exciting to share, backed by science. Our current clinical research team is less than 5 years old, but we are committed to providing the most cutting-edge research possible to support our essential oils and supplements. It’s one more reason our essential oils are the most tested and most trusted in the industry.

Learn more about our scientists who cover these studies here.

Read about some of doTERRA’s research here.